Even though India has had female prime ministers, India is not as progressive about women as you would think. Women at the higher ends of society generally do well, however those in the middle and lower socio-economic levels don’t fare so well. One of our guides told us that other than banks and some government offices, few women work with men as there is so much sexual harassment in the work place. Men tend to make inappropriate comments to women and then want to get overly friendly. Rape is not uncommon. As Kelly said, it makes our 76 cents on the dollar of pay look pretty good!

Women in their saris — whether rich or poor — are full of color and beautiful.

Shopping is a challenge as all the people in the shops are men. They love to hover and can be somewhat aggressive. We learned to ignore them and just walk around to look on our own.

The horrendous amount of garbage in the countryside is overwhelming. It is hard to fault the people as there is no government assistance in collecting and disposing of the litter that seems to be everywhere. My garbologist friend John Schert may have some thoughts on this issue, but I found it to be quite a challenge.

The people are kind, helpful and curious. Kelly and I were quite the celebrities at most tourist places. Everyone wanted a photograph with us and we were the center of attention. It was explained to us that many of the Indian people were traveling as it was summer vacation and they don’t frequently see foreigners if they live in a non-tourist area.

They went out of their way to accommodate us. When we found out our shopping weighed in at $60 in extra baggage charges, our guide kept our suitcase which had our purchases at his house in Delhi for two days so we could avoid the extra charges on a two-day excursion to Varanasi. Then he met us at the airport as we transferred for our flight out of India to Dubai, after carefully checking shipping charges if we needed to ship the bag home from India.

I tried to love Indian food, I really did. But after three bouts of tummy problems, including a visit from the local doctor and pain worse than I have ever experienced, I can’t face another Indian dish. I did enjoy the spiciness of the foods before I got sick!

Often there were two people doing the job of one person. Although it seemed to be inefficient to us, on reflection we realized it is better to employ people than not.

My favorite job in India is this guy who hits a rug to scare away the birds from the fountain — all day long!

Anyone who persists in believing that there is no global warning needs to come to India to see the dry river beds and the lack of water due to wells drying up and experience the tremendous heat. Really, can anyone still ignore the evidence in front of our faces?

Driving in India is not for the weak of heart! Lanes are merely a suggestion and just because traffic is going one way, look out for people heading right toward you in your lane. There are cars, motor scooters, bicycles, cows, rickshaws and pedestrians. They all cut in front of each other and act like they are playing dodge ball.

Cows are everywhere. But having to step over their droppings gets a little rough — especially when you are trying to navigate a narrow lane with fifty zillion people bumping into you.