A star is born

For those of you who know Ghada, you'd know she loves everything Indian. And lest you thought those references to being a re-incarnation of Mumtaz Mahal were uttered in jest, rest assured that there is an element of wishful thinking in them.

The other thing that is that people have hard time saying her name. The "Gh" appears to be difficult for people to say, even though it's easily pronounced as the French would pronounce their "R"s, unless of course you're Edith Piaf and you roll your Rs.

When Indians hear Ghada's name, they are usually taken aback. Apparently, the name "Radha" is quite popular in India. And of course Ghada has makes Indian style choices when it comes to her wardrobe. But the skin color throws a wrench into peoples' expectations, and well, you can imagine.

Now on to the story of "Radha". It turns out she is an important figure in Hindu theology. She is the lover of Krishna (Hindus take only 1 wife), but apparently figured so strongly in his life that today one can find temples in India dedicated to their relationship.

Krishna and Radha

Radha's Relevance

The Queen welcomes you in

I don't know what it is with Indians and white skinned girls. The entire time at Agra, I wondered if the Indian tourists came to check out the Taj or well, Radha, I mean Ghada.

At first they try to be discrete, as in conveniently lodging themselves in any picture you are trying to take, standing far enough in what they believe will not intrude in your shot, but close enough to make it look as though the shot was actually intended.

So I decided to humor the chaps and make their day by allowing them to have their shot taken with Ghada, or in other words, to pimp Ghada out!

Posing with the white girl... lose the moustaches boys

I suppose given how much Indians emptied our bank accounts during the trip, I really should have returned the favor and charged 10 INR for every photo that was taken. Damnit, even here I was charitable good guy Garbz!

Now if you think that this is just a bunch of single guys trying to have fun, well then, the story is a little more complex. We couldn't get too far in the Taj Mahal without one family or another asking to pose with Ghada. What was I? Chopped liver?

A family wants to pose

... and another

Husbands would ask Ghada to pose with their wives or daughters. Or they would ask the wives to do the dirty deeds for them. Is this their round-about-way of asking for a menage a trois?

OK well maybe Ghada was not alone. Japanese tourists harassed by playboys