The band It's A Beautiful Day wrote a song filled with lilting, exotic sounds named "Bombay Calling."

Now, I'm up to my neck in deadlines and the annual tax marathon, and it would simply be lovely to run away, but the truth is also that India has been on my mind. An uncle of mine visited years ago with his wife, and I wrote to him and asked, what should I see if I go? What did you think? He wrote back and said (among other things, most of them feeding my yearning like drops of spice, "It will change you."

That's the whole point, isn't it? But that's also what makes it challenging to consider.

In the meantime, I suppose I'm chained to the piles of receipts and the books that need writing. But I can listen to "Bombay Calling" on CD, and maybe later, I'll go to the library and pick up A SUITABLE BOY.

Oh, and before I forget: the best book I've read about India lately is ONE LAST LOOK, by Susannah More.