Don't look for your country in any country

Definitely, this Spanish saying rings true in Mumbai. From the moment I got off the plane and was greeted by a policeman armed with a machine gun, who wished me Merry Christmas with a smile, to the "sideways nod" that I got from the immigration personnel at the airport as an answer to one of my questions, to the "namaste" greeting from the hotel staff upon check in, or the smell of orchids, lilies and incense in my hotel room...Everything told me I was in a very different environment, in a completely different culture...in a city that somehow, made me feel very much at home.