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Now that I am back in the land of filtered gasoline, wide-open spaces, and bleach-based cleaners, India seems like one long trip on acid. The vivid colors, the mass of people, the frenzied traffic and vibrant smells- one millisecond sweet jasmine, the next raw sewage.

If I had left India after a few weeks, I would have been ready to leave, remembered mostly the unpleasant and inefficient, and would have seamlessly resumed daily life at home.
A month, however, took away the luxury of dismissing the problems of a third world country by forcing me to imagine myself a true part of the culture and someone who must come psycologically come to grips with the humanity squashed around me.

Of course, I don't know how it would feel to actually live in India, to even visit for longer than a circumscribed short period of time. Someday, perhaps, I will!
In the meantime, though, I feel so thankful that I could go and lucky that I met so many interesting people. It is a very nationalistic country, filled with diverse peoples and religions, privy to major construction and changes in its labor force. We could learn alot not just from India's domestic airline carriers (they rock!) but from the religious culture of acceptance (sans their views on Pakistan) and focus on family.
Of course, my American heart will be satisfied as soon as I can find some good bhindi masala and aloo gobhi.

Part of the ruins at Qutab Minar. Inside an ancient mosque. Actual post is below but I forgot to note that they have an iron pillar in the courtyard which has weathered a great deal and amazes metalurgists (sp?) everywhere. They say if you can stand with your back to it and put your arms around it behind you, your wildest dreams will come true. It has a fence though, and apparently where "wildest dreams" are available, I'm too lazy.

Delightful Delhi

OK, so this picture isn't Delhi- its Agra. But I'm a bit late and unskilled on the blogging. It is insanely hot in this picture and I'm wearing the brigtest clothing I own- shawl, pants, top all this crazy orange color! Its a salwar. At a very expensive boutique for Indian wedding clothing down the road from us in Delhi where we ventured in just to look, the lady said in a beautiful British accent, "My, you have bright clothing, even for India." She understood better when I said I had bought everything in South India- pretty much another country altogether.

The last few days in Delhi have been fun and relaxing. Our hotel is excellent- Jor Bagh 27 Guesthouse across from the Lodi Gardens.

It is a small place with only 11 rooms but one of the very few places in Delhi that is mid-range- western toilets but hot water debateable. It is in a small gated neighborhood peopled with Sikhs, Muslims, and expats for the most part. People have actual dogs here among the strays and a few small greens to sit in in the middle of the neighborhoods. The small market down the road boasts western foodstuffs (although very expensive) and there is a bookstore with English titles only. Across the road is the Lodi or Lodhi gardens which I described and several blocks away is Khan Market where we went today.

Khan Market is a small grouping of upscale shops where expats hang out. The Indians are extremely hip and wealthy and the expats are mostly old diplomats- German and English women. (I assume the men are working?) By the way, I have not met a single American since being in Delhi. Our little hotel has a few German businessmen and a few Australian tourists. But Americans are a pretty rare sight as far as white people go.

The shopping in Delhi is phenomenal. It is much more expensive than Chennai or Vellore, but much less expensive than the US. And the products are so diverse and beautiful- so much is handmade and unique. Generally speaking, its so hard to forgo shopping in a country where things are colorful and handmade and cost a fourth of the price. We went into a very upscale and expensive for Delhi standards home shop and the beautiful glasses and platters made in India were reminiscent of Anthropologie- the price, less than half that.

I didn't buy anything there, but I will say I am bringing home an extra piece of luggage. A duffel, all of $4.

Yesterday we also traveled to the Qutab Minar- a monument built by yet another Muslim shah- lovely mosques, the remnants of a college, and a large tower 73 m high which I had seen from the plane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qutab_Minar

It was a beautiful area, but Muslim architecture is wearing on me and it is remarkable how many amazing structures- including multiple tombs in the Lodi gardens were built by Sultans where Hindu kings left little.

When I get back I'll have a more clarified conclusion to India, but in the meantime, I want to express what a strange country and people it has. I am reading an excellent book helping me deal with some of the major contradictions. It is called "Holy Cow" by Sarah MacDonald and is very funny and dead-on with its observations of daily Indian life (at least from what I've seen) even down to her notation of the "sweaty feet" smell inside the Akbar's Mausoleum hallway on the way to the tomb. Exactly what I was thinking.

MacDonald travels through India learning about the major religions trying to come to peace with the crazy land. It is hard to understand how people so friendly can take major advantage of you without any conscience (not all the time, obviously, but much of the time). Or how a country that has shown major tolerance historically to multiple religions: Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist, Christianity... can also uphold a caste system (still very much in place) and value people with the lightest skin above all.

What country promotes sanctity of family life and children and at the same time commits major female infanticide and calmly justifies suicide for honor? A country where humanitarian groups are highly regarded and charity is blessed yet day to day life includes the killing of beggars by buses which leave them to die?

Ok, critics will note that every country has some contradictions. But India puts it all out there- in the wide open- all the time. The injustices are very visible and easily felt, as are the kindnesses. I have not seen a great many places, but I feel this place leaves me completely emotionally adrift in a way I did not experience in Europe, Africa, or Latin America.

Well, as one might sing at church youth camp: give it up to God.

Delhi rain!

So my batteries in my camera keep dying. I think its possible this camera is not meant for heat or something. It can eat two batteries in one day here.
I tried uploading Taj photos to this blog, but I couldn't get one before it died on me.
Again.
So sad. But did add a few to Snapfish.
Today it rained in Delhi. Wonderful cooling rain and wind made it a wonderful place to be. I walked to a nearby market area and had a salwar altered right on the street. I made motions to indicate how I wanted the sides taken in and sleeves put on and they loaded in green thread to their street front sewing machines and simply started. Afterwards, another man lay on the street ironing the salwar with a heavy piece of heated-on-fire iron.

This afternoon I visited the Lodi Garden- across from where we are staying as it was so mild and lightly raining. I was a little on edge because there were very few women and all hiding in the bushes with their dates (husbands)- not smooching, mind you, but embracing which is considered scandalous anyway. Or just holding hands (something you'd never ever see in public between men and women!) Mostly the park is filled with unemployed men loitering and resting on the monuments watching the hidden couples.
I imagine it would be hard and a boring life to be unemployed in India, sitting most of the hot day, waiting for mealtimes to collect some street snacks, returning home. Or not I guess as hundreds of people sleep right on the sidewalks every night- no coverings and not in doorways, but simply prostrate on street edges. This explains why when we come near a stand or open shop, or simply wake up in the morning, the men jump to attention and quickly and energetically proffer food or laundry.
Last night when we came in late, I was surprised to see several of the men who work at this small guesthouse sleeping in the plastic lawn chairs. The guard was understandable, but it hadn't occurred to me that these early rising hotel men were homeless and slept upright in terrible plastic chairs. I'm sure they are not allowed to lie on the grass and damage it.
Tomorrow, no agenda! Passing time in Delhi...

Agra

We returned very late last night from Agra. We had a huge list of sites to see, but because of corrupt government taxi services, only managed three. Which was actually ok, because it was pretty hot and after you've seen the Taj, well... every other site seems lackluster.

We started at Akbar's Mausoleum, which was the best site in Agra. The grandfather of Shah Jahan (who built the Taj) was religiously "enlightened" and married many women of different faiths, incorporated their faiths into his own and founded his own religion- the name of which translates to "One God." He built a beautiful mausoleum surrounded by lawns on which antelope and apparently bison roam. We never saw the bison, however.

No one was there. We were some of a handful of tourists and the beautiful site with its lovely grounds had not yet reached 110 degress, so it was pretty nice.

Second, we traveled to the Red Fort to knock it out of the way before lunch. We did this fast- kept moving- cause of the serious heat, and our hunger (we'd gotten on a train at 6 AM and woken up at about 4). It is an impressive site and in much better condition than the Red Fort in Delhi. There are palaces inside- all open Moghul palaces with water running through (hypothetically. There is no water in the fountains or canals). Unfortunately, all signs were in Hindu so we were not sure what rooms were what although those signs might just as easily been explaining "stay off the steps" or "no urinating."

After lunch we were hassled for several hours before we saw the Taj. There were more people than we've seen at any sites, although it must be a fraction of the numbers during decent seasons. The site is beautiful and well kept (of course, its actually pretty new by European standards). We were supposed to swoon over the love story and complied.

There were more white people than I've seen in a month and I felt terrible for some parents of two small beautiful red-headed children (the ONLY white children I've seen this whole month) because rude Indians/Nepalese were grabbing them and demanding pictures with them. And the girl was crying and crying as women forced her head toward their husband's camera. The dad was saying "Oh, she's shy. Let her be. She's shy."
I would have hit them with their own cameras had that been my child.
Luckily, it appeared they were with a cruise or tour or something, so this may have been their only Indian experience.

The Taj is amazing because it is surrounded by all that is rural India. Directly behind the Taj on the banks of a river are camels sitting and naked children swimming. Monkeys climbed the wall and were seeking shade under benches.

Anyways, I could go into the major hassling we experienced, but you can ask me personally. I had to go into super high octane bitch mode getting off trains, into cars, walking, breathing. And be forceful and throw several fits during the day over many things hindering our having a safe travel.

At the same time, we are constantly told by men that we are not safe. And there is a culture of "can I take you where you need to go, madame" blah blah. While there is some danger, I actually think alot of the information is truly paternalistic propaganda, designed to intimidate women and, thus, provide jobs for men. Women here are scared to do anything alone, and we threaten that system by flaunting our married independence. We are collectively sick of being told what, how, when to do everything by men with "our best interests" in mind.

OK, that's all for now! I'm sorry about no photos. I may try later!!