India is a vast country with an enormous (870 million) population. In the few short years I have lived here I cannot claim to know its breadth and depth. All I can do is record some of my impressions and experiences in these pages. Join me on a journey through a country full of excitement, contrast and paradox. I hope you enjoy travelling with me.
I moved to India in 1993 after my marriage to Kalpana. I was no stranger to the country. My first visits were as an eager eyed, camera toting tourist. I saw the Taj Mahal by the misty light of dawn (photo). I rode on an elephant. I saw all the things tourists see. But no more.
Then by strange coincidence, just as I was to travel once again, a very good friend told me that he was getting married. I was due to travel through his home city, Madras. Would I pick up his engagement party photos? Well, I did. I met his parents, and his then fiancée, Shanthi. Naturally, they invited me to the wedding. Attend the wedding? Back to India so soon? And in the hot season?
It's hopeless to struggle when fate has plotted out a path for you. I attended the wedding -- no longer as a tourist, but as a friend of the family. I met uncles, aunts, cousins and grand mothers. They made me feel at home with them. My relationship with India had changed. That was in 1990. Two and a half years later, I attended another wedding; my own. Thanks, Srivatsan. Thanks to you and your family, I found myself a wife and a new country.
