I gotta stop pestering all these Indian women I meet.

I find myself wondering if they are, indeed, from India. And determining that, I try to think of some way to ask about their religion. Without seeming to pry.

I blame it on the Buddha. I’ve gotten into his teachings so much, that I am hoping to meet a real live Buddhist from India in all the people I see who I stereotypically believe came to the USA from India. Nepal? I’d give anything to meet someone from that country, the birthplace of You Know Who.

But, so far, I am batting .000. O for 3 at bats.

Take my Blogging Buddy,  mittaipink , you know, the one that got me started on this idea to visit India. Having never been there, I thought India was one big happy family, easily accessible from east to west and north to south. Think again, my dear Contoveros. It would take a whole day’s journey to go from top to bottom, and almost the same time to cross the country laterally.

My friend, Kalyani of a little more mittaipink everyday,  lives in the south, and told me of a train up north that stops at some of the places the Buddha once walked. Even the tree in which he sat while finding enlightenment. That’s what I want. And I thought I had a Buddha Buddy in her, but I found out that I was wrong. She’s Hindu.

In fact, most of India is made up of followers of the Great Mother, according to several people from India, of whom I recently met. Well, two out of three, if you want the statistical basis. The third person, a nurse at the eye clinic at the VA Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, was no Buddhist. She was Christian. And a former Buddhist follower, the nurse who prepared me for the eye operation, told me she became a Hindu after learning about the roots of Buddhism.

Sweta, is the latest young woman I met who came from India to America. I better correct that. She came from Goa, a state of India, which I believe had once been governed by Portugal and joined with an independent India when British colonial rule was “non-violently” cast aside.

Sweta is one of the new pharmacists  here in Conshohocken, PA, where she works at the local CVS. Very studious and attentive to detail when dealing with prescriptions and the public at large. She saw a “mistake” our family doctor had written, and got it straightened out with a few phone calls and heads-up actions. A real professional.

But, you ought to see her “light up” when talking about her homeland. The smile would put Vishnu on his head! Looks just like a child, just like one of those tsongas depicting a female deity in Buddhism. Or was that Hinduism? Someone said their similar. Kind of like Judeo/Christianity  — the Jewish and Christian Faiths — having ties through the Old Testament.

Sweta told me there was a “narrow” stretch of Buddhist practicing in the north of India. I’ll get more details from her before I set out on this Odyssey. I care not what religion the people of India follow, as long as they are as nice as those I’ve met on my journey so far.