things not talked about

These are the images that I am working on; they don’t go away. This is the beginning of my education and there is much to learn and think about—and there will be responsibilities and opportunities to use that.

Seven women walk in a circle on the construction site behind the hotel. A man with a shovel fills a huge metal bowl with broken gray rocks. One at a time the women lift a bowl onto their heads (they have a ring of fibers that supports the bowl that they just keep on their heads) and walk 8 yards, lift the bowl off, dump the rocks into a bin, and continue circling. They chatter as they work.

We are walking down a major street in Bombay, hustle and bustle everywhere. Two very small children are in my path, both are covered in dust and dirt. The infant is crawling over the leg of the toddler. There are flies and there is garbage.

We are enjoying coconut waters, sipping from the coconut shells. This vendor only has the ones with water, not with coconut meat to eat. There is a small boy there and Riddhi wants to buy him a coconut. The vendor tells her not to do this. The boy wants it to eat, to make a meal, and his coconuts don’t have the meat; so the boy will go to his mother and she will argue that the vendor is cheating him and there will be a huge ruckus.

Two small children, wearing just shirts, are sitting by the side of the road, stirring the embers of a fire with big sticks.

I am sitting in the rickshaw, stalled in traffic. A young girl startles me by grabbing my arm. She smiles and holds out her hand for money. As she leaves she touches my arm again and smiles.

I am looking at fabric for Adam and Riddhi’s quilt, beautiful dupioni silks in many many colors. We talk with one clerk. Another clerk moves our choices from cabinet to counter and cuts the fabric, the first clerk writes up the bill, another clerk takes the fabric to the pick-up counter and hands us our copy of the bill to go to the cashier and pay. One person takes my credit card. Another person takes the credit card receipt and writes up a ticket and staples the paperwork together. Then I go to the pick-up counter and hand over my ticket. The fabric is now bundled. The clerk stamps the ticket and staples one copy to the package and hands it to me.

There is a water barrel in an entry nook in the jewelry repair shop. A customer waiting with us, takes the metal cup and rinses it out, then fills it. When he drinks the cup doesn’t touch his mouth. He replaces it on the shelf.

Women dressed all in white walk with a bowl in their hands. They are a religious order or sect. People give them food, but they must leave the door open as these women don’t knock—they wait. If they are touched by another person, they must fast for a day. They do not speak, they do not touch. They walk.