Men in a Muslim Village

What can I say? The subject is far to broad for me to come close to doing it justice. I will paint one picture for you and maybe it will give you an idea. When we are working, everything we do is thru manual labor. The cement is mixed by hand and then passed from person to person, in bowls, till it reaches the bricklayers. Most of the people in the line are women and most are older than me. The Muslim men, dressed in their Sunday best, stand by and watch us and WILL NOT lift a hand to help. They stand there, leaning against one another, speaking Hindi and snickering. We have one young girl, Chrissy, who is just 24 and she has been the target since we arrived. They have been merciless in their taunting. To add insult to injury, they sometimes stand in our way so that we have to move around them with our load. A bowl of cement mixed with rock is not light. It is beneath these men to participate in such work. They live in a village where they are rotting in their own feces but are unable to lift a finger to help themselves. It is as much of an insult to me as a woman as I could have ever possibly imagined. From what I can see, the role of the Muslim man is to lie around all day and smoke the hookah.

The other thing that I notice about these men, both Hindu and Muslim, is that it is quite normal for them to show physical affection to one another. They walk around holding hands and fondling one another all of the time. It is almost sexual. It is perfectly acceptable in this culture but I must admit, I find it extremely disconcerting. Homosexuality is a no no in India, but I cannot imagine how this does not lead to sexual activity. They show more affection than most heterosexual couples in Canada. Ick!