| Terrence Author Oak 2005-04-23, 10:50 pm |
| I was reading the non-fiction book Holy Cow by Sarah MacDonald which is
by an Australian reporter who writes about her exploration of modern
India a few years ago, when I came on the paragraph below, which is
found in chapter 6, Sikhing The Holy Hair.
While the chapter is mostly is about Westerners who have made a
pilgrimage to the Golden Temple and become Sikhs, a personal thing of
hers that is going on while doing that is her dealing with her hair
which for some reason has started to fall out, and her trying various
cures for that. At one point at the recommendation of a friend she goes
to a legendary Ayurvedic healer by the name of P.K. Jain...
QUOTE
It's standing room only in the packed waiting room and everyone is
scrunched close and staring. I smile weakly, until a man wearing a tight
white T-shirt tucked into ball crunching black jeans walks straight up
to me, stops inches from my face and with a completely serious
expression on his, whip a comb from his back pocket and does a
slow-motion Fonzie-like flick though his well-oiled mullit. I'm ridged
in shock. Is this a come-on or a pose-off? I'll never know, because at
that moment my name is called.
"Misssssss Seeeeeraaaaaah, please be coming."
In a tin-walled cubical I tell Mr. P. K. Jain my hair woes. he shrinks
back from me, nervously runs a hand though his thick locks and then
yells, "Eureka! I see what is happening, you are shedding your Western
Identity and becoming Indian. Take this, it will help you become one of
us."
He hands me a huge envelope of cocaine-like powder and ushers me out of
the door.
I snort every morning but my hair falls faster.
END QUOTE
While her hair does eventually start to grown again, she does not find
herself becoming an Indian.
What I wonder is, just what was the powder that was suposto fasilitate
her turning into an Indian?
Anyway.... the book is a fascinating and entertaining read, and you can
find a review of the book at the link below, as well as links to other
reviews and MacDonald's web page,
Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Sara MacDonald - review
http://mostlyfiction.com/adventure/macdonald.htm
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