Stranded In The Indian Desert. World Traveller. Artist. Designer. Emphatic Cat Enthusiast.

Arriving in Jaipur after a 31 hour train from Kolkata, I was greeted by two men offering me a ride to my hotel. Too tired to be discerning, I hopped into their unlicensed car. By the time I reached my destination I had been invited to the wedding of their cousin two days later. Classic Indian persuasion and a lack of plans found me agreeing to go despite my reluctance. The big day came and they picked me up from my hostel. I was told we were going to an uncles shop to try on turbans and kurta pajama’s before heading off on the overnight drive to the wedding. Somehow it wasn't until that day they realized the rickshaw would not be sufficient for the drive and we would have to borrow a relatives car. The task of asking to borrow the car was given to me. At midnight, I rapped on the door until a pregnant woman answered. I explained myself, asking for the car and she sleepily agreed. Finally, after picking up some friends and squeezing 7 adults and a baby into the vehicle, we were off and I was ready to sleep. I awoke abruptly as the car crashed into a boulder totaling the front wheel, and there we waited, in the desert, until morning, crammed into a hot car until someone rescued us. Everyone was all so nonchalant about the whole thing, so I tried to follow suit. Morning came along with help, and we arrived in the village just before the ceremony, which was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The entire town took part and we paraded around the streets with the groom on a white horse and children swarming me, the token foreigner. The excitation was overwhelming. While the ceremony was brief it was the dinner that tested my comfort zone. Not only did I eat with my hands, I shared my chair with one other man and my plate with two. I was in an unfamiliar world surrounded by people who wanted to discover mine. The attention and questioning was nonstop. I desperately searched for the tiniest familiarity of home, but none ever came, but by the end of my trip, that was okay.