Gloves? Yes, Gloves.

It's not hot in India, at least not yet. In fact, it's actually been quite pleasant. Temperatures the past week have ranged from the low 60's in the morning to right around 80 in the afternoon. That being said, it's obvious that it's going to warm up here in the not to distant future. Highs in the 90's are forecast by mid-next week.

With temperatures headed north, I was surprised when I saw a street vendor trying to peddle gloves while stopped at a red light in Delhi. It's not uncommon for vendors to walk between cars trying to sell something (ranging from flowers to best selling novels). I immediately made some snarky comment about this vendor not picking the right time of the year for this particular product and how he'd be more profitable selling model airplanes (and yes, you can even purchase a model 747 at any number of intersections in Delhi).

Not ten seconds later, a motorcycle pulled up and the driver and passenger immediately were engrossed with the gloves, trying on a number of different pair before ultimately deciding to purchase. By that point, a swarm of motorcycles had squeezed their way to the front of the light, which is what tends to happen here. Nearly none of them were wearing gloves; nearly all of them paid some level of attention to the glove salesman. Clearly, this vendor, whom I thought was crazy, had found the appropriate target market. He had also found a stoplight that was extraordinarily lengthy. We probably waited at the light for three to four minutes (though it seemed far longer than that). In those three to four minutes, the glove salesman had made a number of sales. He was like a beer vendor at a baseball game right before they cut off alcohol sales. Amazing.

I thought he was crazy for selling gloves in March in Delhi...

I'm not sure if the gloves are an odd fashion statement (unlikely), a way to keep one's hands out of the sun (also unlikely but based on the number of skin whitening products on the market not entirely impossible), or a way to protect or keep one's hands clean while riding a motorcycle through the streets of Delhi regardless the temperature (probably the likely reason). What I do know is that very few motorcyclists were wearing gloves when they pulled up to the red light and that by the time the light turned green, a few of them sped away with nice new gloves to cover their hands from the elements.

...but was once again to be proven a little dense.