I found this wonderful perfume shop right next to the Taj Mahal palace. The perfumes here are made with real flowers by perfumers whose families have been in the perfume business for generations. It's a hole in the wall shop that can easily be missed if you don't look hard. Its about the size of a closet, but it's a charming place with lots of character. I made friends with the owner of the shop. We started talking about Indian culture and the observations foreigners point out. One of those observations (which I also pointed out) is that in India, friends hold hands with each other. Holding hands is not seen as romantic, but rather a display of close friendship. The shop owner told me how funny it was to him that almost all of the foreigners he engages with tell him this.

Another interesting conversation I had with him was about the terrorist attacks in 2008. I asked if he was at the shop when the incident happened. He told me that he was at home and heard about the attacks on the news. Everyone in the city was advised to stay home. He mentioned this was hard for many business owners especially those who owned shops in the tourist area (by the Taj). People didn't go to work for about a week.