On a hot day in June, 1975, our family arrived in Bombay (now Mumbai), our first stop In India. We had 9-10 hours before the one plane leaving daily for Bangalore would leave. At that time airlines would provide a hotel room for rest when the layover was so long. We left the airport, and were in a taxi driving to the hotel when I became aware of the sights, sounds, and smells of the country.
The numbers in the streets consisted of cars, trucks, auto rickshaws, people, motorcycles, animals, and carts pulled by animals or humans.
People were everywhere and were dressed in many colorless and colored outfits.
The sounds were of Indian music, vendors selling wares, different languages, loud bands accompanying a religious celebration, and the constant honking of automobile horns making their way through the traffic.
Smells of spices, fumes from the heavy traffic, and aromas from unusual foods filled the air. As we drove to the hotel my thoughts were, ‘Oh, what have I gotten my family into?’
This was the beginning of an adventure as we learned to love the culture and people of India which have been part of the changing of our world view. Before long these unusual sights, sounds, and smells were normal to the extent that they were hardly noticed.
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