I could think of nothing intelligent to say.

"So, is it true that there are cows just walking about on Indian streets and people are starving?" 


I wasn't sure if I had heard the question right. Or if an earlier part of the conversation had clues to what I was asked. I am slow by a slight when talking to the locals, because I still find myself acutely aware of the assumptions I have to deal with before I can speak to the actual person, then too with an impregnable coat of 'American sensibilities'. I have so far managed to befriend *one* American who doesn't mind my saying like it is, and who tells me like it is. 


I have let go of the expectation of hearing my name said correctly in firangland. Everyone here calls me She-leee-nee, when I am actually Shaa-li-ni. (Really, how difficult is that?!) But then again, its so similar in spelling to most of the Italian food (specifically pasta) that I cannot blame them. I don't notice it anymore either. This one guy who I had met on a bus ride back home from school had said my name exactly right in his first attempt. Ironically, he was an Italian (and amused at how happy hearing my name said correctly had made me)


I should really stick to what I was saying at the beginning of this post. So, a couple of days ago, I was at the volunteer thing and watching this deft  plumber person at his job (Skilled crafts like plumbing and electrical work earns you ~100$ an hour, I should have got my MS in some such skill. At least I would be making money then) I was asking him some questions, like the gauge of the copper pipe being installed, the material he was using for insulation etc etc (I can be quite nerdy) (And I like that about me)


It was his turn to ask me questions then, and he asked me what I did and where I came from. And then he asked me if it was true that there were people starving in India and there were cows on the street.  I swear I blanked out. This was perhaps the most original question I had been asked. EVER. 


So I started mumbling something incoherent in reply, starting from "umm...hmm....(confused look, brain processing a LOT of information)...umm". "Well, most Indians are vegetarians, and most of those who aren't certainly don't eat beef. Cows are considered sacred in our scriptures, actually the bull is a mode of transportation used by one of our Gods. And usually the cows on the streets are someone's property. So you can't just take them home and cook them."


Could I have given a stupider reply? I think not. I guess I cannot blame the Western world for their assumptions about  the East. I can still not think of an 'intelligent' reply, something that wouldn't have made me (and Indians in general) look like a moron. 


Apologies to the world. And to fellow Indians.