Guest in India

India has a strong culture of hospitality. As a crossroad for world traffic, India has been used to receiving visitors since ancient times. Holiday Inns were in short supply back then, so people took travelors into their homes for food and rest without question, even if food was limited. The Indians of today receive guests in that same spirit of hospitality and I am no exception to their ancient rules.

“Will you take tea, Madam?” Food and drink is offered immediately upon arriving and it is impossible for an Indian to accept a guest’s refusal. Sisters rush to make me my second breakfast of the day in spite of the fact that I have indicated that I have just eaten. Food appears automatically in front of me. Staying for lunch is simply assumed and a feast is prepared before you can say it is not necessary: green beans, rice, bread, curries, chicken, stews, dal, cucumber, yogurt, and fruit. It is impossible to serve yourself and your plate is heaped with food. Finish that plate and you are encouraged to eat, eat, eat more. If it’s between meals, every snack in the house is brought out and tea poured. It is simply IMPOSSIBLE to refuse and so I have learned to try to eat very little at the Bishop’s house, especially if I am going visiting during the day I have finally gotten them to accept that in spite of my large size, I can not eat so much. What I really want is a diet coke but that is not on the menu. I am now seven days without one and up till now, I would have killed for one. Today I might just maim someone permanently for life but not kill them for a cold can of diet coke.

Yesterday my driver pointed out the man on the bicycle transporting large plastic jugs, indicating “Milk Man”. Tea is half milk here and it suddenly occurred to me that our cook is not running out every day to Giant Eagle for pasturized milk, nor does the yogurt which is served every day arrive in a Dannon plastic carton. Even after reading all the food warnings before coming, I just hadn’t thought about the milk not being pasturized. The other day, I was given a glass of chilled buttermilk with some kind of purple and green leaves floating in it that tasted somewhat like onion. I wasn’t crazy about it. So far, though, I have had no health problems and I am drinking the same water that everyone else drinks. It’s all bottled water but the plastic bottles are just convenient cartons that are being reused. The only thing that might be a 100% safe to drink is a diet coke from an unopened can but, like I said, it’s not an option.