India, April 6 -- The uniqueness of any object, person or deed depends a whole lot on the circumstances in which these are presented. If a snowman should emerge from nowhere on a hot sunny afternoon in New Delhi, passers-by would probably gape at him, askance, even if his layers of whiteness would melt within minutes, before their very eyes.

Someone who's munching at a bagel or a pretzel in New York might not raise any eyebrows, but if the same individual were to gorge on gol gappas in mid street, even busy New Yorkers might take notice. And even though the world has evened out a great deal, despite the parochial tendencies of present day 'world leaders', something largely unfamiliar to the locals is bound to create more than a ripple of...