That's What Friends Are For

Friends are essential in India. Traveling solo is challenging, and having a friend takes off a lot of pressure. Someone can watch the bags while you go to the toilet, look for a hotel room, or buy train tickets. Two people makes the good-cop/bad-cop routine possible, a must for bargaining and negotiating hotel room prices.

But the most important service a true friend in India provides is saying NO at the right time. "Hey, I'm thinking of shaving my head and tucking into an ashram." NO. "I think it's time to change my wardrobe up a bit. Do you think I would look good in orange?" NO. (Orange is the color worn by the sadhus, or holy men, in India, and many travelers submit to orange robes once they join an ashram.) That's what friends are for.

I am very fortunate to have met Arezo from Southern California on the train from Agra to Khajuraho. We practiced these questions a few times, and Arezo proved to know just when to say NO. But more than that, she turned out to be a very dear friend. We spent a month together, hardly apart for more than a few hours at a time, and that only a few times.

Aside from the obvious benefit of halving the price of the guesthouse room, this friendship proved to be a gift from heaven. We have laughed, cried, conspired, eaten, shopped, bargained together. In short we have done India justice and have grown in the process. Arezo left for Delhi today, and will fly home to California on Wednesday. I am very sad she is gone. But I am very grateful for my new friend, who I am sure I will meet again when I get home. xoxoxo Arezo!