Welcome to India.

Stepping of the plane I was hit with stingy 100 degree humid air and that smell...that smell that cannot be described and is yet in its essence India. Immediately it felt like home, like a welcoming arm had been extended and was pulling me in. After an 8 hour layover in Chicago and a 15 hour flight, I was once again in New Delhi, India - where a "personal bubble" and a line does not exist; where you step of the plane and already surrounded by people - it's as if they are unwilling to disperse because they are not comfortable when surrounded by so many.

After changing my US dollars for Indian Rupees ($241 = 11,086 /r), and having waited for another four hours for Carrie to arrive, we were off with our driver. For the first week, Carrie's step-dad's friend/business partner "PK" has taken care of all our arrangements. Well, actually, to say he has "taken care of us" is the understatement of the century. We were picked up by a chauffeur from the airport and taken to the guest house, where the next morning we were taken to the train station and were informed PK had purchased first-class tickets for the 4 hour train ride North to Ludhiana, where we have been booked (all expenses paid) at an incredibly classy (possibly the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in) "palace". Perhaps in the US a hotel costing $30 a night does not seem like much, but in a country where you can eat for a mere five cents a day, a hotel like this is accessible to only the richest and most wealthy Indians. Needless to say, we feel like royalty.

We were able to have dinner with PK and his family (wife "Mrs. PK" as she called herself, and daughters "Vee-new" and "Sha-new", not sure on spelling but that is pronunciation) last night and they are such wonderful and generous people. Tomorrow night we will be staying with them. In the meantime, PK has arranged all of our travel and sight seeing. Today we visited the Golden Temple and the Jalianwala Barga Memorial in Amritsar, and tomorrow we will visit the textile factories.

PK himself is the owner of the Trident Group (http://www.tridentindia.com) and associates himself with the likes of Durga Galbha, who was at one point the Police Commander for all of India, and is now the Prime Minister's First Officer. Yes, we have been well taken care of.

After Ludhiana we will be heading back to Delhi and then to Pushkar and then to Calcutta where we plan to spend a significant amount of time.

CM