India, April 25 -- With clear blue skies above us, we make our way from Chandigarh airport along a scenic route through fields on a smooth highway to Patiala, Punjab. As we pick up speed, the scenes outside the window begin to blur-larger shops and global food chains give way to open fields, rural architecture, and homes with courtyards and adjoining farms. Metropolitan salons turn into barber shops, apartment buildings fade into standalone homes, and I crack my window a sliver to breathe in the fresh air and recover from a long flight. An early morning summer shower leaves behind the faint smell of petrichor.

My daydreaming is interrupted by a peculiar sight-peculiar for someone who lives mostly in cities. A group of horses, chestnut b...