I dreamed of India

I can't remember exactly when in my life I decided I liked the idea of India. I think at some point there was a subconscious mashup of my Indu-exposure into this nebulous entity I thought was intensely cool.

John, Paul, George and Ringo's journey to the Maharishi's ashram in Rishikesh and the subsequent news reports of hippie pilgrimages to Delhi and Goa played a big part, as I was a hippie from age five -- as much as a kindergartener can assume a cultural and political identity separate from his parent's. George's deep connection to Hare Krishna and meditation was of particular interest. His Holiness the Dalai Lama's midnight escape to Dharamsala was as well, because any guy who's lived 13 lives and chooses to settle there -- well, it must be a really cool place. And Gandhi, 'nuff said.

My entire life I've been drawn to clothing with Indian sensibilities. The 60's in America was a decade draped in Indian fabrics and colors. The Beatles for sure. I think I remember the Monkees wearing Indian style shirts on their show. And Nehru jackets were everywhere on the boob tube, from villains on cop or spy movies to cheesy singers doing Doors covers on variety shows. The 70's, when I actually could make my own choices about what to like and how to think, saw my classmates wearing braided leather sandals barely held to feet with a single toe ring and an ankle strap. And the piece de resistance for me, were the Indian cotton shirts I ordered from tiny black-and-white ads in the back of magazines, cotton gauze kurta's with appliques of swirly flowers that I wore with corduroy Levi's and long jingling earrings. In the 80's Pier 1 was stuffed with racks of Made-In-India clothes, from bright long loose rayon pants to gauzy skirts and dropped skirt dresses. I was a regular shopper. Even today my friends and co-workers know that I always appreciate a little sumpin-sumpin from the motherland to add to my closet collection.

I came to the food relatively recently -- I've been a lover of Indian food for about 10 years now - even trying my hand at recipes I find online. I especially love biryani, tikka masala, giant paper dosas, dal makhani, samosas, and mattar paneer. I LOVE those little egg-shaped pastries in which you drop stuff and drizzle vinegar, mmm mmm! The rice, omg, the rice! As a Southerner I was brought up eating rice with every meal, and light and non-sticky basmati rice is empty carb heaven! I could eat it alone -- with nothing in or on! Throw along a basket of aloo naan and I could fall into a carb coma rivalled only by Thanksgiving!

It's been a lifelong long-distance love affair, and I'm so excited to meet India in person!