Lost on Commercial Street

10 pm
Oh it was a long day and my legs are aching from all the walking in the hot sun. But it was great fun. Just finished emailing mom and dad, laying to rest their fears of me being kidnapped from busy Saturday bazaars! Somehow they are still a little confused about this whole India trip of mine.

But now to continue with my travelogue. Commercial Street was whacked out! We had a great time, and god, we shopped! From trinkets to ethnic bags to chilled-out shoes. Kinda gives a different outlook to flip-flops. But everything needs to have its fair share of drama, and today it was Megan's turn, by getting lost. I mean, duh! How does one get lost from a team of 14 screaming American girls? What is even more amazing is the story of how Akhtar, a balloon seller (a complete stranger), actually took the effort of helping her unite with us. Megan had just made her way through one of the numerous bylanes of Commercial Street and conveniently got lost. Our SIM cards are still not activated and hence she could not call. It was then that she met Akhtar, who had taken her to the nearby police station, made her wait there, came back to find us (how difficult can it be to find 14 American girls together?) and then took us to meet her. What struck us was, this kind of thing would have never happened in America. Sure, you can call 911, but the average person will never go out of his/her way to help anyone. People here are warm and friendly and it comes out in every action they undertake.

The second funny thing worth mentioning is coming to terms with the fact that India is not probably a place where you express yourself through hugs too much. After Commercial Street, we went to the Bangalore Palace, and our tour guide was a really cool person, who gave us a grand trip. But when Jamie gave him a hug, thanking him for his effort, the poor guy jumped out of his skin and literally took three steps back, turning red all over. Gee, he was embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Lesson number 1: When in India, don't hug too much. No hugging, no touching, no holding hands in a V shape!

Anyway, am now off to check out my new shoes and a new sari (I don't think I can wear it). So until tomorrow, it's lights out.

Tomorrow we start practising. Gotta use a lot of suntan.