BLUE SNEAKERS AND AN INDIAN SUMMER

Indian women look like tropical flowers … typically seen worn on the same day: a saffron colored sari with tomato red prints combined with an aqua scarf, beaded gold shoes and pink bindi.

The pop music the Indians listen to, that many use as their cellphone ringtones, is as equally loud and happy.

All sorts of animals show up on their national highways: huge blackbirds that fly along with the traffic, camels and elephants, squirrels on the sidewalk, herds of water buffalo and often enough, unchaperoned sacred cows who take their slooooow time crossing the road while vehicles stop to let them let pass.   

The food is a dream of curry butter sauces on beds of fluffy basmati.

And believe it or not, the air actually smells like jasmine and rose water. 

(OK fine, when crowds pass the air also smells like unwashed armpits … and there are as many weird insects flying around as there are exotic bigger animals … and the regular folk like to cut lines and argue at the top of their voices and some truly harrass the tourists …)

It’s chaotic but so, so alive here.  It’s also 42 degrees out but I’m loving the heat.

India is gorgeous!