Hi Delhi

Today Chewy made me a friend, and this friend is very worth profiling. His name starts with an E, and seeing as I am paranoid about the far reaches of Google I will not go further.

So E approached me at Red Fort, which is an old sandstone fortress that at one time served as the capitol. At another it was a British headquarters. It is now a big tourist destination. 98% of the tourist today were Indian, I could count the other foreigners that I saw on a hand and a half. Being so rare I was constantly approached to be in photos with locals- or even weirder still I was photographed paparazzi style with camera phones. It was quite funny, and I even humored a few of the requests for children and families.

This is our most awkward photo, I was asking the children if they wanted to take a funny picture. They looked back at me severely.

So I had to sneak in a few Chewy photos. Anyone who follows my facebook photography... (...anyone?) well, if you did follow it you might notice that I take travel photos of my friend and confidant Chewbacca. If you now give attention to the group photo above, you will notice that I had the little boy in front hold Chewy. Your mind is blown.

This is Chewy posing at the Red Fort

So immediately after taking this photo, a man approaches me, I assume him to be Indian because well, he looks Indian. But, twist, he is British and a delicat version of Indiana Jones at that. He says in the most polite English accent, "Pardon me, but did I just see you photographing a small man?" And I delight in Chewy so I am quick to grab him out and speak of his tales. In turns out that E is doing this same mini-photo venture with his (felt) Indiana Jones hat.

E and I spent the rest of the day together, right down to up to 10 minutes ago when he left this internet cafe.

So E and I are there discussing and posing Chewy and his hat and such when E becomes aware of what a spectacle I am. People are staring and sneaking photos, a man asks if I will pose with him, which I decline. Come on. Gross. He attributes this to me being a girl, and as he analyzes why people are noticing only me, I realize he is completely unaware that his tan complexion and dark hair/eyes make him look Indian. He even muses at one point that someone thought he was Indian. I found this very odd, because, like I said, he LOOKS Indian.

The one thing setting him apart is his Indian Jones appearance which I have not yet done justice. He has a forest green felt hat, a nice white button down shirt with a tan vest over it, slacks and hiking boots. A man ready for action, and a temperate climate. It turns out that this is his second day in India as well, thus explaining why he dressed so inappropriately for the 100 degree humid weather.

E is a complex character, a student of history. He has a frantic manner of speaking, but has interestingly developed theories on George Bush and human accountability. We decide to spend the rest of the day together because I get harassed less in his company, and I suspect he enjoys an audience for his banter. It's all going great, until we started walking down a sidewalk without shade. (E is very aware of shade and even more aware when it is lacking) He literally cannot go on and must sit in the middle of a sidewalk. We decide to take a tuk-tuk, I cannot have them English Indiana passing out. We get to another wild Bazar but E cannot manage to peruse it. I deposit him at an air conditioned Dunkin Donuts. He drapes himself over the chair as if his bones are noodles. He might slither to the ground at any moment, a puddle of a vest wearing boy.

E has many catching sayings, such as "The future is now, it is just not evenly dispersed." and "The English think 200 miles is a long distance, the Americans think 200 years is a long time." He is really a student of history and geography with a keen interest in why and how North and South Dakota came to be, and if they are next to each other. He also cannot be in direct Indian sunlight for too long without splashing water on his arms. (He tried to dump water over his face like they do in movies, but decided his glasses got too wet.)

When the time to say goodbyes came along, we parted ways with a promise that I would send him a photo of him and Chewy. He said I had been charming company (it's so much sweeter to hear from an English accent). But then, in a final twist, he appeared at this very internet cafe. He didn't seem much interested in the computer (more in my charming company) but I avoided this with the old listen to music bit. He then just sat next to me with his head down and it was weird. 

But what a companion for a day, and as you can tell he made quite the impression.