DUBAI — I’m getting a few hours rest, having made the 16-hour flight from Los Angeles. Though I’ve wandered the duty free shops at the airport during similar layovers, it made more sense to get a hotel, at least for the shower alone. The next flight is only a few hours long and then I will be in India!

Last glimpses of Los Angeles from my plane

This decision to move and work in South Asia has surprised many friends and family. And I must include myself in that list. The last time I was leaving India, I vividly remember sitting on the plane and vowing not to return for a decade. And here it is just three years after that and I find myself heading there again. The circumstances of that last visit were awful. I had made three trips that year, the final being just after my father died. I equated the country with all of that sadness. So perhaps this trip is an attempt to create a new feeling, one that will not replace the previous experience, but at least give it some added dimension.