When I was in Bombay, I was told “This is Bombay, this is not India”, and it was true. The city with its opportunities, modernity and relative meritocracy is quite unlike the rest of India.

The I was in Goa, and I was told “This is Goa, not India”, and it was true. The region with its Portuguese influence, catholic population and tourist influx is quite unlike the rest of India.

Last night, dining in a fancy vegetarian restaurant in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad (the Indian equivalent of Beverly Hills, LA), my Indian dinner colleague suggested in conversation that this too was not India.

 So after three weeks is this country, where precisely is India?