Day two in Jodhpur started with a delicious breakfast of aloo parantas (potato filled patties). By early afternoon, several students from the school where Abhijeet's mom teaches arrived to do my henna. I was really excited about having henna and began with great interest and patience while the girls painted intricate designs on my hands and forearms. The girls chatter, giggles, curiosity, and excitement helped me to relax. Even though I didn't understand much of what they said, my relaxed state allowed me to at least piece together a few words in Hindi from the conversation. I realized afterwards that most other times that Hindi was being used all around me I was too stressed out or nervous to understand much of anything.
The whole henna process took almost 3 hours to complete and at several points all 5 girls were working on me from different angles. I was amazed at not only their individual talent and artistry but at their ability to create a unified design while all working on different aspects. The girls were so likable that they even convinced both Abhijeet and Vikram to get a small henna design on one hand each. In this afternoon, I also learned an important Hindi phrase. When the girls asked how much Hindi I speak, I heard Abhijeet reply "thori thori" which means little little. This phrase became very helpful in future social situations when people asked if I spoke Hindi. The fact that I could respond was much better than just a blank stare and the cuteness of the phrase just made people laugh and move on from the fact that I don't really know that much Hindi.
The end result of the henna can be seen in the picasa picture album.
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