The Dalager Experiment: A Day(+) in New Delhi

I'm finally blogging again!
My four month absence was mostly due to too much to do, rather than too little to report!

When my parents planned a trip to Delhi for a coworker's wedding, we decided that they were coming just too close to Singapore for me to pass up the chance to see them - and a new country! Since traveling to the States generally takes about 24 hours, the 6 hour flight to India was comparatively brief! So while Jacob flew to NYC to brave wind, snow, and auditions, I spent a long weekend in New Delhi and Agra with my folks. (Jacob is getting to spend time with his sister, and eat as much NY pizza and Chipotle as he wants / is physically able, so that evens things out a bit!)

I had to jump through a few hoops to get my visa, which needed to be secured ahead of time, but that worked out fine. Arriving at Indira Ghandi Airport was a breeze, made even easier by the fact that Harish, our driver for the trip, was right there too pick me up when I came through customs. It was a great reunion with my parents at the LaLit hotel, and after a a tasty lunch at the hotel restaurant, we headed out for the afternoon.

We went first to the Baha'i House of Worship, one of just 7 such continental Houses of Worship in the world (interestingly, the oldest in existence is in Wilmette, Illinois!). I don't know much about the Baha'i faith, which was founded in Persia in the 19th century. However, many of its main elements are incredibly appealing, and speak directly to crucial issues today. A summary, offered by Shogi Effendi (copied from Wikipedia, emphasis mine):

"The independent search after truth, unfettered by superstition or tradition; the oneness of the entire human race, the pivotal principle and fundamental doctrine of the Faith; the basic unity of all religions; the condemnation of all forms of prejudice, whether religious, racial, class or national; the harmony which must exist between religion and science; the equality of men and women, the two wings on which the bird of human kind is able to soar; the introduction of compulsory education; the adoption of a universal auxiliary language; the abolition of the extremes of wealth and poverty; the institution of a world tribunal for the adjudication of disputes between nations; the exaltation of work, performed in the spirit of service, to the rank of worship; the glorification of justice as the ruling principle in human society, and of religion as a bulwark for the protection of all peoples and nations; and the establishment of a permanent and universal peace as the supreme goal of all mankind—these stand out as the essential elements [which Bahá'u'lláh proclaimed]"

So good to see these two!!!

Beautiful Dahlias

The Temple itself is intended as a space for prayer, meditation, and reflection for people of all faiths. It was free and open to the public, and lots of people were there enjoying the gorgeous weather!

Carpets for sale

We then made our way back through Delhi traffic (or, Harish did) to Delhi Haat, a crafts market. We met up with my dad's coworker, Vanita, who walked us through, introduced us to her 'Pashmina guy' and helped us with the bargaining! Lots a lovely art, and even though it usually takes Jacob and I ages to deliberate and pick something out, I bought TWO things in the space of 20 minutes!

All kinds of brass figurines

Garlands

Once we were all shopped out, we got dinner at a most delicious restaurant called Gulati. We enjoyed chicken and lamb kebabs, biryani, dal makhani, murgh makhani, and naan makhani. (Er, makhani basically means butter or ghee! Technically, it means 'rich sauce.') YUM! I've already professed my love of Indian food, and this trip only deepened that love. We were too stuffed to even look at the dessert menu.

I promise we did more than eat, though our Sunday morning started with a great buffet breakfast. We were met by Harish and Aditay (Adite?), who acted as our tour guide for the day. We embarked on a pretty ambitious day of touring, starting at Jami Masjid, the largest mosque in India. We left our shoes by the entrance and Mom and I donned really flattering robes - I appreciate that they are willing to let tourist explore, balancing our interests with their beliefs and helping us to be respectful.

Pulling. It. Off!

Pool for washing. I must say, the water was a bit gnarly!

Flying a quite! Couldn't help but think of the book Kite Runner.

Next, we hopped in pedicabs for a ride through an older part of the city, including the spice market and many back alleys, which were canopied in tangles of electrical wire, lined with fruit vendors, and brimming with life.

Pedi-cam!

We stopped at a spice store for a demonstration, smelling and tasting a variety of familiar and unfamiliar spices. We chewed cinnamon, ground cumin, and watched as the salesman proved that the saffron was actually real saffron. And we purchased a few packets.

Marigolds!

We drove to Gandhi's memorial, where his ashes were placed after his assassination. Many aspects of India reminded me of South Africa, especially the many reminders of old imperial rule under Britain as well as modern westernization in the form of McD's, KFC, etc. Gandhi spent time in South Africa, witnessing the systematic racism that would become Apartheid and formulating ideas that he took back to India and used during its struggle for independence. Lots of parallels.

Next, we went to a Cottage Industry carpet store, where we received a demonstration of carpet making, tea and biscuits, and a sales pitch. It was fun looking at all the carpets and feeling just how incredibly soft they were to walk on.

On the way to our next destination, my dad realized we were quite near a Geocache. If you unfamiliar with Geocaching, it is using location coordinates to hunt for caches which have been hidden by other Geocachers. It is a huge community, with over a million geocaches hidden worldwide. Last year, we found geocaches with my parents in Singapore and Indonesia. This one in New Delhi brought us to a Step Well, which was really neat all by itself! Unfortunately, this geocache eluded us (there were several 'did not finds' listed online, so it may have been removed!)

A pigeon in every hole!

We then stopped for lunch at the Cultural Centre of the Ethiopian Embassy - but don't be deceived, it was still Indian food. Really good. Refueled, we headed to the President's residence (Rashtrapati Bhavan) and then down to India Gate, a monument to soldiers who fought in World War II and other wars.

A bunch of ice cream vendors. OH NO! MOM! We forgot to get ice cream! Not one scoop for the entire trip! How could this have happened?!

We then headed to Humayan's tomb, which was huge and quite impressive. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

We finished off the day at Qutub Minar, a tall tower built by the Moghul when they came to power. The late evening sun shown beautifully on the red sandstone, and we reveled in the perfect weather - cool for me, warm for my parents! Exhausted from the day, we tested the hotel pool (too cold!) before eating dinner at the hotel and falling asleep.

And we're gonna leave it there - quite a full 36 hours!