india: andaman

“I want you to see the Sea Eagle, Flan! This is your spirit animal!” Shre is Indian, the Asian kind, so I didn’t correct him. I know white people can’t appropriate that phrase.
“Oh yeah? Why?”
“Nobody can fuck with her. She’s fierce. She flies so high, so easily, and gracefully, and she’s most beautiful to watch when she’s flying against the wind.”
Shre’s first words to me, less than 48 hours earlier, were “Not all men!” It’s amazing he survived at all, let alone became a fast friend. He piped up during an unwanted conversation with a misogynist twice his age at the next table, who later told me I look bad in photographs, and that I’m not pretty enough to rape.
Shre, 25, and our 3rd angle, Rounak, 22, immediately earned their feminist stripes by backing me up 100% and saving me some emotional labor. The Negging Incel ended up buying me two drinks, and begging me to travel with him the next day.
I travelled with Shre instead, and the day after that, as well.
He’s spent two months here already, and treated me to the most accessible hits.
We plan to return, as a team, to accomplish our shared mission of further exploration and documentation. We meet again in Delhi, his home, on Wednesday, to visit the Tribal Affairs Ministry to get the proper permits. I’m excited to see the city through his eyes on this, my 4th or 5th visit.
Shre is a remarkable young man. He gives me hope, and confidence.
Science shows that intergenerational friendships lengthen life and improve it’s quality. I feel grateful that I can keep up with my newly adopted Son, physically and mentally. He’s impressive. I sorely needed his friendship when it arrived. Like Delhi, I needed to see MYSELF through his eyes.
I don’t feel anything like the Sea Eagle, but she’s something to aspire to.
📿
All photos by @shreyanshgarg, except FLAN WAS HERE. You’ll have to look closely to find me in the tree in the 6th frame.
Oh, and apparently my tormentor thinks I’m pretty enough to follow on Instagram and What’sApp.
#notallmen