Politics

On our way from Jaipur to Agra, we stopped at the fort of Fatehpur Sikri. In addition to enjoying this gorgeous fort for its own innate beauty, the experience was memorable because I got a chance to talk politics with several ten year old Indian boys.

They were bouncing around us, trying to be helpful (and therefore earn a few rupees), and chattering away in remarkably good English. They asked me where I was from and I replied America. Immediately the response came back – “Oh…George Bush!”

My instinctive reaction was to pull a face and give the universally-understood “thumbs down” gesture of dislike. I wrinkled my nose and said “ewww...George Bush.”

One boy pondered this for a moment and then –without any prompting, I swear—came back with “George Bush bad. Americans good!”

I was delighted with this astute assessment of the situation and we all practiced chanting “George Bush bad. Americans good!” for several minutes as the boys frolicked around us. In my mind, this definitely earned them their 10 rupees.