Mom was all jazzed up about her trip to New Orleans until the night before she was supposed to depart for a five-day conference.
“Please, Amma, can I come with you?” begged Kuki, as she helped mom pack. “I’ll be good,” she promised, her eyes welling.
Mom choked back her own tears and made a mental note to refuse future job offers from The National Geographic if it involved being away from her babies and Indian food for more than two days. The indigenes of Irian Jaya or southeast Ecuador will just have to wait for media coverage until mom’s good and ready to cut the umbilical cord.
She slipped away the next morning before Kuki awoke, and spent the next five days desperately missing her family as she roamed the French Quarter and watched tourists make out by the river walk.
As mom pounded the pavements downtown looking for seemingly non-existent vegetarian food, she realized why New Orleans wasn’t on the desi radar - the dank air smelled of fish and urine, the buildings looked decrepit, the panhandlers were particularly persistent and the famous beignets tasted like badusha’s country cousin.
Mom even encountered some street sexual harassment - her first since she left India - as she walked around soaking in the sights. “Hi, baby!” an ugly moron clucked at her as he passed by. Mom wondered if showing the guy her middle finger would deter or encourage him, but the man had disappeared into the crowd by the time she made up her mind.
Perhaps he had mistaken mom for one of the “topless bottomless” dancers advertised outside every second edifice on upper Bourbon Street. Naked pictures of pouty women graced the building fronts and bouncers lured passers-by with promises of two-for-one drinks and other, ahem ... attractions.
If all one wanted in life were rich food, booze, jazz and willing women, N’awlins is the place to "laissez les bon temps rouler," as the city's tag line states.
But for all others - especially people like mom who drink water and are of a somewhat virtuous bent of mind - the city holds little in terms of charm and even less by way of entertainment.
15 comments:
'“I’ll be good,” she promised, her eyes welling.'
poor kuki ...
'As mom pounded the pavements downtown looking for seemingly non-existent vegetarian food, she realized why New Orleans wasn’t on the desi radar ...'
mom should've touched base with maitri before going!
- s.b.
s.b., if only she had known. I wonder what the desi population of N.O. is.
"Mom choked back her own tears and made a mental note to refuse future job offers from The National Geographic if it involved being away from her babies and Indian food for more than two days."
AND BLOGGING. Next time mom goes anywhere, she had better carry a laptop with her..
Awwww, Terri, your mom didn't like N'awlins? Didn't the desis camcording the charms of the topless women make her feel at home? Guess it's hard if you're a veggie, but if there's a time to break that vow, it's when you're in New Orleans -- the food's to die for!
And as for desi food, we found this unbelievable hole-in-the-wall Pakistani place that served the best mutton curry. After stuffing our faces, we were taken back to our hotel by a Pakistani cab driver who called me "bhabhi" and proceeded to instigate a highly intense discussion on Bollywood stars with the husband and moi. He refused to take money for the ride. A fun time was had by all...
Lakshmi, she did carry her laptop, but her room overlooked the river walk and the view was slightly distracting.
Muser, the only Indian family mom encountered was busy eating beignets at Cafe du monde.
If mom had been with a large group of friends, she probably would’ve been the first one to patronize the said bars – for research purposes, of course.
wow, u have a traveling job! I'd love it - for a short period at least..
We veggies are a doomed lot I tell u :(
vegetarians who read terr's blog:
i wish to draw your attention to nandan's concluding sentence on this link.
- s.b.
rads, food wise India cannot be beat, wouldn't you agree?
s.b., it looks like great minds think alike. (BTW, Mr. N needs an editor to give his blog posts a quick dekho before they're posted. I can recommend somebody who can do a stellar job working part-time from home.)
terri:
vijay is probably better placed, and i don't mean just physically, to recommend you :-).
on the other hand, why not ask mom to work with rashmi? i don't see why jam readers would fail to appreciate a touch of nri humour!
- s.b.
s.b., I thought Vijay still hasn't recovered from "missing the bus."
nri humor: something disturbing abt those words.
Awww, I loved N'awlins - but then I'm a full fledged carnivorous drunk (not enough to eat some of the stuff I found there but most of it? I LIKE!). Havent been there since Katrina though.
What would Mom have said if she had been there for Mardi Gras? Would she have bought some beads? I mean, someone has to study the effect of such beads on inebriated women (for research purposes, ofcourse), right? ;)
Amrita, I think after Katrina, and life being so uncertain blah, blah ... people are partying like there’s no tomorrow.
Anantha, you sound as though you’re ready to do a post-doctorate on the subject. Go for it! New Orleans reminded me of Madras - except for the naked women - so you might feel at home there.
Terri: Nah.. its just coming from the casual experience of watching too many late night GGW ads while in grad school.
Me feeling at home in New Orleans? Considering the subject of the post, you make it sound like I could be one of the pervs on the PTC buses. Gawwd.. I was more interested in how the driver maneuvered the bus along Usman Road in those days when it was open for traffic both ways.
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