I was in Bombay in early 2006, during Bush's visit to India, which was on the heels of the uproar over the Danish cartoons of Mohammad. Bombay has a large Muslim population, and I was not aware that on my last day there, a 150,000 person march was planned. I was going back to my hotel to get my bags and head to the airport after a trip to Elephanta island when I found myself in the middle of this protest. I was a little scared, since you never know what might happen in the midst of a large crowd that is burning things and waving posters of Ayatollah Khomeini, and the only white guy to be seen was getting a lot of strange looks. I needed to get to my hotel if I was not going to miss my flight, which meant crossing the route of the march, and I decided to go for it. This would be difficult because of the crowds alone, but about halfway I was stopped by a group of guys who demanded to know where I was from. One of them was holding a thali with a caricature of Bush stuck to it and beating Bush’s face with a drumstick. They didn’t seem angry or aggressive and I told them I was from New York, and to the next question, what do you think of Bush, I gave the thumbs down. Wanting to be further convinced, they presented me with the Bush thali and drumstick to see if I would hit Bush’s image. But I decided to do them one better, so I went Muslim-style, taking off my flip-flop and whacking Bush’s image with the sole. They absolutely loved this, cheering and calling me “good American.” They then asked where I was going and proceeded to escort me through the crowd, helping me over a barrier and making sure I got safely to Victoria Station.