Everyone wants a piece of lndia. From Afghani and Persian invasions to the British era, people from distant have sought to possess lndia’s treasures for themselves. Buta funny thing always happens: lndia takes these foreigners and makes them lndians. Defying the doctrine of ‘us’ and ‘them’, weaves races, cultures and philosophies into a tapestry that grows richer more intricate every day. To experience lndia is to share in the sorrows, dreams, tribulations and almost unbearable joy of a billion fellow human beings. Fear not: lndia will make you her own, too.

November to March, when it’s cooler

Watching the sunrise at the Taj Mahal Floating to Udaipur’s Lake Palace KicKing back on a Goan beach Taking a camel safari in Rajasthan Relaxing in a Shimla hill-station resort

Read Jawaharlal Nehru’s Discovery of lndia, tales from the Vedic era to WWll, or VS Naipaul’s lndia: A Million Mutinies Now, a Trinidadian’s take on lndia’s tribulations and triumphs

Listen to Lata mangeshkar’s The Greatest Film Songs-the diva extraordinaire sings Bollywood hits, or to Ravi Shankar’s ln Celebration-the world’s greatest sitarist plays classical and fusion

Watch Mother lndia, lndia’s answer to The Grapes of Wrath; Gandhi, the epic film that made Ben kingsley famous; or any Bollywood flick

Eat tandoori chicken, dhal, dosas, samosas, curries

Drink lassi (a sweet or savoury yogurt drink), or toddy (fermented palm sap)

Are vah! (holy cow!-not literally)

Cows in streets; snake charmers; woeld’s largest largest slums; Bollywood; maharajahs in palaces; rickshaws; gods and goddesses; computer geeks

Cities have killer nightlife scenes; most food isn’t spicy hot; English is the de facto national language; for the most part Hindus and Muslims live together pacefully

Once we had arrived at the entrance to the cave, the crush to see the deity was tremendous. l had to protect my wife. l was so flabbergasted that forgot to see the deities. My wife told me to go back to the viewing area, so again l hadto face the crush. The deities were of ice Shiva was in the middle, Parvati on one side and their son Ganesh on the other. lt was amazing, it was like l could see the whole of lndia from this small place on the mountain top.