Mumbai Seige

This is not so much a story about the magnet as it is about the people carryng it and what could be considered a very close call. This woman is the sister of one of my friends who travels as part of her job with a prominent US university. She reluctantly agreed to carry a magnet for me.

In November of 2008, she and her husband were on their way to what has been referred to as the grandest of the grand hotels, the Taj Mahal in Mumbai, India. Those who pay attention to the news may recall the seige of that hotel by a handful of terrorists who set off hand grenades starting a fire in this incredibly majestic building, as well as taking hostages and killing a good many people. The cab driver taking them to their hotel from the airport was getting call after call from family and friends warning him to stay away from the hotel, exactly where he was taking them. The hotel was already under seige. I'm told that if their plane had not been an hour late they would have been checking in at the time the seige began.

Needless to say, my 'carrier' was diverted to other quarters and left the magnet to the person assigned to their care. This is from the email she sent:

In all the confusion, I forgot to tell you that I gave the ceramic magnet to the young man who was assigned to take care of us at the game lodge called Mahua Kothi in Bandhavgarh National Park , located in the Village of Tala , India . His name was Manhendra, and he was absolutely the sweetest man with a warm and welcoming smile. He used to be a barber, and a game reserve guide, but decided that he would have greater financial stability in the hospitality industry and so joined the game lodge last year. He has a son who is just over a year old!

I wanted you to be able to tell your friend that I have now delivered two of her ceramic magnets – one to South Africa , the other to India . Given the fact that the sisters are restricting my travel to Kansas , I am not sure I will be able to deliver any others! J

Almost Iceland

Karin lives in my neighborhood but is actually from Sweden. We took a ceramics class together and shared a ride. That's how I found out about her plans to visit her aging aunt in Iceland. Below are some excerpts from her email.

"Here is the story of the magnets as I remember it. One was given to a woman with whom we shared a room in a hostel in Iceland. I think she was from Poland.

 

The second one was given to my now 98 year old cousin in Sweden. She was indeed a biker til she was 95, then she fell and broke her arm while mounting her bike in a bike stand. Not a good idea and, as is often is the case, that began her decline. I don't know what happened to the magnet when her house was emptied but I suspect it is still on someone's refrigerator somewhere in South Central Sweden. Nothing but nothing was not taken care of and given a home." 

Spain by way of Mexico

His name is Isaac and he lives in a town in southwest Spain, I think. He told me the name but, shame on me, I forgot. I met him at Hostel Alcatraz in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Another of my dorm mates at that hostel was a young lady from England named Aprylle. We talked about my magnets and 'the project' one evening and I meant to give her a magnet. Somehow we missed each other, me headed for Guanajuato and she for Guadalajara.

Who should I meet at the hostel in Guanajuato, but Isaac.  In talking to him, he commented that he was going to Guadalajara and would be staying at the same hostel Aprylle was in. So I sent him with a magnet for her and gave him one to keep himself. Since he's Spanish, I gave him a frog and asked him why they are good luck. He told me it is rare to find a frog in Spain.

For those of you who travel, his big tip is: In Spain, go to Grenada. I'll second that.

Guanajuato, Mexico

In colorful Guanajuato, I couldn't resist a very narrow winding cobbled stairway that would its way up and up and up, past a couple of equally wound teenage lovers, one older man, and, finally, out to a sloping cobbled street. I stood on a landing over the street gasping for breath, my heart just about beating out of my chest because, after all this is a fairly high altitude and I am not an athlete. A family passed below me and the small son ponted up at me and asked his father about that lady standing up there. The parents both smiled at me as the man bent over to explain my presence to his young son. I asked him to wait while I fished in my pocket for a magnet. I said I had un regalo for the boy and tossed it down to him. Clearly the boy wasn't sure what to think but he posed for a picture anyway.

A small boy and his purple turtle magnet.

The view from their street.