2 posts tagged “delhi”

After about a week in Delhi, I am now back in Bangalore.  I had a really nice time in Delhi, since I last wrote, Neelmoy and I visited Old Delhi and got to see a lot of the more traditional sights and sounds of the city.  We visited a mosque, the Jama Masjid, and climbed one of its towers.  The tower had a tiny staircase twisting up hundreds of feet, and once you got to the top, there was a small area to stand and sort of hang on to the grated windows to see all of Delhi.

In Old Delhi we also got to ride the bicycle rickshaws.  A guy literally has a cart attached to the back of a bicycle, and you are slightly elevated to have a nice view of the chaos around you.  It's amazing how these skinny guys can pull so much weight biking around all day long.  Neelmoy and I both think that if India recruited some of its athletes from this population, with proper nutrition, these guys would be winning medals.  I read similar musings on a NY Times blog, "Two for the Road," where they wrote about bicycles in Africa, and how they are used for both transportation and income.

Yesterday I left Delhi for Bangalore.  As soon as I got to the airport, I felt more at ease knowing that I was relatively familiar with the place, and maybe 10% proficient in the local language, Kannada.  It's nice to be back though, in my old room at Mantri, and to see familiar faces again.  The sounds of the city are also very familiar, as the nearby temple is now broadcasting vocal music and some sort of talking along with the typical clanging of the bells on the loudspeaker.

I'm also excited to go back to the school that I worked in last summer, but from what I heard, things have deteriorated and there are now more students and fewer teachers than before.  I'll go on Thursday and report back after that.  Until then... tata!

So I've already spent three days in Delhi, and there is so much to tell!  I'm staying with family friends in Noida, a suburb of Delhi of approximately 3 million.  Settling into the heat was interesting-- its about 100 degrees on average this week, and the humidity is so high that you sweat like crazy just standing outside for five minutes.  It's like a sauna that you don't have to pay for, shedding pounds is no big deal, just give yourself thirty minutes in the sun.  As soon as I stepped out of the plane from Bangkok, the smell of Delhi hit.  I haven't been here in over six years, but I remembered the smell right a way-- kind of a mix of smoke and trash and heat and bodies.  It settles in your stomach and you get used to in a few days.  Each city has its own smell, and its funny how powerful and distinct they are.  Even my room at Northwestern had its own unique smell, one of our friends put it as a "mix of spices and antique shop."  Classy.

Delhi is huge, and it makes the traffic incredibly better than in Bangalore since things are so spread out.  Here, six lanes are made into eight, while in Bangalore, three are made into twelve.  On Wednesday, Neelmoy (the son of my mom's graduate school roommate) took me around to Khan Market, and we visited FabIndia for the first of what I'm sure will be many, many times.  Neelmoy got some of what apparently, as rated by CNN, MTV, and many food magazines and newspapers, was the best street food in Delhi.  I had a bit, which probably wasn't a very good idea.  Then we went to "Barista Creme," a high-end Starbucks-type place with waiters and interesting coffee concoctions.  I was very happy. Then we ventured to Dilli Haat, an outdoor market with local crafts and art for sale, and I got a few gifts and had my henna done on my arm.  There are plenty of artistic, emo photos by Neelmoy which I will upload shortly.  

Yesterday, we went to the Garden of Five Senses, which is this nice park with interesting sculptures and artwork all around.  I had my palm read for a whopping 100 rupees (~$2.50, but seriously, that's a lot), and the swami-ji was surprisingly on for most of it.  The most accurate thing he said, with utter confidence, was that I had 2 years of schooling left, and that I was going to be a "disseminator of knowledge," and kept emphasizing work in education.  Apparently, I will be a self-made woman, very rich and famous, with three kids (one that will give me a lot of trouble), and that I will have a "love marriage" to a nice Indian man.  I will also be constantly fearful of the "evil eye" upon me, that threatens my health and that of my family.  He offered to sell me the sacred stone that will protect me from the evil eye, but I politely declined.  So, close friends and family, watch out.

Today we saw the beautiful Baha'i Lotus Temple in the sweltering heat, but it was lovely just the same.  But, ironically, the better stories from today come from Neelmoy and my "adventure" to run some errands in Noida.  We needed like 5 things-- cheese, chicken, oil, milk, coffee.  We went to 3 different places to find the cheese, one other place to find the chicken.  There must have been a million stores crammed into this tiny area, with cars, and auto rickshaws, and 3-wheel, old-school bike rickshaws going in every direction on both one and two-way streets.  Neelmoy and I drove into this tiny one-way lane that was blocked at the end, and somehow, with like a nine-point turn, we managed to get out without hitting any a) cars, b) 3-wheelers, or c) people.  The most memorable incident was when we backed into an enormous pothole.  Essentially, it was a crater in the ground, at least a foot deep.  After the back wheel fell in, I was at a loss and thought we were going to have to get 10 people to lift the car out.  But the banana vendor nearby just motioned for Neelmoy to turn the wheel  (I'm sure he had seen many other cars in a similar predicament), to maneuver our way out.  As Neelmoy revved the engine and turned the wheel, water sprayed everywhere and a street child nearby had a laugh.  Eventually, we found our way out and got the hell out of there.  It was fantastic.  

I'm really enjoying my time here in Delhi.  I get stuffed with three meals a day, not helped at all by Neelmoy as he adds additional food to my plate with a side-to-side nod of his head and a "eat more beta!"  Sigh.  Jetlag is also slowly wearing off, and I'm getting re-acquainted to this country again.  I'll be back in Bangalore in a few days.  Should be a sweet summer.