Who Wants a Picture of Lindsay?....Everybody in India

While traveling in India both Lindsay and I were shocked to see how popular she was with the locals. We had experienced this a little in the Middle East but it was quite a bit more prevalent in India. To be honest…any westerner is treated like a celebrity in India but if it is a young pretty girl like Lindsay it is twice as bad. Not only did people want pictures with Lindsay but they also wanted their children to be in pictures with her. We first experienced this while sitting near the India Gate landmark in Mumbai. It was our first day and we were just sitting on a bench enjoying the evening. All of the sudden a young couple with a little girl came and just sat her right in Lindsay’s lap. You never know what is going to happen in India and for a split second we though that they may have been giving us their child! :) However, they quickly pulled out their camera and simply wanted their little girl to have a picture sitting next to a westerner. This happened a couple of different times during our trip but it was never as bad as when we were at the Taj Mahal. Lindsay and I were simply sitting on a bench when a young man came up to take a picture with her. Once the other young men in the group saw that Lindsay was okay with this they cam flooding over. At one point there was Lindsay sitting on a bench with about 6 other Indian men all with big smiles on their face. At one point one of the professional photographers that walks around the Taj Mahal (catering to tourists) came over to get some shots. Lindsay was a great sport about the whole thing and just sat there and smiled. After talking with some locals we learned that it is usually the Indian tourists from remote areas of the country that want the pictures. They come in from the countryside to the city (Mumbai, Agra, etc) and for them it is the first time they are seeing an American in person and they just can’t resist getting a picture. Nothing will make you feel more like a celebrity then being a westerner in India and always getting your picture taken...just ask Lindsay.