am i famous in bhubaneswar?

...or just white? Imagine going down for breakfast at your hotel. It's buffet style, so you go through the line, and now with food in hand you decide where to eat. You're by yourself, so maybe you sit where you can see the tv, or towards the hotel entrance so that you can people watch...me, I choose a third option, one where I'm not facing towards another person eating. Inevitably, within 60 seconds either someone new to the dining area sits in my line of vision, or incredibly, someone will get up from where they were sitting so that they can face me. And this is how I eat breakfast, with people staring at me in between bites. I realize that I'm an odd site in this town that doesn't get many foreigners, but since when is staring at people appropriate? I've come to realize that that's the wrong question, it's not "when" but maybe "where". I've found that Indians have no hesitation staring something down that interests them, and I most often realize this when they're staring at me. I get it a lot from little children who stare vacantly, but also from people riding by on their scooters or motorcycles, often craning their necks around to watch me as they pass. When I go to the grocery store I am surrounded by sales staff holding up products they think I should buy and by other customers interested in what I'm buying. When I walk down the road people on bikes riding up behind me will sometimes get off their bikes and walk slightly behind me (presumably only watch me walk but this particular one really freaks me out, especially since they're usually adolescent boys just goofing around, but you never know). In general I try just to ignore it. There's also snapping "kya?!" meaning "what?" - that one usually just gets a laugh as a response because I probably pronounce it wrong. And with the bike thing, I stop walking, wait for the person to pass and then continue with them in front until they get back on their bike.

It's a phenomenon that I'm still not quite used to. In the States, it's not "appropriate" to stare, and people often try to look covertly at something or someone that they find particularly interesting. Here, if someone is interested in something, they look at it. They'll look at it until they're no longer interested or until the thing goes away. While on the surface this is uncomfortable if not just plain rude, in some ways it's also more honest. The honesty and transparency of character is something I find very admirable about Indian culture. There's truth in their stares and if you look back at them, you can tell that it's not malicious, they are just plain curious. In the same way, Indians are known for their poor eating etiquite, there is always a lot of burping and slurping, you eat with your hands and get food everywhere, you eat and laugh and talk with your mouth open, but it's all honest and freeing.

...as a person who generally does not try to get noticed, it's quite unnerving knowing that people are watching every movement I make...I better make sure not to pick my nose - or maybe that would make them look away???