Singapore, 2009
Mistaken Identity
Seeing my turban, the Customs Official offers, “Salaam Aleckhum.”
Jet-lagged, I am caught off balance. He must be Javanese, on deputation from Jakarta, or a minority Muslim here in Hindu Bali. Perhaps he takes me for a new Western brother, even a zealous cleric with this beard. Actually, I am a Sikh, an explorer of another kind. My journey would be too strange and labyrinthine to unpack here.
I respond with “Aleckhum Salaam,” to allay his fears. Squinting harder, he looks me over again. Power and awkwardness face off. He chops my passport and I walk into my next story.
from A Little Book of Bali CMS 2013
Seeing my turban, the Customs Official offers, “Salaam Aleckhum.”
Jet-lagged, I am caught off balance. He must be Javanese, on deputation from Jakarta, or a minority Muslim here in Hindu Bali. Perhaps he takes me for a new Western brother, even a zealous cleric with this beard. Actually, I am a Sikh, an explorer of another kind. My journey would be too strange and labyrinthine to unpack here.
I respond with “Aleckhum Salaam,” to allay his fears. Squinting harder, he looks me over again. Power and awkwardness face off. He chops my passport and I walk into my next story.
from A Little Book of Bali CMS 2013