A Total Katastrophe: Delhi, old and new

SATURDAY
Our first day in Delhi was spent getting an overview of India's diversity, and getting out to see parts of New Delhi. In the morning, we went to the US-India Educational Foundation, the organization that manages all the Fulbright programs in India. We met with Dr. Craig Dicker, the US Embassy's Minister Counselor for Public Affairs. He gave us an interesting overview on India, focusing on unity through diversity. It is truly amazing that this one country has 22 languages, dozens of religions, and a population of 1.2 billion people.

After lunch, we went on our first cultural visit - to Humayun's Tomb. Built in 1565, this was the first example of Mughal architecture. It was commissioned by Humayun's senior widow, Bega Begam, and it also is the final resting place for several of Humayun's family members. Looking at it, you can easily see how it inspired the Taj Mahal, built 70 years later.

Humayun's Tomb

Near it is Isa Khan's Tomb, a pre-Mughal structure that is the last surviving octagonal tomb complex. There is a larger octagonal wall surrounding it and the gardens:

Isa Khan's Tomb

The garden walls

Qutab Minar and the Iron Pillar

Next we visited Qutab Minar, a 73m tall tower built in 1193 (it's the tallest brick minaret in the world!). At the base is the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, the first mosque built in India. In the Qutab courtyard is a strange iron pillar, built in 403AD and basically resistant to rust and corrosion. Even though they know what it is made of, they don't know the proportions so nobody really knows how it has stayed in such great shape for nearly two thousand years...

Perhaps one of the most exciting things about visiting a new country is exploring the city by foot and experiencing the vibrancy that is unique to each place. That evening, we had our first chance to foray into Delhi. Several of us decided to visit Khan Market, a shopping area not far from the hotel. It has a more upscale feel, with no bargaining, but we were trying to ease our way into the India way of life.

But shopping aside, the most exciting part of the evening was getting to and from the market - there are no stoplights and very few crosswalks, and all the intersections are roundabouts. The market is about a kilometer from the hotel, and to get there we had to cross several streets – including one large 5-lane roundabout.

Indian families seem to have mastered the art of traffic-dodging!

In the US, pedestrians have the right-of-way... not so in India. To get across the street, you basically just have to dive right in - the human equivalency of Frogger. It's a bit unnerving at first, with cars, tuk-tuks, busses, and motorcycles swirling around you, honking and catcalling as they zoom by. You either make your way bit by bit, stopping in-between lanes of traffic, or you wait for a gap in the surge and make a run for it. This is no place for the meek or hesitant - you'll end up imprisoned on a street corner by the roadway moats.

SUNDAY
Early this morning, a small group of us decided to wander around the neighborhood and see the All India Memorial, more commonly known as the India Gate - the monument built to commemorated India soldiers who died during WWI and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Beneath the arch is India's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

We left the hotel just a little before 7AM and it was already steamy outside. When we got to the India Gate, a large group of runners had just finished their workout and was gathered in the plaza; several groups of tourists and locals were milling about, and across the way in a field, several games of cricket were going on. I can totally understand wanting to get all my outside activity done really early in the morning... by the time we got back to the hotel, we were all completely drenched in sweat!

Early morning cricket in the park.
There was a ton of trash on the field, and puddles of mud and water.

The day's lectures at USIEF were about gender issues, and caste/class and tribe in India. There is so much to say about both topics, and the speakers were excellent... hopefully I won't get too far behind things and type up my notes soon! In the afternoon, we visited Old Delhi. Up until now, several people said that India was nothing like they expected - it was greener, cleaner, more spacious, calmer, quieter... much less all the things that we had been warned about. But then we saw Old Delhi. This was everything that we expected. Immediately upon exiting the subway (where btw, we women took the Women's Only car), we were assaulted by incredible sights, sounds, and smells. Because it was a Sunday afternoon, most of the shops were closed, but our guide told us it was normally waaaaayyyy busier. It was still overwhelming for all of us, so maybe it was a good thing we got Old Delhi Light...

Late Sunday afternoon meant most shops were
closed... and there weren't many people around.

There were lots of gorgeously decorated doorways...

... and some, not so much.

The alley to the Jain Temple - note the Mughal architecture of the
first five houses, then the British influence seen in the closest house

Lazy dogs, everywhere. Our guide Navina's attempt at reassuring us:
"Watch out for the feces. But don't worry, it's not human - it's either dog or monkey."