Security

Hanging out in India, one of the first things you notice is the security, which seems to be everywhere. Airport security has been tight for a number of years, and the number of bureaucratic steps have actually been reduced. I was once told that I could not take a packet of batteries aboard the plane, but the guy nicely suggested that at least I should put the new batteries in my camera. The idea that, if I were a bad guy, the batteries likewise could be removed to meet my nefarious purposes never seemed to dawn on him. Such was security.

Full-body (and what we might call "intrusive") pat-downs are given to everyone at the airport. Getting into the movies requires a full pat-down. Go to the mall, and you also will be given a full search. Each store at the Mall has a security guy at the door, but pat-downs are not required. (On the positive side, he is nice enough to hold the door for you coming and going). I didn't go to the Delhi subway, but I also expect that would require a search. And I would have gotten closer pictures of India Gate, but there were military guys stationed all around it to keep folks away—to the point of making everyone stay on the sidewalk (I cannot describe to you what a feat of crowd control this is—Indians are genetically predisposed to NOT staying on the sidewalks).

These searches have, sadly, proven to be necessary. India is a conglomeration or endless ethnicities and religions, some of which have real or perceived grievances that a bombing would, in their mind, address. Mix in Kashmir, which is still in dispute, and the fact that any number of Pakistanis would enjoy blowing the place up just for the hell of it, and it is amazing that the place doesn't have more problems.

Yet somehow, it all hangs together. I don't really understand how. I somehow feel like I am in the eye of a hurricane when I am here, and while there is incredible stuff going on all around, it seems calm in my little bubble.