Purple Puppet Cow

My mom used to tell me a poem when I was little.

I’ve never seen a purple cow.
I never wish to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow,
I’d rather see then be one.

As a kid I always thought it was kind of a silly but cute poem. However, this month it has brought on a different meaning for me.
I’ve spent the month in another town with my host family. This town is somewhat big but doesn’t see foreigners very often. So every time I went out somewhere, wether to the market or to visit someone, people would stare at me as if I’d turned into a purple cow. At first I didn’t notice it much because almost everywhere I go this happens a bit. But one day Karishma and I took a rickshaw by our selves to one of her aunts house and I got SSSSOOOO many stares and some guys even made some crude comments. And ever since that day I’ve noticed how much people really stare at me, and it’s gotten on my nerves quite a bit. I’ve wanted to stare right back at them and shout “Me baingine gai nehi houn!!” Which means, “I’m not a purple cow!!”
I don’t think this will ever change though and I’ll just have to go back to ignoring it.

Something I learned about myself this month is that I do not like being a puppet(I’m pretty sure no one does really). Every house we went to Sitara would tell me to say “Salaam Walicoom” which is a Musl!m greeting. But, she wouldn’t even give me a chance to say it on my own before she would tell me. Then she would instruct me to tell about myself. Each time this happened I felt like such a puppet on a string, and it was really frustrating.

But, despite each of these irritants, I had a really good time. It was fun to meet the Ansari’s extended family. And it was especially fun going to Mumb@i!! I’ll be coming back here in about a month for the wedding of Salim’s younger brother. I am looking forward to seeing everyone again.