It's been over a week since the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, and it still feels very unreal. I think it will only be after I've walked around on the streets there myself, looked at the Taj and the Oberoi and all the other targets with my own eyes to see that they're still standing, that I will be able to recover more fully. It's amazing to realize that we've come to this - that there are people out there who will mindlessly kill you for no other reason than you being on Indian soil. A broadcast of my talk yesterday with Marty Moss-Coane (WHHY Radio - NPR Philadelphia) on the terrorist attacks may be heard here.

I can't believe the number of festivals I attended in 2008. It started with the Jaipur Literary Festival in January, followed by a small festival at Howard University, Washington, DC, in Feb. In May, I went to the Hay-on-Wye Festival in Wales, and in June, to Aspen Summer Words in Colorado (where they had a special year on India). Then came the Brooklyn Book Festival and theLiterary Sojourn in Steamboat Springs, Colorado (both in Sep). In October, I participated in the New Yorker Festival (see entry below) and in November, the South Asian Literary and Theater Arts Festival SALTAF at the Smithsonian. Wow! They were all great, but naturally, the Brooklyn Festival wins, because of the opportunity to show my Bollywood dancing (see entry below).