This rikshaw is going straight to hell!

People assume that we are Christian because we are white. They assume we eat meat (that we love meat, actually) and that we worship Christ. Many times I have had people ask me if I am Christian, or rather say, "I'm Christian, too". This happened a lot around Christmas; everywhere I went, people were wishing me merry Christmas. Obviously this happens in the USA too, but Christmas is much less of a big deal in India where only about 2% of the population are of the Christian faith. Several months ago, a take away restaurant opened near our flat. We often buy food there as it is cheap, yummy, and convenient. The older woman working there doesn't speak a word of English. Once when I was there, she began pointing to herself and then to me, and I couldn't understand what she was asking or indicating. Finally she said "Christ" and I realized she was crossing herself. I said "no, not Christian" but I don't think she understood. On our first day in Hyderabad, a coworker of my roommate who had been assigned to take us shopping proudly exclaimed that he was also Christian. We told him we were Jewish, and he told us he knew a Jewish church and that Jews worship the devil. We told him he must have been thinking of someone else (and, as much as that may be a common myth in some parts of the world about Jews, I think he really was thinking of someone/something else, because almost no one who I've talked to has an understanding about what a Jew is). (Months later, I saw this same person at the lake and he told me that when he visits America he will tell my parents about the love of Jesus.)

When people assume I am Christian, I try and explain that I am not Christian, but Jewish - and no, Judaism is not a form of Christianity, like Presbetarian or Protestant. Then I get asked, "Who is your God?" "What is his name?" This question always stumps me. I try to explain that we use the old Testiment while Christians use the old and new; or I say that Muslims and Jews feel that they are descended from one of Abraham's sons. However, with the lack of knowledge about Judaism combined with the language barrier and the fact that I frequently talk too fast for even fluent English speakers to understand my accented American English, I often resort to saying that my god is the father of Jesus (qualifying that with "we don't worship Jesus, though").

Perhaps it's better not to correct people - people seem to have some sort of happiness in identifying themselves with me/us as Christians, and I have definitely seen disappointment in the eyes of a neighbor, several shopkeepers, and random people when I have said, "sorry, not Christian." I'm not trying to disappoint people, but I'm also not trying to misrepresent myself.

Religion is a complex topic in the state of India, one which lots of people's time, daily lives, marriages, eating habits, and sometimes violent and political conflicts revolve around. People often mention the differences between Pakistan and India, but the differences within India - both with people of different religions as well as different castes within Hinduism - can cause conflict. The Gujarat riots of 2002 were based on Muslim-Hindu conflicts. Although India is a secular state, some policies are religiously based - for example, there are some housing restrictions based on vegetarianism in Mumbai (among other places) and the Supreme Court upheld this segregation, saying it was not direct discrimination based on religion or caste (despite the fact that the rationale for the segregation was based on Hindu vegetarianism and discriminates on Muslim, Christian, non vegetarian Hindus, and other religions).

Because vegetarianism is so strongly associated with Hinduism here, no one can understand that I'm vegetarian, or why. At a festival I walked to the buffet table marked "vegetarian buffet", only to have a random man run up to me and say "Madame! The non veg is over there!" (to which I rudely replied thank you, this sign is in English and therefore I can read it. OK, I admit it, I'm pretty humorless about my vegetarianism. Get used to it.) They all assume that Westerners love meat, and want to eat lots of it. They are very confused by the idea of someone white being vegetarian (though funnily enough, half the fellows on my program are some form of vegetarian). I don't know that much about vegetarianism in Hinduism, but I know that traditionally upper caste, especially Brahmin caste people, would be vegetarian. Muslims are traditionally Hallel (they don't eat certain kinds of meat; sort of like Kosher). Christians seem to have no religious dietary restrictions.

A few months ago, my friend Lauren and I were taking an auto to my house around noon from near the train station. A random Indian man insisted on helping us wave one down. He took us across the street, demanded that a driver take us for metered cost only - and then got in the auto with us. We assumed he was trying to get a free ride to our neighborhood, and tried not to cringe at his boisterous conversation. Finally he brought up religion, and said that he was taking us to our neighborhood because he was a good Christian and he loved Jesus. We looked straight forward, hoping not to burst this mans bubble, but when he finally finished his speech about Jesus and asked us what church we go to, Lauren quickly said, "I don't go to church, I'm not Christian." He looked pained and we tried to explain that we were Jewish. Not understanding, he asked if we were Muslim, and we said no, Jewish. He had been talking nonstop since we entered the auto, but after we dropped the Jewish bombshell a sudden eerie silence took over the auto. Lauren leaned over and whispered, "This rikshaw is going straight to hell!"