” ‘Get out’ is not a phrase in any of our languages. Indians don’t know that term,” Jose said.
Rob laughed loudly. “Well come to the U.S. and you’ll learn that phrase quickly. We use it a lot.”
“That’s a shame,” Jose replied. “If you are in a restaurant here, no one would ever tell you they’re closed and it’s time to leave. It would never happen.”
And I thought Southerners had cornered the market on hospitality. I was skeptical of Jose’s reply. Actually, I thought he was flat-out lying. Every one has a closing time and India couldn’t be an exception to that universal truth.
In Munnar, Jose took us to an authentic shop to get Ayurvedic massages.
“You can come by any time you like,” said the shop owner.
“What time do you close?” I asked.
The shop owner just stared at me and blinked.
“We can come by later on tonight after our tours?” I asked. A bit more staring and blinking followed. Ha! I knew I’d find a closing time in India.
“Sure, whatever is good for you,” he said.
“7:30?” asked Jose.
“Sure. 7:30 is perfect.”
“Done.”
Jose took us up the mountain to the hotel so we could check in. After they upgraded us to one of the private cottages (just because they could and wanted to), we learned we were going to miss the last dinner slot there due to our massages. (For the record, I felt like a complete jackass for having such a touristy excuse.) The proprietor said it was not a problem. They would hold a separate seating just for us.
“Yeah, right,” I thought to myself. Thank goodness I still had some chocolate chip cookies in my bag for dinner later on tonight.
When we returned from the massages (and that will be a separate post in and of itself!), sure enough dinner and the staff were all waiting for us with a delicious several course meal. I was floored. How could this be happening?
But this kind of scenario kept happening everywhere we went. Once again, India made a fool out of me, or rather I made a fool out of myself, to myself, by doubting her. Jose was right to an alarming degree. In India, they will always leave the light on for you. I wonder what the Eagles would think of that.
Christa Avampato 