Baby, Please Don't Go, Down to New Orleans...

Now, of course, this Muddy Waters classic has acquired an acute grimness to it...
And, to me, that message is especially pungent...

I had decided to travel about the country this summer. Among the first destinations I had thought of was...N'awlins: so redolent with jazz history, such a smorgasbord of cultural highlights.

But, I deferred it for some strange reason, not in the least because when I mentioned the idea to someone here, they exclaimed "New Orleans in the summer!" and proceeded to caution me on the heat, humidity and the bugs (as if I, an Indian, should've cared)...a typical Northern response to the South, I guess...

What devastation has visited this city with such a big heart! Something particularly malicious and destructive...something almost seeming to strike at the soul and spirit of New Orleans.

Images of New Orleans will live on in many minds. Some moving accounts have appeared in the NYT ("What it means to Miss New Orleans") and the Washington Post ("An Icon Imperiled").
Both these articles express hope New Orleans will bounce back.

I think it will and to paraphrase a popular Hindi song,

Mera joota hai Japani
Ye pataloon hai inglistani
Sar pe lal topi roosi
Par bhi dil hai hindustani

My shoes are Japanese
And the trousers are English
The cap on my head is Russian
But my heart is Hindustani [Indian]

...New Orleans has a colorful and varied outer garb, one with many influences, but deep down its heart is American. So it will bounce back in the true American spirit...soon, hopefully!