India 1: The power of dreams

February 6 - March 7, 2008

The morning I was due to fly to New York and from there to New Delhi, I dreamed I couldn't pass through a room full of people with their arms and legs in braces. Wires crossed every possible path and the space sparkled with flashing LEDS. I had somewhere to go but I couldn't get there.

When I woke, the phrase "encumbered by technology" rang in my head. With some reluctance, I repacked my bags, leaving behind my laptop, the video camera and all their paraphernalia. It seemed the obvious thing to do. I kept my tiny digital camera in its little case in my handbag, but I left the wires to connect it to the computer. My luggage much lightened, I felt great.

The flight to New York was fine, and I spent a delightful day and a half at my daughter's place in Brooklyn, and then I met my friend Roxanne Gupta at the airport at Newark. Our flight left around midnight.

My month in India was full of revelation and profound lessons, as always. In fact, it went extraordinarily well with one exception: near the end of the month, my little camera was stolen.

So this journal does not include the many photos I took. Words and an occasional borrowed image will have to do.

What can I say? I tried to sneak past the gate and I got caught.