"Marmaralu-wala" The puffed rice seller. I met him in Feb 2005. Every day he would sell me a paper cone of one of my most favorite things in the world: a spiced puffed rice snack. He would serve me first even if 10 other people were waiting for him. One day, when he saw me coming up the lane, he jumped up, rummaged through his bag and brought out a slice of mango with spices that he had saved all day for me; he hadn't been sure whether we get mangos in America and wanted me to to try the special treat. When I was leaving, concerned that I might not be able to get rice puff snacks in America; he packed all the dry spices in individual packets with a big packet of puffed rice for me to take home.

It's a simple hospitality of the heart and I search everyday for those simple, unadulterated human connections. Sometimes I am lucky enough to find them.