. . . I love you.  I really love India and have fond memories of going there quite often during my childhood (I’ve been to India nine times,  4 times before the age of 11).  However, there are some issues that really, really bother me about this country of my parents.

Thanks to the The Young Turks I came across a great video hosted by AJPlus about rape victims in India fighting back against gender inequality and the sexist, rapist culture that unfortunately permeates India’s paradigm.  These women call themselves the Red Brigade and their actions are truly remarkable and brave.  As a spoiled American I’m probably not the right person to sit here and criticize India, but it is abhorrent that extremely young girls at the ages of 6 and 10 can be gang raped and have their innocence and childhood ruined and the perpetrators can go free.  It’s humbling to watch this.  I really have nothing to complain about sitting in my apartment and enjoying the mountain scenery in middle America.  I wish these women well.

Another thing that kind of bothers me is that medical care may not be as good in India as I thought it was at least according to this Vice Report .   I used to think that Indian doctors were some of the best in the world, but then again I’ve been wrong about other things before.  Medical errors and negligence are actually more common in India in comparison to other democracies and it mostly has to do with lack of accountability and responsibility as the article mentions.   And of course this leads to more terrible outcomes including unnecessary death.  Again, India is an overpopulated country and the caste system (India’s version of apartheid) is still strong, which is a barrier against education and well being for the poor.

Again, I love India and hope to come back soon to visit my relatives there, but things have to change quickly for this country to overcome these terrible things.  It’s the 21st century now, and India’s running out of excuses.

Hard to believe that it’s only been a few days since I left New York City.  I had a great time.  It was great to see a taping of The Nightly Show and, moreover, it was REALLY awesome to see U2 twice in concert.

Seeing Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen perform with the band was great in itself, but what was really special was that I ran into two friends who I hadn’t seen in ten years. They were standing in the same row I was in and after the show they approached me. Really unbelievable how small the world really is and how people can meet up after losing contact with one another.  We spent some time after the concert and exchanged contact info and promised that we won’t wait another ten years to meet again.

It was also pretty cool that Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were in the audience.  The two last concerts at Madison Square Garden felt like truly exceptional events and I’ll never forget it and feel fortunate to have been a part of it.

Also, I got to do all the fun stuff in New York that I didn’t get to do six years ago as a medical student.  I spent an entire day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and visited the Empire State Building and got to walk on the Brooklyn Bridge.  I also spent a day with a cousin in the city, so that was really cool, too.

With that said, I am happy to be back here in Colorado amongst the mountains.  I love New York, but I don’t think I’m tough enough to live there on a daily basis.  I am looking forward to my next visit, though.

And speaking of traveling, with all of these recent trips to Germany and New York, I wonder where (and when) I am going to make my next visit.  Hopefully, pretty soon.