Life has never stopped surprising me. The unexpected may make you wonder about the scheme of things in the most unusual of moments, and what you expect may almost never happen ( it’s like my senses telling me “Hey! Whatever in the world made you think you were gonna get that?!”) So over the years, the one mind-set that has almost always worked for me – Bring it on!
And it all got challenged (once again) in the most unimaginable of situations.

"Is that a cow on the road?" asked my foreign client.

"Duuuhh... yeah!" spoke my mind; however, being the absolute professional that I am supposed to be, I politely smiled and said, "I think so.”(It does look like one!)

"But what is it doing on the road?" she exclaimed in utter amazement. "Errr... what do you think? Dancing perhaps?" said my mind again. "She's walking." (But obviously!)

"Why isn't it in a farm or some kind of safe place?" Good question. Do I know the answer to that? Now that she asked, well sort of. I do not know what the cow is doing on the road. I've grown up seeing them on the road. It's conditioned as an absolutely normal thing in my head. I mean, where else would it walk? All the farms I've seen in and around Delhi are used as wedding venues. Never seen cows there. Come to think of it, never seen goats either... rabbits and birds maybe... but cows, horses, sheep, pigs... err.. definitely not. Coming to the original question…I do not know what the cow is doing on the road.

One thing I know for sure -wherever she is on the road, she's bloody safe. It's us who need to worry. Imagine walking close to the cow - what if she has anger issues and suddenly finds me a good target? What if she suddenly decides to cross the road while I’m speeding in my car? And what if she gets tired of all the walking and decides to rest in the middle of the road?

My deliberation seemed to have got lost in the loud gasps of astonishment from the rest of the European crew. I reminisced the Almighty, and just then..
"Is that a Brahmi cow?”
"A what?" said my vocal chords (unable to control themselves).
"A brahmi cow!"
"I dont know. Is there a thing as a Brahmi cow?"
"Why yes! I'll show you. See..." And she googled it... Ohhhh! Wow…Ok!

Alright… so this was going to be an interesting trip from Delhi to Agra; we were going to take some fabulous shots of the Taj Mahal - but that seemed to be the least of my worries. All that was sorted; but this... well, ummm! So here I go; bags packed, phone charged, internet working, google search engine ready - Bring it on I say!

The above narrative is one of the many such situations I have come across while working with production units coming into India, especially for the first time. It's amazing to see their reaction towards the cultural differences, and equally astonishing to note the amount of knowledge that they have on small things about India that we Indians may not have even thought of.

India is an experience to be cherished – whether you are a tourist, a student or a business traveller.

It will never stop tingling your senses while making you experience something new, something different, something extraordinary, and maybe sometimes something awkward as well. One thing is for sure though - it will leave you with stories to tell for a life time!

And for people like me, simple line producers... if I haven't said it already, God bless Google!