Yes, I'm married and other white lies we tell

Just so you all know, since coming to India, I've decided that I'm married.

I was advised to avoid letting people know that I am traveling alone. Often, I find other travelers to spend time with, but other times, I'm very clearly alone. It's usually the first question people ask. "Are you alone?" This is often followed with questions like "Where is your husband?" and "Why aren't you married?" They say it like I've committed a horrible sin and ask in a tone I would probably reserve for "What? You killed someone?"

So to cut the questions short, I've come up with some stories, and they flow so naturally now that when I get back to America, I'm going to have to convince myself that I am not married. If get questioned about my husband's whereabouts while roaming around a city, I usually say, "oh, he doesn't feel well today. He's waiting back at the hotel." This clearly doesn't work while traveling on a bus or train, so one time when I was in a compartment with men who had been staring at me for three hours straight, I came up with the story of how I've been working in India and my husband just flew in to meet me, and we're meeting at the next train station.

I got questioned the most about my marital status in Varanasi. One teenage boy who had been following me for awhile said, "What? You are free?" I said, no, not really understanding what the comment meant. Then he said, "Yes you are. No husband." I said, yes, I have a husband. "Where is he then?" I told him I was on my way to meet him. A minute later, a Western man by himself was coming from the other direction. The teenager ran up to him and said, "Hey, I found your wife. She is here." The man gave me a puzzled look. I shrugged my shoulders and gave a faint smile. Then he played along and said, "Honey, where have you been? I've been waiting for an hour."