Today, I wandered up to the reception room at Lakme Salon in Pondicherry to pick up April who was having her hair done as well as a manicure / pedicure. I was early and had a chance to observe Indian society unfolding before me.
There were two teenagers who had come together. At first sight, one would hardly believe that they came together. The more savvy one was wearing tight jeans, a bad boy tight t-shirt, make up and had her hair done in a modernized, western fashion. Her friend, on the other hand, was wearing a trdaitional churida and had her hair also done in a traditrional fashion. She had been brought to get a modernized look.
Shortly thereafter, a mother arrived with her adult daughter - both dressed traditionally. The daughter had the henna decorations on her hands. She was coming for preparation of marraige.
There was also the other teenager who had both feet in traditional and modern worlds. A tunic over her jeans.
Then there was the wife sitting next to me who was dressed in a way that would have made her fit in whether she was in Pondicherry or Calgary or London.
Yesterday, having become a bit lost on our motorbikes, we wandered into a very rural village where we saw quite basic huts for living and a very rural way of life that would have nothing in common with anybody that I saw in the waiting room.
This is a country under such change - there is the completely westernized at one end and the rural family whose only exposure to the west is when people wander in or the children get some lesson in school. There is not a single day here that is not fascinating and forever challenging you to unravel contradictions. That may be one reason why I really like this place!
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