I was waiting to board my flight. I had a good seat right in front of the gate, so I could board when my turn came.
A slightly older gentleman – probably in his late 50s came and sat down in the seat next to mine. Grey hair,glasses, wearing a suit and carrying a spring coat. Now I was in a better mood than I generally am at Delhi airport, but I still wasn’t feeling friendly enough to talk to strangers.
I was a little surprised when he struck up a conversation. He was waiting for the Swissair flight of which there was no sign (we were sitting by the AA gate). So he wanted to know if this was a business trip – he’d seen me talking to them and mistaken me for a friendly soul. I told him yes. I told him about the conference etc. And when it got to qsn #3 and I was tired of answering – I asked him where he was headed. He said Zurich.
So I asked him why he was going to Zurich. He was just starting a world wide lecture tour. First stop Zurich followed by Bern, Berlin, Amsterdam, London, New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Tokyo, Beijing, and Singapore (I may have missed a coupled of cities and added 1 or 2.)
Ooh – the good life I thought !! What do you lecture on ? I am not sure what I was expecting but he told me he is an expert in Ancient Indian History. “I am the custodian of the ancient Indian arts and culture,” And then he moved into a passionate discourse on how people are only aware of the history that the British have chosen to publish. But the published history of India is largely inaccurate. for example there was never a single religion called Hindu – Hindu was the name of the people that lived south of the river Hind or Indus.
“I heard you talk about Shanghai with your colleague – do you go there often ?” “Actually I’ve never been, though I’d love to go. Really loved Beijing though – best foot massages anywhere in the world “ – happy to move to a topic where I was on slightly firmer ground . “Foot massages ! I have never had one – I am not into massages…” he sounded very uncomfortable. “But – I’ve traveled all over China” he said.
“China is a place where art and culture still thrives . And it is such an energizing, vital place. I’ve traveled all over it – been on a train all the way to Lhasa. I do not speak the language but the Chinese are some of the most friendly and warm people anywhere in the world.”
Despite my virtually non-existent knowledge of Indian history I foolishly attempted a feeble argument – “well but haven’t we been colonized civilization after civilization” “Give me an example” he says with the confidence of one who has demolished every argument there is – “well Alexander – Alexander was here for barely a few years hardly long enough to have an impact. And what about the Mughals ? “ I stammer – wondering why I had gone there in the first place. “The Mughals did not impose their religion on India – they assimilated with Indians “ - I wanted to argue that he was still a colonist but let it pass as he was pressing on with his argument – “11 of the 16 artists in his court were Hindu – there is a strong similarity between the art of ancient India and the Mughals …….. and etc…”
I cannot recall how we got to it but then he was telling me about how National Geographic had done a 16-spread on him. “It his the stands last month. And they still have it on their website. Wow! Yes and it is the first positive article I have seen on this country. I am very proud of the article and my country. Nat Geo sent a photographer and writer to work with me and visit the places I wanted to show them. The photographer was initially caught up with the very obvious color India has to offer and he took some photos of people begging – but the writer soon saw what I had to show and he made sure we got the right story”.
The Nat Geo article http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/01/ india-ancient-art/map-interactive
And then a gate official walked up to us and asked if we were traveling on American – the lines had thinned out and it was time for me to board my flight. I turned to the gentleman and asked him his name – Binoy Behl – read all about him.
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