Suresh

Suresh.

Suresh (photo stolen from Judy's webalbum)

I keep talking about Suresh in this blog but never really give any background – like how did I end up in the back of Suresh’s cab!! Now that Judy and I are on our own in Delhi, I appreciate Suresh even more. I make fun but he is really a gem. As you can imagine, spending 11 days in a car with someone, it is pretty hard to think of Suresh as our driver, he was one third of our traveling team – at least in our minds – in reality, it was somewhat blurry.

Some Suresh background. If you remember way back when I was first planning this trip, it was all because Judy was planning to come to India to visit her friend Priscilla. I never eventually saw Priscilla in the end and never stayed in her apartment so she sort of exited stage left in my blog but she was integral in the Suresh connection.

Judy and Suresh at the waterfall.

Even further background. (fuzzy here). From what Judy tells me, Suresh grew up near the Ashram of Baba. All I can glean about Baba is that his followers believe that he is a living God. I don’t know if this makes him a Swami, a Guru, what?? Apparently he is on his second of three incarnations. Again, I don’t know if he is a Hindu god or just some other type of god. As I have mentioned, Suresh is a Hindu who follows (?) Shiva so Baba must fit into this somehow.

Priscilla is also a devotee of Baba which is why she comes to India so often, she has apartments near two of his ashrams. While Judy was staying with Priscilla, she went to a couple of sermons (? – this blog is really bringing out my western-centrism) and hung out with some other devotees that Priscilla knows. But she can’t even enlighten me on the Baba thing.

Judy and Suresh enjoy a coconut at the Golden Temple.

One last thing about Baba because Baba is a real influence on the type of person Suresh is. From what I can tell, Baba has a lot of Western devotees who donate lots of money. Baba uses some (or maybe most, what do I know) of this money for good works. He has built numerous hospitals and other works for the benefit of the poor. Being a devote follower of Baba, Suresh is a true believer in Sava (spelling?). Sava is ‘doing good work’ for no personal benefit.

This entire preamble is to explain why, despite my scary books on India about how anyone and everyone will try to rip me off, I totally trusted Suresh. He was honest to the core; he would even remind waiters that they had forgotten to add one coffee to our bill – thanks Suresh.

Suresh listening intently to our guide at the Dancing Girl temple.

So, as I am sure you have already figured out, Judy met Suresh through Priscilla. Suresh has a large client base through the Baba family. Judy and Priscilla took a road trip with Suresh before I got here (see Judy’s pictures for beautiful photographic detail). So when I arrived, Judy had arranged for us to take another trip, which is what you are reading about on this blog!!

Suresh is married with one son. He lives with his wife, son, mother, father, and his wife’s parents. He is the family earner. He seems quite devoted to his family.
Just one more thing – Suresh dotes on Judy like she is his mother. But he also sort of treats her like a child, chiding her if she does anything that Suresh thinks is foolish eg, the Sari incident or if she lets people see her open wallet. (He would always say that I would have to take care of Judy once we went to Delhi).

He loved Judy's camera and was always willing to take out picture. This one is in Hampi.

Needless to say, Judy and Suresh had a special relationship. Some of the conversations were hilarious because Judy would ask questions that I would never have broached. Like the one about ladies undergarments or the one about circumcision!! But the topper was the question about gay Indian men. Side note: men here are very affectionate toward each other. They hold hands on the street and walk around with their arms around each other. It is very (very!) common, much more common to see men touching than to see couples or women holding hands. Anyway, this led Judy to ask Suresh if there were many gay men in India. He asked ‘what does that mean.’ So Judy clarified by saying ‘men who love each other and get married’. You should have seen Suresh’s eyes. They were like saucers!! ‘How is this possible?” he asked – looking like his world and head were about to explode. This is where I stepped in because I just could bear to see the results of the explanation. I said ‘it isn’t possible, haha, there is no such thing.’ He looked a little less horrified but I’m pretty sure the thought is still churning around in his head.

Suresh helping Judy chose street purfume (so many things wrong with that sentence...)

Suresh waiting while Judy takes a picture from an aquaduct. Another odd sentence.

Anyway, now when I talk about Suresh, you will have a better idea of who I am talking about.