The exclamation marks in the title are not typos. They signify the wonder and amazement that a typical tourist to India experiences.

Being in Delhi, one gets to see a lot of tourists on the streets, in the restaurants, at the hot spots. They come in all shapes, sizes and nationalities. Whenever I see one, and I have some idle time, I enjoy trying to guess things about them: Where do they come from? What would be their social status? Are they more likely to visit/ have visited the Taj Mahal, the Kumbh or the Himalayas? Things like that.

First, there are the business visitors. They are the easiest. They are in their suits even at the height of summer, and their shoes shine more than their Ray-Bans. They are most likely to be flanked by their Indian counterparts who would be gesticulating wildly everytime the visitor sees something 'exotic'.

Then come the hookers. They are easy too, once you have got an eye for such things. They are most likely to be from the former USSR countries, carry a small bright handbag and have brightly painted nails, and well-scrubbed faces. They move either alone or in pairs, closely and not-so-discreetly followed by their pimps. One thing needs to be said about them: they are almost the only 'tourists' who turn out nicely at all times of the day.

There is another category that has become more and more visible. They are the young-students-on-a-karma-break. They invariably wear glasses, big watches and if you look hard enough, their weary bags or dirty trousers will reveal some designer label. They move in bunches, usually an equal number of guys and girls, and they sometimes can be seen taking notes. [I have hardly ever see this category take photographs.] Many of these kids come from Ivy League colleges and are on their term breaks.