Taxi Drivers and Their Gods

Gretchen AGAIN.  (I'm typing from the apartment of our hosts, and they have left home, so suddenly I have more private time than I bargained for).

Gods are everywhere here.  Shrines on street corners, in the subway, on the dashboards of cars.  So I've taken to asking the taxi drivers who their god is.  Last night the driver said that it was "LugnaBaba" which I think, loosely translated, means the God of Marriage.  This driver was definitely single, and expressed some bright-eyed interest in coming to America, perhaps with his "sister" Katherine.  Despite the language barrier, asking a person about their god seems the best way to create a sense of connection.  And after we've paid, and leave the taxi, Katherine and I will say goodbye BOTH to the driver, and then give a special "Namaste" to their god.