India--Land of Contrasts

IREX has found this wonderful hotel for us, the Lemon Tree Premier in Bangalore. The rooms are wonderful and comfortable, the bathroom has a large marble shower, the views of the city are glorious, the restaurant has so many choices. . .it's hard to believe that just outside our door is a world that we've only seen in photos.

Each time we leave the hotel, we take in all that Bangalore has to offer our senses! The hustle and bustle of city life is so unlike Chicago. Business is transacted on smaller scales--a vendor selling tomatoes off a push cart or a shopkeep selling bottled water or a man selling coils of wire that he's hung up on a tree limb in a makeshift shop. There is a business and casualness at the same time. We heard a presentation from Maya Manon, one of our hosts and consultants here, about the constant battle between this and that, here and there, fast and slow in India and she's absolutely right! There seems to always be a yin and yang, but not in a negative way. It might seem confusing to those observing it, but so much seems to work.