The city's unique circumstances have rendered order a counterpoint to cacophony: far from a belligerent, unintelligible mess, Yangon's quiet undertones bore great significance to those who understood it.

Perhaps how we 'other' individuals hailing from geographies far removed is grounded in a grain of reality. Mandalay was an about-face from the sterile chaos that was Yangon. The pre-colonial capital and second largest city, the inhabitants of Mandalay seemed more measured, paced and laid-back.

Just south of Mandalay is the prefecture of Amarapura. A scooter trip went awry led me to a strange sight: light and sound unlike any other I have seen before. Kitsch trance music blared from speakers bolted on an oxcart, 100-kyat notes pinned to blouses, and garish make-up and miniskirts adorning the little children gyrating to the chaos.

The city of ten thousand temples, Bagan, the ancient capital of a civilization past, tarries today - a monument of monuments: to the horizon, stupas probe into the sky through the dense canopy. Temples of stone persist, but indications of civilization have otherwise vanished: the relentless march of time and inevitable onslaught of nature through disaster and erosion alike have worn all other facets down to naught.

In a true testament to the persistence of Man and its unrelenting spirit of mercantilism, New Delhi's bustle spreads to every corner of its boundaries - which have extended to encompass that of neighboring cities, as so many nations' capitals have before it. In the midst of chaos and ceaseless busyness, its inhabitants remain human, and deeply so.

The capital of the state of Rajasthan, and its most populous city. In its inexplicable warmth and pink glow, Jaipur, the aptly-named Pink City renders warmth not only to ASA 100 Kodak Ektar, but to visitors alike. 

This August we celebrate 51 years of independence.

51 years of against-the-odds survival. 51 years of cringe-worthy drama serials, of Hello Kitty edition Happy Meal queues, of arguments over the best chicken rice in town.

Yes, we know that we are a confusing mess of contradictions. Stark signs of modernity with our jungle of glass-clad skyscrapers vis cramped colonial-era shop houses and their five-foot ways. Our genial, affable, Instagram-loving Prime Minister vis his monolithic, book-banning, show-stopping, courtesy campaign-touting government.