The Mother’s hand

[“How Do You Like Baroda City?” by doctorzamalek January 26, 2011

That was the question a young boy asked me at the wedding. My answer three days later is still the same: I like it very well.

One thing about traveling in India is that since reasonably good hotels can be had for reasonable prices, one often holes up in them for weeks at a time (only 9 days this time, but often I’ve done much longer in one hotel). And after a few weeks in a hotel, not only does the room start feeling like home, but at the very least you start forming smile-and-wave relationships with dozens of people who work at or frequent places you frequent yourself. I tend to be a creature of habit with my food and drink orders anywhere, and so I’m not even needing to place orders in Baroda anymore; it’s a quick nod as soon as I enter the door, and they just go ahead and prepare what they know I’m going to want anyway. And the café workers down the street, in particular, are almost my friends at this point. I’ll be sorry to leave all these people behind.

Back to Bombay tomorrow to wind this trip down and head back into a possible political hurricane in Cairo, just as the semester starts (next week) and as we inaugurate our new President (February 7).]

Graham Harman was touring Vadodara when the Egyptian Revolution erupted. There is nothing to remotely suspect The Mother’s hand, but still! [TNM]