India, March 25 -- By Dr. R. Balasubramaniam

There is a particular moment that every South Indian experiences within the first week of arriving in Delhi. It is the moment you confidently order something in Hindi or when the autorickshaw driver stares at you with the kind of pity usually reserved for the terminally confused and then responds in English - just to spare everyone further suffering. That moment, I have discovered, does not get easier. It simply becomes a recurring ritual of humility.

I came to Delhi five years ago, carrying the quiet confidence of someone who had spent decades working in the forests of Karnataka, building institutions, writing books, talking to governments. I imagined I understood India reasonably well. Delh...