A Winter in India

The photo is us plus Kate and her cousin Rob at the restaurant at the Intercontinental Hotel on New Year's Eve. Not exactly a wild party, but we did have a good time. Kate and Rob left at 1 AM on Jan. 3 and made it home to Brockton, Mass (Rob) and to Maine (Kate). Its lonely here without them!

Those of you who do math in your heads may have read the title of this entry and said, "Wait a minute. Leap Year?? 2006 is not divisible by 4." And you are correct. This is NOT a leap year anywhere but India. If the time zone here can be 30 minutes off from any other time zone (we are 10.5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time), why not have a leap year all your own? Well, it isn't really that. Its a Leap Year created by economists, not by astronomers.

India has designated 2006 as their Leap into world-class prosperity and development. They predict that by 2020 they will be a superpower. The problems of poverty, pollution and population here are such that it is difficult to picture those disappearing in 14 years. BUT things have changed so much, and improved so much, in seven years, maybe its possible. There is certainly a spirit of optimism and a vibrant energy here that is quite exciting. The stock market has reached a new high almost every day. The amount of foreign investment has grown by leaps and bounds. So, for a large number of people things are really changing fast.