India's resurgence

I thought I should take some time to reflect on this India experience. First of all, the people. Where ever we go, whom ever we meet, Lisa and I both are surprised, amazed at the warmth, kindness and curiosity displayed. Their seems to be a genuine interest in who we are and where we're from and then always we are asked what we think about their homeland, about their State and about India. I think they realize India's role in our world is gaining in importance, economically, militarily and socially. After decades with closer ties to the old USSR, which has since collapsed, they now find themselves being courted by the West, as seen by President Obama's current visit on the most important day of their year, Republic Day, the anniversary of the signing of India's constitution in 1950, written 3 years after their independence from Great Britain. 

The people are tenacious, proud and determined knowing their civilization, their forefathers and mothers have been on this continent for some five thousand years. This land, the largest democracy in the world, has an entrepreneurial spirit that will propel it to the top. I tell you, these guys are wicked smart, particularly here in Kerala, where I feel you must be a genius to be able to speak Malayalam, with its 56 letters in their alphabet. They have kept their priorities straight, family first, including Moms and Dads, who aren't simply tossed into an old age home because they're  a nuisance and require time and care, time their children don't apparently have. Rituals and tradition are important it would appear. To bad we trust too much in the future.