Day 3: MAIN England SE HOON (I am from England): inspirations from an ex-pat

"[India] is a place on which foreigners have projected their own fantasies and fears...and can't seem to make up their minds." Sam Miller, BBC corespondent, wistfully read an excerpt from his book, Delhi: Adventures in a Mega-City. I'd no idea how inspired I would be by such a reading.

He ambled on stage, and accented his awkward fumbling over the podium with a jaunty smile. Never has anyone looked more like a journalist. He kept his glasses hung around is neck, and tilted his chin upward as he thought on an answer. 

It's a shame one can't capture the swerves in his accent as he navigates the question, occasionally lifting his hand from its comfortable setting on his hip to stroke his chin for a second, or scratch inside his ear. 

What a wonderfully charming person, I thought. It didn't surprise me that he is reluctant to confine India to the word "love" and label his tender connection with such a country. If his thoughts were as open as his actions, he could be in Zimbabwe next week. 

The first question he asked himself when writing his first novel, quoted above, was "When did I first set foot in India?" My answer? Yesterday. And, embarrassingly. I was immediately hit with a slap of culture when I realized my white, "western conservative" shorts were an issue. 

Lesson learned.