toxic exotic?

Announcement: it has occurred to me that maybe I am exoticizing India. This is a concept I have only a vague sense about, buried deep in my anthropology-minor past and discussions of "other" from museum exhibit reviews. But I want everyone to know I'm thinking about it.

This all came up becuase I noticed a common color palette on the covers of the books I've been reading. Pink. Terracotta. Sunny yellow. Elephants. Brush-stroke fonts. Mughal-looking architectural elemetns. And I genuinely like all of these things, find them gorgeous and interesting and always have - but then where do those concepts come from?

I really don't want to be a traveler who has stereotyped. I really want to be thoughtful, to take in all I can on its own terms, to engage with what I truly do find, not with what I think I'm looking for. I know perfectly well that India is no more like Bollywood than here is like Hollywood. That's an easy thing to get past because it's so obvious. But what if I've filled my head up with other careless or frivolous expectations? And how does all of this fit with being aware of and sensitive to cultural differences?

My head hurts.