Intersections

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Yesterday in Sevilla, I saw Christopher ColumbusŽ purported tomb and learned that locally, ‘las Indias’ means the Indies, i.e. the Americas. Only ‘la India’ qualifies as the name of the country. ‘Indio’ means Native American, while ‘Hindú’ is the word for desi, even if you aren’t. That man was confused, confused, confused.

(I also learned that the cityŽs Plaza de España was used in Star Wars Episode 2, but that will excite only a few of you. A scary few to be sure 😉 )

Today I checked out La Alhambra, the Moorish fort built by Berbers from Morocco when they ruled Andalucía. It is a totally wild mashup of Spanish colonial and Islamic styles. Think Spanish tile roofs, square, unadorned towers and boring crenelations on the outside, arches, Arabic carvings and geometric patterns on the inside. Think Spanish coats of arms surrounded by verses praising Allah. Think Dehli’s Lal Qila meets Taco Bell. If I didnŽt know it was done that way on purpose, I’d think the Arabic brush strokes were steganography snuck in by marbleworkers held hostage.

Most major innovation happens at intersections. The 2nd gen process that some deride as ‘confusion’ is actually tremendous cultural innovation. And itŽs preciously short-lived, too– as the wheel of assimilation inexorably grinds away, this Cambrian Explosion too shall pass.

and,

Nothing is entirely original. The aesthetic I instinctively recognize as Indian is Mughal, i.e. Islamic by way of Turkish and Irani influence on Mongols from what is now Uzbekistan. The traditions saffronists claim are ‘native’ to India– those, too, came from some intersection, some borrowing, some adaptation somewhere.

P.S. Nobody looks at a brown man in Spain and guesses American– not even fellow Americans. I had the funniest conversation just now with a white woman who spoke fluent Spanish, and then all over again in Amrikan English. So the converse is true too, sometimes.

Related post: O Henry

60 thoughts on “Intersections”

  1. Deepa, maybe its all the sugar I am not eating, or my Bong genes, but after I learnt that your refrigerator is stocked with baklava, I am finding you irresistible.

    Well, it was stocked with baklava…..sorry man.

  2. Echoing SIG, when I traveled throughout Spain nobody viewed me as Indian — I magically blended in and it was great.

    Yeah…so not my experience. Maybe because I was travelling with another brown chick, but we were constantly asked “India???” No one really bought our “No, I’m American…she’s Canadian” thing either – the next statement from them was always “I love Indian food!”

    To the person heading to Barcelona: after you’ve checked out the city, head up to the castle overlooking the city – fabulous view! Then, take the monorail/zipwire thingo down to the beach. Check out the restaurants on the beach and see if you can find some faeda – the Catalan version of paella – it’s made with vermicilli instead of rice.

  3. Manish,

    you’ve probably moved on by the time you read this, but just in case…. a short side-trip (something like a 30-minute bus ride) from Granada to Fuentevaqueros is a must if you like (or love) Federico Garcia Lorca’s writing and want to see where he lived as young one. His family home was turned into a museum. And you get a glimpse of what more rural Spain is like. I’ve been there twice and it was definitely worth it.

  5. Maybe they all ran away and hid when they saw him headed in their direction…..

    Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned I’m a friend of uncle Jai…

    … maybe Manish’s friends had arrived so that they could take him back to the mothership…

    Vinod took the window seat…

    Thanks for all the recs, guys.

  6. I’m not sure what’s worse: the idea of Spanish women running away screaming upon hearing of “Jai of SM”, or the notion that all those lovely ladies would refer to an early-thirtysomething guy like me as “Uncle”…..;)

  7. Loved La Carboneria when I was in Sevilla, sweet to see others know it too.

    Funny thing about being brown there — holy exotic other, batman — with men shouting “Morena, bonita, guapa…” as we walked down the street. It was just weird. I wondered if the gypsy women I met got the same reaction, but somehow suspect not.

  9. Would that I were! Believe me, I was no looker on that trip, backpacking as we were 🙂 I actually found it rather creepy, it was the constant references to dark skin and the highly sexualized related reaction. I was wondering if anyone else found that — or was it just reserved for the Sri Lankans?

  10. Sevilla has a lot of beautiful women…and Cordoba even more…so I don’t know what you mean my “not in January”? Spain is full of beautiful women.