Wanted. BCom, preferably MBA, with clean habits and good communication skills essential - maybe with experience as a software engineer.

Not an advert for a top job, but a personal ad, which, coupled with a horoscope (which should be compatible with any potential partner) places very specific demands on would-be husbands or brides. It is a perfect example of India's unusual coexistence of high aspiration and a belief in fate and destiny.

The journey to the airport is a little more awkward than was expected. A riot near a local shopping mall breaks out between rival Sikh communities. Someone is shot in the fracas with the police, and now a sit down protest is taking place. The police seem to respond by banning everybody from turning right almost regardless of their initial direction.

The detour leads us through a poorer part of town, with a large Muslim community. I am told that this is another sensitive area, with the poor and marginalised eager to jump on any opportunity for protest. Much of the area looks like a bomb site; barely a single building is complete. Walls that are still standing are adjoined by corrugated metal (sorry if my blogs are turning into "Corrugated Metal Daily", I am sure this will change once I reach my next destination). As many as five people sleep in four sq metre shacks of three walls in some visible instances. Packs of stray dogs roam and scavenge in the rubbish piles.

Finally we reach the highway. The junction here has no roundabout or traffic control; cars just head for their destination and pray. The airport is currently in the process of modernisation and most stalls are not open. Duty free does do a good line in Scotch Whisky and Swiss chocolate, but unfortunately no Indian souvenirs.