With three days of Delhi exploration under our belts, the differences and similarities between here and the U.S. are interesting. To be sure the
similarities are from our experiences thus far few.
Walking to breakfast this morning in our hotel it was quirksome to say the least to hear Bing Crosby’s White Christmas in a place where I suspect it never
snows and there’s nary a pine or spruce tree to be found. I guess such is the nature of hotels that attempt to serve the international traveler.
Humans seem to be able to quickly acclimate to surroundings. The air I mentioned previously as having a taste of smoke seems almost natural now. So too is
the fact that I barely notice the citrus scent piped throughout our hotel.
We’ve been exploring Delhi with the assistance of a driver. This is really a must for the India visitor as driving for anyone not familiar to traffic here
would be a near impossibility.
The curious part of me wonders about these folks that work as drivers. Ours, a friendly chap by the name of Mr. Sudama, has been a driver for more than 23
years. Unlike taxi drivers in the U.S., where the meter would be running every minute of the day, Mr. Sudama waits contentedly with the car as we visit the
sites. Aimee tells me she sees him chatting with other drivers and I suspect this is an entire subculture.
The sites have been plenty. We’ve strolled the paths of Lodhi Garden, explored India’s history at the National Museum, saw huts from many Indian villages at
a place known as the Craft Museum, wandered the courtyard of the Jama Masjid, India’s largest Mosque, visited Raj Ghat, cremation place of Gandhi as well as
Nehru and Indira Gandhi and her sons, drove through the Chandni Chowk or Moon Market, and visited Humayun’s Tomb, a monument to the second Mughal emperor and
much more.
Our visits were much more than checking off items on a shopping list of “must see? tourist destinations. The contrasts that are India were brought home to
me for example by seeing groups of school children on an obvious field trip to Raj Ghat teasing each other, playing tag and generally being kids away from
the classroom–carefree and having fun. Yet in the same day many kids of the same age came up to the car windows begging. “Two Rupees, two rupees, Hello
Sir, Hello Madam.” What fate of fortunate puts some of these kids in polished shoes, clean school uniforms with the opportunity to frolic in the sun while
others beg for survival?
Category: Travel
In Delhi for less than 12 hours and the pizza count is already at 1. Did you expect anything else? This is Finicky Ford when it comes to food after all. And I resisted the urge to stop at any pizza joints in Ireland or England, holding that in reserve for India. So of course our first lunch had to be at a Pizza Hut just down the road from our hotel.
Seriously we arrived in Delhi early this morning India time and all has been going well on the trip thus far. Our biggest problem has been the Heathrow Express turning into what we’ve called the Heathrow Crawl. A signaling issue caused a 15 minute train trip to take just under two hours.
The British penchant for politeness was on display with multiple apologies. I always wonder about such because what can they really do. A fellow on the train from New York summed it it up best after about apology number 10 which came just as the scheduled departure time for his flight by saying, “Oh well at least I got an apology. If this was New York they’d have told me to be happy I arrived in the first place.”
Delhi exploration has been limited thus far to a walk outside near our hotel. That said I have now experienced a living definition of the word Cacophony. Friends and coworkers from India warned about crowding but words do not do the experience justice.
One step off the hotel grounds and we had offers for cab rides coming from all directions and that’s literally what was happening. You’d no more than dismiss the person on your left then someone else was starting a pitch from your right.
Walking down the street was like moving through a maze of people. Chess boards, Backgammon, postcards, tours, rickshaw rides and more being offered from every direction. I’ve been in big cities before but can honestly say I’ve never experienced anything like what I did on the streets of Delhi. Under pinning all of this are a constant din of car horns and air where you can taste the smog. the initial impression is a bit overwhelming.
This is not to say it is bad. Far from it. It is a new experience and one that is proving interesting.
We are back in the midwest for the holiday weekend. This time it is Minneapolis to visit a long time friend.
Even though it has been 11 years since I’ve called the midwest home, a summer thunderstorm reminds me just how much a part of me this weather and climate are.
In 11 years of living in California, Oregon and Washington, I don’t think I’ve experienced a true thunderstorm once. My definition isn’t the few claps of thunder that seems to qualify in Seattle. It is the hour-plus sort of storm where the thunder rattles the windows and rolls from one side of the sky to the other. It is the sort of storm where a clap of thunder can set off a car alarm. It is the sort of storm where the rain falls at a rate to justify the expression “raining buckets” and where you sense the awesome power of nature with every gust of the wind.
As a very small child I remember how much these sorts of storms used to frighten me. The “beep beep beep” of the television weather alert to be followed by the forecaster of the day reading a national weather service alert used to send me to the center of the house Mickey Mouse radio in hand to listen for every detail, just hoping the storm would go away.
Today a summer trip back to the midwest is a disappointment for me if I don’t get at least one good thunderstorm. This morning’s was at least two hours long. Windows rattled, rain pounded the windows and the wind was a constant. Strange how much all that just feels like home to me.