shopping...

it is easy to lose yourself in the local fineries of Jaipur. shopping is quite an experience! all the shopkeepers immediately become your best friends, offering a hot cup of chai as you haggle for a silver pendant that looks like it was worn by an Empress in the late 19th century. and if you are the merchants first customer of the day, good luck walking away without a purchase! day one is entertaining. day two is overwhelming. day three is when you wrap yourself in a shawl as not to appear visible to any of the shopkeepers that all seem to know your name and exactly what you are looking for. like much of India, the experience of shopping is equally exhausting and fulfilling. and very addictive.

amidst all the chaos I experienced a moment of profundity. it was there in Jaipur that I met with the most penetrating eyes, a blue so deep you could feel the calm of the sea. these eyes belonged to two mute artists, identical in appearance and manner. though they could not utter a word, their eyes spoke most resoundly. they sat on the floor at an art emporium, astutely painting on 80 year old paper with the single hair from a brush. their eyes spoke of a kindness that is impossible to express in words. my eyes smiled back.