A Foreigner & Me

“Welcome to India!” I accosted a fair skinned, elderly looking unknown person, who seemed to be a guest from the west. I spoke to him because I have an uncanny habit of speaking to unknown persons, especially foreigners. “Oh, thank you so much. How kind of you to speak to a stranger like me.” He responded quite warmly. “What brings you here?” “Well, I am not a first time visitor here. I have come to…” “…Meher Baba” I interrupted. “You are absolutely right. Your guess was splendid. How did you guess it?” His eyes lit up on my words, when I said Meher Baba. “I did know from…” “From what?” He was getting impatient. “Because you are not a first timer here.” “That makes no sense to me.” There was a big question mark on his face.
“See” I started explaining, “This is the city of Ahmednagar. It is famous historically because Nehru has written ‘The Discovery of India’ here. And other than this a couple of things here and there add to the historical importance of Ahmednagar. Apart from that Ahmednagar is quite a normal city. And in this normal city why would anyone come here twice from around half the world?” “So?” He still was not getting my point. “So, what other thing remains than seeking Baba’s blessings, peace of mind, a pollution free atmosphere. In pollution-free I mean…” “…Yes I know.” This time he interrupted me. “A mind free of pollution. A soul free of polluted thoughts.”
He then started speaking out his mind to me. “In America we have got almost everything, a whole lot of money. Technologically, the US is so advanced. But human beings don’t share that spirit which I got to see here, in India the first time I came. And I just couldn’t resist the temptation of coming back here the second time. In fact, my mind was reluctant to go back and so was I. See, I am not accusing all the Americans. Some might have good bonding too. I will bet on Indian culture. It is the best in the world. The time span between a marriage and a divorce, if it were to happen, is quite great as compared to the US. Women always respect their husbands. A human, an Indian, really cares for another. See the example is right in front of me. You started speaking to me even though I was totally strange to you.” While speaking all his eyes looked tearsome. And soon tears stood in his eyes. Probably he might have spoken his heart out after a long time. Probably he might have felt at home. He was feeling light at heart and so was I because I made someone feel relaxed – mentally.