“You have been to India many times”, comes as a statement, rather than a question from a shopkeeper in Udaipur. “I think you stayed here a long time”, he continues. Puzzled as to why this seems so obvious to him, I ask how he knows. “You wobble your head like an Indian when you speak”, he replies quickly.
India attracts several different “castes” of visitors. Of course there are the usual tour groups of Americans,French and Germans; cameras with huge lenses hanging off their shoulders, dressed in their R.E.I. safari clothes.
Then we have the individual travelers who can be distinguished by their dress as well. First timers, depending on the age group, will be wearing long skirts or harem pants and tank tops (the twenty to thirty year olds) or simple lightweight clothing with short sleeved tops ( the over fifty year olds). Frequent travelers will be in kurtas and long scarves of Indian fabrics draped in the local style.
Continuing down the scale is a group Gerald calls “The Tribals”. Blissed out/Bhanged out wanderers, with dreadlocks, nose rings, ear plugs and hippie era clothing. They can be of any age, and the younger ones may have their small children tagging along.
Where do I fit in? I’m always on the lookout for unusual tribal body adornments, so I try to wear some piece of Indian jewelry that will be of interest to local women. Add to that a beautiful, long saffron and red chiffon scarf with gold sequined flowers, and a head that is constantly wobbling, no matter what. It seems to work.
THE DREAM OF DISTANT LANDS 
Hi. I have been guiding an Indian group of girls 14-16. They are in the SF Bay Area for a visit and then onto LA for a Mock UN conference. Yes, the Indian women are always moving their heads sideways. I love your scarf!
Wendy
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Add the ones that wear pants from Thailand and blouses from Vietnam and are extremely comfortable
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Can Gerald wobble as well as you?
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No way! But he can speak Hindi.
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Hi, Deborah:
Got this most recent one, so I guess the email is working. When we were in India (and were in our 20s!), we wore jeans and tee shirts. And I wore those tunics I bought there. No jewels.
Thanx for sending.
Enjoy, eda
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And where did Gerald learn Hindi? That’s quite an achievement! You’ve both obviously got a long connection with India–when did you first travel there?
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This is Gerald’s 7th trip to India and he spent almost a year there in the 70’s. He just speaks basic Hindi, but it’s enough.
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Thanks! I got this one before. But happy I’m getting these posts, vignettes from distant lands : ) love, Lena
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