Travel
Unplugged in India
Floating through a dream
When I was young, and cell phones were new, I did not really get the concept of wanting to be a touch away from calling someone just because you were thinking about them at that moment. And, probably more accurately, I did not see why I would ever want to be a touch away from being called.
You see, my father had an odd relationship with phones. First, he had a cat, Maya, who liked to pee on phones — direct aim. Despite this, or maybe because of it, she was his favorite cat. Second, if he didn’t feel like answering the phone just then…he didn’t.
I am my father’s daughter. So, when I did finally get a phone, it never seemed to be with me. It lay buried under my Kleenex and keys in my purse, probably not charged anyways. My husband would be amazed when I actually answered.
The first time I went to India, in 2004, I had to go to an “ITC” booth — a yellow and red affair with a phone inside, to call home. India is thirteen and a half hours different from here. So, I had to time this with precision.
