It's Byl, I am traveling in Delhi.
I noticed out on the web that the NY Times wrote an article entitled "India Made Easy". Yes, Mom, this is the article you sent me a few months back.
The title made me laugh. Did the person who wrote it ever even come here? If so, I am not sure how they came away with the idea that anything is easy here. India.... easy. These words don't often co-habitate in the same sentence without their friends "is" and "not". India is anything but easy.
As an example, I was walking Liam to the bus one morning and we had a bit of an event. One thing about India is that it has many funky smells. This morning there was a very funky smell on the street. Additionally, many, if not most, people here clear their throats very, very loudly every morning. It's an amazing thing when you consider the intensity the Indian people bring to the endeavor of clearing their throats of phlegm remnants. So, there we were, walking up our nice street hearing hacking from every side and smelling something that was just gross. And Liam started to throw a fit.
So, I stopped and said, "Liam, did you ride an elephant a few weeks back?" "Yes." "Did you ride a camel that same day?" "Yes, but this is all so freaking gross...." "Liam, have you seen castles and forts that are older than the US itself?" "Yes." "Were those things cool?" "Yes." "Well, India doesn't offer one without the other. You have to wade through things like this to have those amazing experiences. Now, deal."
He got quiet, but I am not sure he was really "dealing". Again, raising a thirteen year old is a hideous and ghastly experience - but most of you already know that.
Anyway, India is anything but easy - and anything but dull. It is Incredible India, as well as India the Incredible.
Namaste.
