My Mistake

I met a young man who was from Boston (Indian decent) through my roommate at the Vegan hostel. His story pulled at my heart strings, his parents had sent him there to study and when his studies were done, had no set plans for his return to the US. He was still in high spirits but through his joyful nature, I sensed sadness and took him under my wing. As in I tried to included him in whatever I did and where I went in Bangalore. So, of course he met the lovely Ashu and Goku.

When I went to stay with my sister's sister from the retreat, I made sure to include him in my day, all we were really doing was hanging in her apartment, she worked from home. She loved food so that was something I made sure my lil bro showed up with. I also told him to pack a night bag since we were a tad far from the city, he could just sleep with me.

This is where I messed up!

Although a married woman, her husband was out of the country. The night played out in an interesting way, an aunty  from another apartment had asked where my lil bro would be staying. I was still clueless, don't get me wrong, I great up in a culture where unwedded girls do not have boys sleep in their bed, however if you know me, you this is laughable. I just had lived so far away from those ideals that I had simply forgotten. 

So, Aunty, we all go to the local food area for some pani puri, always fun the got my faves, jalebi and brought it home. We end up at Aunty's place with her husband and son, then as the night is coming to an end, I am told my lil bro would be sleeping here tonight, RIGHT, everything started to flood back and I started to be reminded of the customs and rules of India. How did I forget? Was it the amount of English I was being met with in Bangalore? How did I forget?

I sent lil bro back to place and sat in my room, pissed! I then wrote, a very angry blog and sent it to a few people. Retreat sister got word and was not happy with me, however her sister who I had wronged was pretty dandy about my foreign ignorance and didn't see why I needed to be pissed nor why her sister needed to feel the way she felt. The lesson here lies in how she made all three of us talk and reminded me that even though I was wrong no one was hurt and because she wasn't making a fuss, no one else  should too. 

This wise person and I bumped heads a few times in opinions, however it was how she carried her opinions while respecting mine that made her time valuable. Both her and her sister are strong woman in their own sense, steadfast in their customs, both very kind and I couldn't help notice or rather the big kid in me, sense the child in them.

I can't thank the both of them enough for their hospitality and the lessons that were learnt in that day. 

We also had dinner at a really cool restaurant/club which had an epic water feature.