It was a sweet and memorable evening, Maria slept for three or four hours, then I made dinner, then we just sat and talked. She kept asking me if her stories from India were boring, but they were anything but. Stories of villages, the struggles of women, people washing in the streets, children made slaves, beautiful mountains and villages, the kick-ass women who help them, the gentleness and creativity of the people, the bargaining merchants and stall owners, and fabric.
I could not believe what came out of Maria’s suitcase, for an hour she pulled out one gorgeous fabric after another, block prints, fabric embedded with glass and embroidered figures, fabrics in bright colors with dancing elephants and gods and dancing spirits and angels and goddesses. I could not believe she could fit so much into one big suitcase.
I remember reading about the sea Captains who returned after long voyages with treasures from the Far East, silks and fabrics and carvings, and that’s what it was like. She just kept pulling out treasures, one after another, and some were for me.
I can hardly imagine what will come out of her studio when she digests all of these beautiful fabrics and images.
She kept asking me if the stories were boring, but they were never boring. She pulled out some wonderful gifts for me – a silk scarf worthy of Oscar Wilde, a Ganesh necklace and figurine, a beautiful candle holder. India is a feast, full of wonder and riches and hardships and love and cruelty.
Ganesh is a beloved Hindu God, he is the Remover Of Obstacles, The Lord Of Good Fortune, who brings prosperity and success. He may, in fact, be the God I have been looking for. I will wear the necklace day and night, and keep the carving on my desk.
She also brought me a lovely small round candle holder for my desk. How great to see her mind spinning to process all of the amazing things she saw, some beautiful, some harsh. What a feast India is, I want to go there.
Yet I’m still not sure it’s a good idea. She did some serious work in India, and she and the woman she traveled with are committed to doing more. I’m not sure I would fit into that, or should. But I don’t have to decide that now.
It was a memorable evening of connection, so good to feel the bodies of one another, to talk to one another, to share the wonder of it. I love my gifts, I think Ganesh and I have some serious business to do. I have been removing obstacles all of my life, and welcome some help.
Maria will be processing all of this for a while, and she means to write about it tomorrow. Those fabrics are amazing and are already dancing in her head. She means to make some beautiful quilts with Indian fabric to help pay for her return to India. This is not the end of a journey, it feels like a beginning.