Day 2: Nothing but fun, fun, fun

What a fun day! I’ve spent an entire day touring Delhi on an AC bus with lots of indian families, went to lots of cool places, met some wonderful people, ate some great food, and took some wonderful pictures--all in one day.

A man from the tour office came to pick me up and we went through a maze in the Paharganj slum. He obviously knew where he was going and all I did was just to follow after him. We finally stopped at a tourist office where I and many families wait to hope on the bus. Lots of them took the ones without AC. My group had to wait for about 15 minutes for our bus to show.

A beautiful family from Andhra Pradesh, father is a miner

Man from Assam, north eastern part speaks Hindi but no English

We finally hopped on and waited there until the count was full, and I was surprised at  how Indian people can actually go at it too. There were some sharp verbal exchange but nothing serious really happened. The problem was solved by a simple phone-call to the man’s hotel.  Unlike my first day where I felt the people who approached me were pushy, today was the exact opposite--they were authentic as ever and it gives me a glimpse of Indian life. A lot of people were curious about where I’m from and what I do and we had many pleasant exchanges. They think that I come from Japan or Korea (I guess given how big my head is), until I start to speak English or very broken Hindi. But that didn’t really matter, actually speaking in broken Hindi is kind of fun because it gives them an opportunity for them to help me w/ Hindi and they usually smile every time I try to speak it.

The tour today was very long but well worth every single rupee and really having an air-conditioned bus is almost a matter of life and death out here in India. I sweat like I never have in my entire life today. Boy the heat was already crazy in the morning and then later in the morning it must already be in the 90s, in the afternoon, well it’s just plain crazy hot. But to my surprised, indian people hardly ever break out into a sweat even in crazy temperatures. I really don’t know how they can stand it. It was funny how after getting off the bus for 20 minutes to visit a site, I would hop back on the bus with a wet shirt, and a face that was full of perspiration, while my fellow Indian tourists hardly perspire. I drank and drank and drank to keep myself from getting seriously dehydrated and I notice how Indian families would share a one liter bottle of water. Their endurance for the heat is simply amazing

Gandhi smrti--too bad we couldn't go up there

Nehru smrti

 The first place to visit was Rajghat, the Smrti of Nehru (India’s first president). Smrti means memorial and it comes from sanskrit which means recollection or remembrance. Then we went to Gandhi’s memorial where he was assassinated. Unfortunately we couldn’t go any further because the guard said that today there was some important president visiting this site. I believe someone said that the president said was from Krygstan.

Man playing with death (nah not really...I think the fangs are taken out).

When we left, I was shock to see a cobra with its hood expand and pretty much ready to attack but it was still as stone. There were a bunch of people gathering around the man taking pictures but I made sure to keep my distance. Boy I must have stood like ten feet away maybe even more. And then I saw this caucasian man actually stooping down and stroking the cobra under its head. What in the world was he thinking!I couldn’t believe my very eyes. I asked the Indian people whether they took out the fangs to prevent the snake from biting and got mixed responses.

And then we spend a lot of time at the Gandhi museum which has a unique Indian sense of ambience and layout. It’s not like Western museums where you have written plaques--the Indian version has glossed paper. There were lots of many wonderful pictures of Gandhi and his followers that I have never seen before and that was well worth it. I was shooting left and right, until I realized that I need to appreciate this place a little more by slowing down and recognizing what a privilege it is to be here and to actually see all these wonderful artifacts from a man who I truly admire.

spinning wheel: one of many simple artifacts in the museum

From there, we went to the parliament and the presidential palace, which is equivalent to being in Washington D.C. and seeing Capitol Hill minus the extreme heat. I don’t think we had time to go and check it out. This site served only as a simple place for a quick snap. And this is where my right knee actually burnt as I tried kneeling on the pavement because a photographer suggested that I should kneel. He took four pictures of me each for 40 rupees. They came out terrible. By this time it was probably around 1 pm and a lot of people were starving. I decided that I couldn’t wait any further for lunch so I bought this light snack on the street. It’s bel puri and very tasty.

bel puri...the men who sell them squat for a very long time.

 Afterwards we stopped at the India gate and by this time with no shades to take shelter, it was almost suicide. I made sure to apply more sunscreen on my face and neck. Since I was wearing shorts, my lower leg probably took a beating but being tan, I hardly ever get sun-burn on my lower legs. The gate was no doubt impressive. No one can get underneath the arch but it was fine. It was enclosed by a chain and guarded by two soldiers. After being roasted in the sun, it was such a relief to go back into the air-conditioned bus. Afterwards we head to the Smrtii of Indira Gandhi (no relations whatsoever to the Mahatma) who I believed was the first woman president of India and was assassinated. I don’t know anything about Indian politics but she seemed to be a very important political figure in the late 20th century. A lot of people paid her respects and we were at this site for about half an hour. I’m not sure why there was metal detectors at the entrance and they did not allow bottled water.

crazy hot, with no shades whatsoever

By now it was a little after 3:00 and everyone in the group was starving. We stopped at a good restaurant where I had some amazing food. The rice was just delicious and the chana masala was very good too. I can’t believe how slow I eat compared to Indian people. Even though my food came like 5 minutes later, quite a lot of people were done before I was half-way through mine. I started to think whether it was good for the digestion to eat so quickly especially when the food was spicy. We finished our meal with some kind of herbal seeds (I don’t know what kind they are), and not sure why it was almost necessary to eat them after a meal. The seed has a strong aromatic flavor and pretty much takes away all the flavor of lunch from your tongue.

very good rice w/ chana masala

Prasanna eats with one hand and very fast...

 
Next we stopped at Qutb Minar and I don’t know at the top of my head what this place is all about. It was like a big park with lots of incredible brick structures. I wish we had more time to enjoy the place but the guide said that we were only allowed to stay here for 25 minutes and the entry fee for foreigners is 250 rupees, Indians pay only 10 rupees.
By this time, I think everyone in the tour was wishing that it was going to be over because it was quite a long day. However, our last stop was at the lotus temple which is opened to all faiths--Hindus and Muslims being the majority. There was a long wait to get inside, but there’s nothing really inside other than benches for people to sit and pray, at least that’s what it looks like from the outside.
 

met Prasanna from Chennai, very nice & helpful dude

Lotus Temple

 And then I ended my day with a picture of an Indian family. The man on the right was taking a picture and at first, I was debating whether I should take out my camera as well. I walked past them and then I thought that a chance like this should not be missed. I walked back, turn on my camera, and by this time the man (I think he’s the father), just had finished taking the picture. He saw that I wanted to take one as well, and he came into the frame. I said “smile” in broken Hindi...they all laughed and I clicked. I should have introduced myself to them given how I think the quality of the picture came out. I wanted to take the picture at first because of the wonderful colors that I saw and the beautiful faces didn’t hurt either. It came out so perfect. I should have showed them and maybe asked them for their email so I could send it. Darn! Note to self: I will introduce myself after taking a really good photo and ask if they want their photos to be sent by email.

This is by far my favorite picture...totally made my day.