26 January - Creamy & Dreamy
Alone after the whirlwind twins have left town. Am consoling myself with one last rose milkshake with my 12 year old guide Raja who I’ve deeply disappointed earlier because of the ridge impasse. We were gingerly going up some boulders/rocks with the aim to get to the best spot to watch the sunset from. Then I saw it: the ridge, a sheer drop on the other side. Only 6 small steps carved in the boulder to guide your feet. But I couldn’t do it despite not being majorly afraid of heights. A combination of not trusting the slippery thread of my trainers and some last swig of Old Monk before the boys disappeared from view. No, can’t go up there, even if you tell me the descent on the other side is easy. Doesn’t bode well for that trip to Everest I want to take.
How does Raja see the world? Perpetually stuck here growing up in a place where he has to make friends with brand new tourists every day or week and they show him friendship and kindness mostly, but then they all leave and all he has is a photo maybe a note with thanks which he can’t even read and has to ask someone else to do so for him. But the probably has them all memorised. But the tourists don’t come back. Do they all the same things to him like I said? The same encouragements and to what end? I also needed him to keep me company. Did he think ‘old, lonely woman from the west’. He’s 13! Better or worse than the Spanish or the American woman. Does his sense of trade tell him to aim for couples or groups or women in pairs or alone? Who’s most likely to tip him well? I don’t even know which caste he is, can he study? Will he do this forever? I buy him an omelette and a milkshake. He eats half of it and then wraps it up and I watch him cross the road to take it to his little sister who’s probably 18 months old and sitting on the floor just away from the street and apparently with no adult minding her at all. I want to hug him but not sure it’s the done thing. I wander off to have a superior ayurvedic massage which includes happening during one of the usual evening power cuts and it somehow makes the experience even better. I can hear crickets, dogs, people walking in the street outside. But it’s still peaceful in a way that London never is. We should have blackouts enforced as routine. You save energy, people have to talk to each other, not watch TV or be on the computer , not listen to music, not eat, not watch movies. I reckon 7 till 8 would do it… that may send people home from the pubs and bars and they may never come out again. That may encounter some lobby that wants them to stay out and spend spend, spend. Mmmhh how would that work if you’re on transport? I’d have to think about it. Am turning into a right little luddite what with not using the phone. I’ve regained the feel in my right hand/wrist.
How does Raja see the world? Perpetually stuck here growing up in a place where he has to make friends with brand new tourists every day or week and they show him friendship and kindness mostly, but then they all leave and all he has is a photo maybe a note with thanks which he can’t even read and has to ask someone else to do so for him. But the probably has them all memorised. But the tourists don’t come back. Do they all the same things to him like I said? The same encouragements and to what end? I also needed him to keep me company. Did he think ‘old, lonely woman from the west’. He’s 13! Better or worse than the Spanish or the American woman. Does his sense of trade tell him to aim for couples or groups or women in pairs or alone? Who’s most likely to tip him well? I don’t even know which caste he is, can he study? Will he do this forever? I buy him an omelette and a milkshake. He eats half of it and then wraps it up and I watch him cross the road to take it to his little sister who’s probably 18 months old and sitting on the floor just away from the street and apparently with no adult minding her at all. I want to hug him but not sure it’s the done thing. I wander off to have a superior ayurvedic massage which includes happening during one of the usual evening power cuts and it somehow makes the experience even better. I can hear crickets, dogs, people walking in the street outside. But it’s still peaceful in a way that London never is. We should have blackouts enforced as routine. You save energy, people have to talk to each other, not watch TV or be on the computer , not listen to music, not eat, not watch movies. I reckon 7 till 8 would do it… that may send people home from the pubs and bars and they may never come out again. That may encounter some lobby that wants them to stay out and spend spend, spend. Mmmhh how would that work if you’re on transport? I’d have to think about it. Am turning into a right little luddite what with not using the phone. I’ve regained the feel in my right hand/wrist.
posted by Lisa Taylor @ 7:39 AM
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