a bit of practice.

step 1, origami flower, train, between varanasi and mumbai, 30th march 2012

origami is a way of folding a paper to an object without cutting but with folding it. it is done in japan and considered as an art form, but also a fashion among westerners.

the girl sat next to me, she took out a little box full of papers, started to fold, quick and knowledged. fingertips precise and strong touching the paper.

she is quiet. her friend much more talkative. talking about japan, about food, in japan and india, their love for japan, and then india. their studying. she was studying eglish literature and drama. she loves it. as she says. it is big in japan.

talking about stereotypes. japanese girls are nice, polite, shy. sweet. these girls are. but not just. intelligent, fast, funny curious. at least what i understood.  i know stereotypes do not exist, but still they always coming up, for me, meeting new personalities.

stereotypes are there to simplify, to understand, to make it easier. do they restrict the way you act with a person.

the whole way we talked a bit, not super much. not sure if it is there personality, mine, the space in between. 

step 3, origami flower, train, between varanasi and mumbai, 30th march 2012

step 5, origami flower, train, between varanasi and mumbai, 30th march 2012

step 8, origami flower, train, between varanasi and mumbai, 30th march 2012

finished, origami flower, train, between varanasi and mumbai, 30th march 2012

i got bored after a while. of writing, reading. felt i should interact. got exciting about he fine quick fingers making out of nothing everything.

i was not good. i can tell. the corners where not specified enough, not detailed, so the following steps where even more difficult. everything depended on each other. she looked at it, smiled, laughed, redid it, explained again. was patient. very.

audience, origami flower, train, between varanasi and mumbai, 30th march 2012

side thought: she got introduced in me on my first day of my traveling. by her grandson, i suppose. at least he said so. Look after my grandmother he said. so i suppose.

i was just a bit shocked, out of selfishness, helplessness. i should look after her. i looked around. nobody was in the department, but also we were early. he seemed in a rushed. i was just shouting at him. what. me. i cannot speak hindi, she not english. what do u think. ask somebody else or explain me exactly what to do- imagining in my head already her and me pushing each other to the toilet.

i still ask myself now if i was unsocial, selfish or unspontaneous, unflexible. what would other people do?

at the end it was all fine. there was a nice hindi guy next to us, she was much easier to deal iwth then expected and she learned also a lesson. being not understood and making yourself understood in a non verbal way but still feeling secure.

at the end after looking at the origami for a while, she took them in her little hands, looked a t them smiled, passed them back, ask for an image with her and the two chinese girls. was proud, looked at her image. smiled.