Incredible India:Celebrity Status 

Posted on July 27, 2015 Updated on July 27, 2015

Now I know I have been in India for only 4 days, but I already have so many thoughts. 

India’s Law of Physics: 
For every frustrating, pull my hair out moment in India, there is an equally opposite beautiful, happy tears moment in India. 

And these extremes happen like 12 times a day. 

And the complexity of the city of Mumbai is only a testament to that. Mumbai is a strange combination of green and lush and grunge and loud, and it somehow works. 

With all that in mind, I thought I would share with you guys a little story of mine. 

I took an hour long ferry ride out to an island off of Mumbai called Elephanta to do some exploring. The fact that I have white skin gives me celebrity status, so on the ride out there people were trying to take not so secret pictures of me as various family members sat next to me. I started to smile with them because why not? The poses began to escalate, and I started to feel like the president when they started giving me diplomatic handshakes as they posed. The picture taking lasted the better half of the journey. And when the snack vendor came by a man bought me a juice box which quite frankly is better than any time a guy has bought be a drink in a bar. 

So finally we get to the island and I do some exploring around the sculpted caves they have there and do some hiking among the greenest of green trees. My celebrity status quickly shifted from white girl to sweaty white girl, and I was not about the paparazzi anymore. So when I was heading back to the ferry, I decided it was probably best to pick up a touristy Gandhi t-shirt from one of the vendors at the island entrance to change into so I could be dry and just a white girl sans sweat again. (But let’s be real… This was just my excuse to buy the touristy Gandhi t-shirt). 

  
I was dry all of 10 minutes. 

When I got on the ferry to head back, monsoon rains started coming in. Luckily that stopped, but the rocky waves didn’t, and waves came crashing over board and taking me as their prisoner. Welp. There goes my dry shirt. So much for my ingenious plan. The waves kept coming and crashing, and I actually was starting to get a little concerned that the boat might be capsized, but only just a little. As we are all trying to huddle in the middle of the boat, there came an overwhelming since of solidarity. And then we all just started laughing. Why? I don’t know. But our discomfort just became amusing for some reason as we practiced our sea legs. And even though I couldn’t understand what the people  were saying most of the the time, I did understand their laughter, and that was beautiful. 

  
We eventually made it back. It took nearly twice as long. Soaking wet Gandhi and I made it off the ferry with some snacks a lady had purchased on the island and insisted on giving to me. 

And I just smiled because my clothes getting drenched and my slight nervousness that whole ride back was 100% worth it. 

Comfortable? No. 

Amazing. Yes. 

It’s these moments when I’m traveling that I cherish the most