Inimitable India!

India as a whole possesses a welcoming soul, a loving, open heart, and an infinitely tolerant persona 

- Barbara Briggs

In what other country on earth could this happen? Recently, I was visiting Uttarkashi, a hill station in Uttarakand. While there, I walked into a shoe shop and saw a pair of shoes I liked. They were perfect walking shoes and the exact colour I wanted. When I inquired about the price of the shoes, I realised I hadn't enough money in my purse to purchase them. So I went and asked the manager if he could hold them for me until the next day.

He smiled broadly and looking into my eyes, said, "Take them with you. You can bring me the money tomorrow."

I was speechless. He didn't even know me as I had never been to his shop before.

"Take them with you. I'll be here tomorrow," he repeated with a gentle wave of his hand. He put the shoes in a bag and handed them to me.

I walked out of the shop amazed by what had just happened. THIS is India! This is why I am living here rather than in the USA or Europe! Where else would I be treated like this? Of course, this may not happen so easily in Delhi or Mumbai, but here in this hill station, a holy place, it can still happen, even today, in 2016.