So I must blog about the rebellious victory (or what I deem a victory) that took place at the food court of our mall in Salt Lake on Thursday. I had just bought a scrumptious dollop of chocolate ice cream and was traveling into a food court with Rita and Tiffany, when a security guard stopped me and told me that outside food was not allowed in the food court. Upon hearing this, I reluctantly retreated and found a lovely place of rest under an umbrella on the outside patio. Literally within not even five minutes, a different security guard came over to me and motioned something to me with his hand. I asked him what exactly his vague motion meant, and he said to me “No outside food allowed.” To this, I responded “You mean that there is no outside food allowed outside?” He then stares at me with a long, awkward pause and says, “Yes.” To this (and I admit that this was somewhat immature and childish) I said, “That is stupid.” If you know anything about me, you will know that while I do respect rules, I do not respect stupid rules, and I have defined this rule as a stupid rule. So as an act of defiance I made my way over to the “line” between the territory of the patio and the wimpy ice cream cart, that I didn’t even buy ice cream from. I sat on this stone border-like thing around these plants with one foot on my side by this random ice cream stand and the other foot crossing the “line” of the patio where my outside food was not allowed. I wish I could have captured this all on film because then the security guard proceeded to walk around staring at me and talking to his fellow confidants. Then, he has the nerve to come up to me and say, “Please have a seat miss” over by these brown benches that must have been the appropriate outside location for my outside food. And of course, because I am ridiculously stubborn and I am rarely to never wrong, I responded, “No. I’m good.” And with this I slowly licked the ice cream off of my spoon while staring at him. I wish with all my heart that I could have captured the look on his face as I did this and the manner in which he slowly and awkwardly walked away. I came out triumphant, and I believe that in due time, I will be the Gandhi of the food court. Mom and dad, I hope you are proud, because I sure was after my victory. Ah, the small things in life.
Well, the rest of Kolkata must have learned about my uproar at the food court, because while I was attending the Kolkata Book Fair this Friday, I was interviewed. Yes, indeed, I am an Indian celebrity, and honestly, it wasn’t even that difficult. I even pulled out the book I bought by Tagore and with pure authenticity, sifted through the pages with a delighted expression. I know it seems such a small role, but be careful, because once I have begun there is no stopping me! The book fair was lovely, and there were literally hundreds upon thousands upon millions of books. I happened upon this children section that had the SHORTENED VERSION OF MOBY DICK!!!! I was so incredibly close to buying it and sending it to my junior year, English teacher with a note attached saying that this pretty much sums up everything about the novel, while leaving out a billion pages of whale facts. I chose against this, but I did have a chuckle to myself about the irony.
As I was walking down the street tonight, heading back to our home, I realized that I am becoming a true Kolkatan, in my sense of the term. I just feel that I am in groove with the rhythm of the streets of Kolkata and that I have a confidence about me that I certainly did not possess at the beginning of this trip. It is such a blessing that I am starting to feel that I actually live here. Although Kolkata, I am absolutely sure, will continue to surprise, amaze and shock me, I can see how it is changing the type of person that I am. Tonight, as we were drinking tea, Kakima said something that was so profound I have to share it: “Through helping those who are not as blessed as us, we are worshiping God.” My jaw just dropped at this statement. I never thought of it that way. When we stop to help those who we know to not have as many blessing as the Lord has given us, we are worshiping Him. We are blessing and praising His name, and we are doing it not because we are these incredible people that feel so good after helping those in need. No, we are doing it because it is our obligation and our responsibility to each and every human being of this world. Who knows, we could be on the streets tomorrow, and then we are the ones that are begging other human beings for money. I was just so proud of Kakima, and Kaka and her continue to move me so deeply. I consider them by biggest blessing so far in Kolkata. I can’t imagine what they have left to teach me.
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