Exotic India

The fun folks at Merriam-Webster define exotic as “strikingly, excitingly, or mysteriously different or unusual.”  I now just picture India and call it a day.

I followed two colleagues to the other side of the world last week to cultivate relationships on behalf of the law school, and from a business perspective it was a successful trip.  From a personal perspective, I brought home extraordinary memories of…

• Monkeys swinging over shoppers’ heads at a bazaar high in the Himalayas.
• The snake charmer on his punji serenading us and his little, slithering friend.
• Children playing cricket in the dirt in the searing heat.
• Men paving a road by hand.
• The “mad poetry” of Indian traffic (as my friend Jeff calls it), where cars, buses, scooters, bicycles, pedestrians, cows, dogs, auto rickshaws, motorcycles, and tractors dance to a symphony of horns.
• The morning sun peeking through the haze on the road to Agra.
• The stunning majesty of the Taj Mahal.
• Being one of only two people not wearing a turban in a large business meeting.
• The powerful aroma and flavors of rich Indian cuisine.
• Camels on the roadside.
• The unlimited potential of a scooter, from the wedging of toddlers between adults to beautiful women in colorful saris precariously riding sidesaddle to hauling more people and goods than a typical pickup truck.
• Cows everywhere—and the jarring appearance of a McDonald’s.
• A military man carrying a rifle grabbing breakfast in a convenience store.
• Conspicuously arriving at a skills center in full business suit and the stares from the long line of poor people awaiting an exam that could change their lives.
• The noble India Gate.
• Going behind the gates of the President’s House and seeing the formal guard dressed in bright red uniform with a feathered hat standing at attention.
• The magical city of Shimla at night.
• Colors.  All of them.  Bright and vibrant blues, greens, yellows, reds, oranges, purples…

I don’t really know what to do with all of these memories just yet.  They are almost too much to process.  Sadly, I suspect that I have already forgotten images that in any other context would be unforgettable.

What I do know is that the world is filled with exotic places.  And that they are worth checking out.