Chapter 6. Pivotal Experiences
The 300 year-old Taj Mahal was awe-inspiring, truly majestic when we visited in the late 90s and remains so. No wonder the masterpiece is on UNESCO’s world heritage list.
Accommodation was two charpais placed end-to-end to fit the narrow dimensions of the room. Adjoining the room was an all-purpose toilet, laundry, bathroom, and kitchen.
The side-by-side disparity of poverty and wealth confronted our senses of social justice. In later decades I observed similar disparities elsewhere in Asia, but in India it was my first encounter with such poverty, which is why it evoked such a deep emotional response.
With Mutuuki, my classmate, in Kenya’s Rift Valley where a Maasai family taught us much about their culture; there are some things in life that the passage of time does not erase.
Olesono’s wife collected it; he served it.
Olesono asked for “a photo of me and my loved ones”. At least, that’s the message I received when translated into English from Swahili which was translated from Maasai. Oleseno smiled with pride as he posed beside his loved ones, his prized cattle.