TWO TRAMPS IN INDIA
At Calcutta we lived in comfort. We were the guests of college friends of Richardson's. In Japan and China we stayed in native hotels and were constantly in contact with the people. The caste system of India barred us from mingling with the Hindus, even if we had desired to do so. It was impossible for us to eat at their restaurants and the nearest approach we could make to it was to buy our food at the native shops. We often ate at the foreign hotels and cafés when these institutions were to be found. There was usually a restaurant connected with the station.
Harrison Road in Calcutta is one of the most interesting streets in the world. Thousands of people rove its sidewalks and scores of races are represented among them. Hundreds of moving or reclining bulls block the traffic. The natives pass around these sacred beasts and are careful not to disturb them. They belong to no one and wander aimlessly about, fed by the people.
A jutka or "Jitney" Used in Central India
Richardson and I moved along this bustling street. We had been out seeing the sights for several hours and were hungry. In a native shop before us was a show-case of cakes. We stepped in to purchase a couple. The merchant was putting the first cake in a paper bag when Richardson put out his hand to take one from the pile. The proprietor dropped the sack and dashed towards him. His wife threw her hands in the air and screamed, and two natives standing by shouted at the top of their voices. They were too late, Richardson had grabbed the cake and had part of it in his mouth. I thought the Hindus had gone insane. What they were saying I didn't know but it was something very important if one could judge from their numerous excited gestures. They gave us both a thorough scathing. One would have thought we had insulted the shop-keeper's wife or had set fire to his place. No, it was more serious. Richardson had contaminated every cake in the shop. By touching the top one he had charged them all with uncleanness. We were out-casts. Several hundred cakes—or about one-half the poor shop-keeper's stock—were ruined and could never be used.
This disastrous result of our little transaction caused no end of excitement and twenty or more natives gathered to see what we had done. The shop-keeper and his wife immediately set about to throw away the cakes and with long sharp-pointed sticks like hoe handles began casting the food into the street.
"Hold on!" I shouted, "I will buy the whole bunch for a rupee." We had contaminated the outfit and I thought this was an opportunity to get a bargain.