As many of you know, Hoshner is a Parsi, and I am a mixed breed of Tamilian Brahmin, UP and Himachali descent. Having grown up in Madras, I can still read Tamil and speak a smattering of it. My husband, who is of Iranian descent, is, outside of Bombay, Puna and Delhi and perhaps the state of Gujarat, a foreigner. To me he looks and sounds Indian, he has a far larger repertoire of choice Hindi abuses than I do, but his fair skin, large nose and unusual face make him foreign to a majority of Indians who have not been exposed to the Parsi race and Zoroastrian religion. This has worked in our favour most of the time while travelling around Tamil Nadu, except for the times we have to buy things and he gets charged some ridiculous ‘white’ person rate. At those times I step in, casually throw out a few words in Tamil and everyone has a good laugh. Sometimes I even manage a reduced rate! But more than anything, this has resulted in some very interesting conversation, speculations about our origins, and confusion on the faces of many many people. We have even been photographed by random people on the street, our large backpacks attracting much attention. I suppose walking around small fishing villages and devout temple towns, we have stood out rather obviously; the ‘white guy’ with his big camera and the North Indian girl both gawking at massive temple structures and ancient crumbling houses, and photographing weird things like goats, boats and old people.

Tamil Nadu has treated us very well, in part due to the fact that many people think Hoshner is a foreigner, and also simply because it is a state full of polite people. We have taken numerous buses across the state, as you already know having read our blog, and on every single one of them both the bus driver and conductor have been more than helpful. Perhaps this is so across this country, and we can confirm soon enough, but as of now TN was wonderful. We have had the bus drivers ensure that when we have to change buses, the next guy is aware of our final destination, and random conductors, ticket collectors and shop owners at bus depots hang around to make sure we get on the right bus. Many a time, even the most crowded buses have given us a wide berth, with the young women giggling because Hoshner always sat in front with me in the women’s section. Sometimes I would speak to people in Tamil, which elicited surprise, amusement, confusion and laughter at my ‘north’ Indian accent. A battle I have fought my whole life, where my hindi has a south Indian accent and my tamil a north one.

Through the course of our journey we have had random, entertaining conversations with people on buses, restaurants, with fruit vendors, and shops in several languages included sign. The most common response on learning that Hoshner is an Indian from Bombay, is a startled slightly disbelieving face that breaks into welcoming smiles. I have been most amused, travelling with this foreigner! Tamil Nadu, a state that is at the same time both familiar and strange to me, has a rich cultural past and history and offers a great unique learning experience of a slice of India. A rather large slice once you delve into the large dynasties that have called the region home, waged wars and built empires, crossed the oceans and conquered far lands and cultivates the arts. It has been a fantastic journey, educating ourselves, stuffing our faces with great food, learning just a little more about this great country and experiencing the amazing. Personally also it has been fantastic, learning more about my ancestors and the history of my Tamil roots. It has reinforced the idea of what we have embarked upon, not that we need much reinforcing or encouragement, and more than anything it has made us realise, more so, just how much more exciting and rewarding our journey will be.

– Ambika.