Patel Snaps*

( * Patel snap is a funny name given to those typical desi snaps taken at points of major interest, with the entire family beaming a cheesy smile in the foreground. However, I think we still have ways to go in this department if we have to catch up with the japaneese. )

Before I left for my trip to Wyoming, I proclaimed to a lot of my friends that there is a good chance that I might not see any desi for next 5 days, considering I was visiting some of the most remote states in US. Most of the first day was spent in Salt Lake City, which from my previous visits is easily the whitest place I have visited. During the first day we travelled through Utah, Idaho, Montana and finally landed up in Wyoming. Of the all the cars I peeped into, and all the gas stations we stopped at I recollect seeing only 1 non-white guy. It was at Idaho Falls, and probably this black guy was happy to see me too, cause he walked up to me and asked me the location of the restroom. ( An aside, Why is calling someone black derogatory, but calling someone white perfectly OK ?)

During my limited camping experience, I have never seen desis camp, and this record was maintained intact over the next 4 days. My non-desi sighting continued for about a half a day, till I saw a small desi family take a hike at Midway Geyser basin. Desi meetings at tourist spots are always awkward. Both the crossing party seemed to be deeply involved in their discussion as they approach each other. But when they are in each other's vicinity, suddenly there is a deathly silence. Some look to the ground, some look to the sky or some just look away. There is intense feelings, but there is no eye contact - and once the paths have been crossed, there is invariably a chuckle or a snide remark. Its strange that the same person who would react gleefully and greet total stranger of a completely different race and culture, would lapse into a lull while meeting someone of the same kind.

Given the inaccessibility of Yellowstone, I wasn't expecting to see more than a handful of desis in the park, but I was proven wrong when I visited the big restaurant at Old Faithful. Here, I saw atleast 50 of them. And as my friends gave me a hard time at every sighting, I debated what could be the reason for this phenomenon.

Old faithful is definitely the most popular and most easily accessible part of the park. Why is it that we always horde at easily accessible places, and avoid places like the campgrounds and backpacking trails. Places like Niagara falls, Grand Canyon are always flooded with desis, but at the same time, if you drive up to Glacier National Park in the wilderness of Montana, you would hardly find any of our kind. Are we not adventurous enough ? Why dont we go the extra distance to see things which are undoubtedly more beautiful ?Why should these activities be restricted only to the whites ? Very rarely do you see desis or for that matter any non-whites, pull off at a road in wilderness and walk to the snaking river or taking a dip in lake or for that matter backpacking in wilderness. Are we not as flexible as people over here ?

ps: Why do you never see afro-americans in National Parks ?