India Day 3 - Walking Tour and Dilli Haat

Wednesday morning I left with Allison and met the two adorable blonde children she takes care of. Their father, Caleb, and another friend Alex were going to give me a walking tour.

Before we left on tour, they took me up to the roof to overlook the smoggy city. (Sometimes I thought my sunglasses were just smudgy, but it was the pollution in the air!) Standing on top of the roof, they made note of several things unique to India and their location in Delhi. India has several main religions and they pointed out a few temples of different faiths, some almost right next to each other. We also discussed the vast contrast between old and new, rich and poor, visible all around. For example, right in front of us was a car dealership lot...but right across the street, the slums. Old buildings intermixed with new. India seemed full of contradictions, things intertwined in ways that don't seem logical.

Out on our walking tour I learned a lot! Alex and Caleb were very informative and great guides. It was nice to walk the busy market street and just experience everyday life! I discovered that you can tell what religion each shopowner practices because they often had pictures/statues of the deities right inside the shops.Along the way we stopped at several fruit/veggie stands and the vendor let me try little bits of their things...including some kind of honeydew and a sugarcane sweet. Caleb even got a fresh pomegranate for me because I told him I'd never had one! (And it was delicious!)

One of my favorites stops was in the vegetable market. Narrow aisles. Early morning hagglers. And men carrying big sacks of potatoes on their backs! I thought the stacks of veggies were so artfully assembled! And the cilantro smelled amazing!!

Back on market street, I couldn't ignore, again, the amount of garbage that littered the corners as I weaved around people, cars, carts, and cows. Alex and Caleb kept reminding me try to stay to the left...and if all else fails, follow "the Uncle". (in other words, find my old Indian and follow where he walks).

Along the way we ran into one of Alex's neighbors who was very excited to see us and asked us to come and have some chai...he insisted it would only take 5 minutes. We gave each other looks like "yeah right"...and agreed anyway.

This man was very excited for us to meet one of the campaigners....posters were plastered everywhere with the man's face on it. Alex and him held hands on the way there...Caleb quietly told me as we walked behind that it is culturally accepted for men to hold hands if they are friends. Back home people would question if they were gay.

When we arrived at the "office" there were many men sitting around and they made room for us and brought us water and chai. (I watched Alex and Caleb closely to see if it was okay to drink the water!). The guys chatted away in Hindi and no one talked to me.  Caleb occasionally paused and kindly told me what they were discussing. I was actually content to sit there and just listen but it was very apparent that they didn’t speak to me because I was a woman. I even had several awkward moments when they were shaking hands and some would shake the guys’ hands but not mine.

In that social gathering I saw first hand how women are treated differently in India. It was strange to not have anyone ask me questions to make sure I was included in the conversation...as is usually the case in America. I knew it was cultural, so I did not take offense, but back home that sort of thing would come across as neglect and rude.

I thought it was kind of funny how much of a big deal it was for us to take a picture with the campaigner. He finally came out, dressed all in white, from a back room and greeted us...even me.

Back on our way...they took me to one of the ancient Emperor's old Summer/Hunting palaces. The giant door in front was big enough so he could ride his elephant through. I was impressed that the large wooden doors stood the test of time. And at the bottom, cut into the giant doors was a small opening for us to get through.

This place was super cool! If I were a child...this place would have been a dream to play hide and seek amongst the old ruins and hidden rooms. I was fascinated by the stonework and all the niches in the walls that were once used for candles. Again it amazed us that a new apartment building was built so close to these ruins that it even shared the wall! Ancient history just isn't honored quite so highly because there is history wherever you look! Attached to the palace was the Emperor’s own private mosque.

Next, Alex and Caleb took me to Dhurga’s tomb. From what I can remember, Dhurga was basically a holy man, and many still make a pilgrimage to his tomb to make a wish. Outside, I had to leave my shoes and put a scarf over my head before entering. There were areas that only women or men, could enter. Through the carved holes in the stone windows to the tomb, many had tied pieces of string/ribbon to leave “their wish”. After leaving the tomb, we made our way down an alley where several beggars and crippled lay on either side, reaching their hands out to us.

After we left the tomb and collected our shoes, the guys bought some popular sweets for me to try before we went to the Mehrauli Archeological Park. They were basically fried dough balls that had been soaked in syrup. I didn’t like them very much, haha!

In the Archeological Park I saw many ruins, step wells, and gardens. But nothing escaped the litter of garbage. It was sad to me that a place considered “a park” could be violated with trash. A layer of rubbished covered the grounds everywhere you looked. Here, I learned that some of the gardens were once owned by a British Soldier and now is a place for random cricket matches on casual days.

I was pretty exhausted from all the walking by the time I parted from the guys. But no sooner had I arrived back at the apartment, than Allison and I left for Dilli Haat (a craft bazaar and market) to do a little souvenir shopping. There, I tried my hand at haggling and bought myself some tunics, chai tea, a painting of an elephant, and some carved elephants. We found it amusing that most of the carved animals have holes from which inside you can always see a baby! Each shopowner assured that they were handmade and what was a “good price!” Here, a man selling puzzle boxes (who was quite astonished that I figured it out so quickly) commented on how much he appreciated that we dressed like locals and we looked very nice. I could tell that this rattled Allison a little, who was trying to fit into where she lives by dressing appropriately. But no matter what, dressing like locals or not, we stick out like sore thumbs.When I was choosing a painting to buy at one of the stalls, the shopowner took Allison’s hand and began to paint a peacock on her thumb nails. We knew it was just to get us to stay longer so I would buy something. I could barely understand

a word, but I could tell he was flirting with Allison and boy was she not having it! He face went beet red!! So I dwaddled a little just see how red she could get. Hehe!

They all successfully wore me out that day and I slept much better that night.