Kusa

Kusa by Finijo

Most of my days bring interesting encounters. Today, I met Kusa (pronounced koosha). He works at Whole Foods, he's a musician, and he is Hindu. I noticed Kusa last week when I was shopping. That's not exactly true; I noticed Kusa's dot last week, but I let propriety stop me from inquiring of him what it meant. When I saw him today I almost passed up the opportunity to speak to him again, but thought better of it, and I'm glad I did. I never met a Hindu who wasn't born into the religion before, so it was quite interesting to talk to Kusa. He was very friendly and we had a nice chat about religion. It was good to talk to someone of a different faith, who also experiences the world as part of a religious minority. I don't think that most people in the US can imagine what that is like, but it feels at times that you are experiencing the world through another dimension.

I've decided to start documenting some of the people I meet, because I meet some of the nicest and most fascinating people while I am out and about. Thank you, Kusa, for being open enough to allow me to take your picture. It's the first time I have asked someone I didn't know well to let me do that, and you had no way of knowing that you weren't enabling a stalker (you weren't).