At the fourth crossing, Dani stopped a woman walking down the street and asked if she knew the way to our guesthouse.

The woman understood us but struggled to answer in English.

She scrunched her face in concentration.

“One hundred meters. The building with… elephants.”

Dani thanked her, and we walked back the way we had come.

At the previous intersection stood an ornate building flanked by two marble elephants—the symbol of Jaipur.

We stepped through the gate into a quiet courtyard where an older man watered the driveway beside a pile of brooms and rakes. He looked at us the way someone looks at strangers who have accidentally wandered into their home.

Dani approached him uncertainly.

“Pandya Niwas?”

He shook his head and pointed across the street.

~

The sign hanging out front bore the wrong name, but we entered anyway.

The attendant greeted us at once.

“Welcome. My name is Raghov. I’ll be right with you.”

Then he turned his attention back to

another woman at the counter in front of us. She sported cropped blonde hair, wore cargo pants and a t-shirt, and traveled by herself.

Raghav glanced between Dani and the other woman.

“You two look the same.”

The two exchanged uncertain looks. Then he turning his attention back to the other woman and laughed.

“You are like a man. Look at you!”

Dani’s turn came.

“Is this Pandya Niwas?”

“I have just prepared your room. This way please.”

And he led us up some stairs. As we followed, he muttered one last time, almost to himself:

“…like a man.”

~

On the second floor, he opened our door, the air-conditioning whirring inside granting instant relief to the morning heat.

“I’ll leave you now. Come down if you need anything.”

And he turned to go.

“What guesthouse is this?”

I tried asking again.

“Is it…”

but Raghov had already left, and maybe it didn’t matter.

I sat on the bed then, feeling the air evaporate the sweat off my arms while Dani showered.

The bed was soft, the room quiet. I

turned my head to the daylight pouring through the window.

Below us, I saw them again: the two elephants—the symbol of Jaipur—shining pink in the morning sun.