Deaf in DC by Madan Vasishta

Author:Madan Vasishta
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781563684821
Publisher: Gallaudet University Press

Kirk halted the jeep next to the shack and jumped out. I stood there wondering what would emerge from the shack. A young man with long, curly hair, wearing a pair of jeans and no shirt came out and jumped at Kirk. They both hugged and went around and around. This was the first time I saw Kirk hug another man. Actually, this was the first time I saw two American men hug each other and not be called “queer.”

I walked slowly toward the hugging men and saw seven or eight more people materialize from the shack. All of them were topless, including two women. They all were smiling as Richard, the hugger, introduced Kirk and then Kirk began to sign and introduced me to them. Kirk emphasized that I was from India. They seemed to be so happy. One of them said something and Kirk laughed.

“He said, ‘om,’” Kirk interpreted.

I was surprised that in this wild place, these young men and women were chanting “om.” And then another young woman appeared with a baby in her arms. The young woman was hardly sixteen or seventeen years old and was very beautiful. Like the other women, she was topless. She joined her hands in the traditional Indian greeting, “namaste.” I didn’t feel at home with this greeting as I was disconcerted with this nonchalant show of upper torso.

The shack had two large rooms with a dirt floor. There was no electricity, no running water, and no furniture. They drew water from a shallow well and submerged a gallon jug of milk with a rope in the cool water. That was their “refrigerator.” The only mode of transportation was walking. They were living like the sadhus in India.

Richard said something to Kirk and Kirk asked me to follow them. We ran after Richard, who was full of vim and vigor. He laughed; he jumped around and talked animatedly. We ran a few hundred yards to a shallow muddy river, the Rio Puerco. The setting sun was as red as I had ever seen it. It was simply beautiful. I took pictures while Richard danced around splashing the muddy water on Kirk and Kirk splashed back. They were like two kids.

We stayed for four or five days in San Ysidro as Kirk became very sick after a day there. The well water didn’t agree with him. I walked around and talked to the residents there. All of them had long hair, long beards, and nothing with them except for the clothes on their backs, or rather, on their legs, as they didn’t wear shirts. Their prized possessions were three or four pipes, which were lit most of the time and passed around.

There was Dave, a thin, tall blond boy of about eighteen. He was from California. There was Wayne, a younger boy with a shock of curly brown hair that stood a foot above his head. I do not remember the others, as they talked little. Dave and Wayne learned to finger spell and could communicate with me slowly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.