My Complexion and Bhagavad Gita

I used to stand outside the lab those days. There were many who passed by me. Most of them didn’t even notice me while some just looked at me and passed. But he smiled at me and asked, “Why are you standing here? Thinking?”

“No, it’s very cold inside the lab,” I replied.

“Where’re you from?”

“India”

“Then you must be from South India?”

He guessed it correctly from my complexion, I thought. Some foreigners have a notion that all the south Indians are dark. It’s true to some extent, though. I had faced the same question before and I didn’t have any problems in referring to my complexion. Anyway, I didn’t want to tell him that even though I’m of very dark complexion, there’re fair ones even in my own family. One can’t predict exactly the home place of an Indian from her color.

“Wear your lab coat; it’ll keep you warm.” He continued.

“I don’t have a lab coat.”

“Really? I’ve a spare lab coat. I can give you that.”

It was so surprising that a person, who had seen me just for a couple of times, was offering me a lab coat. Are Americans so friendly? I refused his offer politely. He (Jason) asked my name.

“Is it Bhagavad Gita?” He asked me when he heard my name. I was really astonished and glad that an American knows about our sacred book. “My wife is from Dehradun, India. It’s very cold there. But south India is very hot, isn’t it?” He added.

That’s it; he wasn’t referring to my complexion when he guessed I was from South India.