There are positives and negatives about India. While the same statement can be made about any country, in my experience India is extreme in practically every aspect. I’ll start with the negatives. Indian traffic is challenging. I would never personally choose to drive here. I[…]
India and the Middle East
Welcome again to India: Above, two views of the Gateway to India India assaults the senses and the intellect. The smells, the sounds, the crowds, the traffic, all these constant phenomena reinforce the necessity to live consciously in the[…]
Welcome to Israel Arriving in Israel less than a week ago for a short visit on the way to the conference in Jordan, their first question was: “What the _______ (insert appropriate word of your choice) is going on in the US?” To which we[…]
We have been very blessed to be hosted on this trip by our dear friend Lajo Gupta, first at her home in Dubai, and afterwards in Mumbai, where she flew to host us in her wonderful apartment there. I met Lajo forty years ago(!) when[…]
There has been an interesting progression on this month-long trip. First, we visited purely Buddhist and sparsely populated Bhutan. Next, we visited partially Buddhist and more densely populated Sikkim. Next,[…]
A Brief History of Contemporary Sikkim The history of Sikkim parallels that of Bhutan in many aspects. Like Bhutan, Sikkim was a geographically isolated Buddhist kingdom that was never colonized by the British or any other country. Bhutan has remained an independent country, though it[…]
THE MAGICAL KINGDOM OF BHUTAN How much can a tourist learn about a country in five days? First impressions count. One can draw conclusions from even a short visit that merit more research perhaps through a future visit. Having just spent five days in Bhutan,[…]
This week marks my second visit to Dubai following an initial visit two years ago. Susan is traveling with me this time. We are being hosted in Dubai by my dear friend, Dubai resident Lajo Gupta, who is originally from India, and is the daughter[…]