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31 May 2009
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06 May 2009
This was waiting for me when I arrived this morning. Ha!
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Boys playing cricket on Lake Pichola
The White City
The Lake Palace Hotel
Statue found in the palace
Udaipur Palace outside05 May 2009
Going Home
Today is my last day in India. Tonight at midnight my plane leaves Delhi.
I purposedly had nothing planned for today. I wanted to pack (yeah, it all fit in the big backpack) and just have time to relax, read, write before I went back to my daily routine.
The title of the Rohinton Mistry book that Dana recommended I read before I came here has never left my mind these 2 weeks, "A Fine Balance". What a fitting title. Ordinary Indians are in their daily life masters of some sort of balancing act.
Driving in here is a such an example. To my eyes it is sheer insanity. Cars, buses, trucks, rickshaws, motorbikes, bikes, people, cows, buffaloes, the occasional camel and elephant, are all thrown together in the streets. All you hear is the constant sound of horns announcing that one should stay clear and move out of the way. Yet I am surprised that I did not witness any accidents during my stay. They do happen, of course, but not as much as I would expect.
On my first day here I was horrified when I saw on the road a family of 5 crammed on a motorcycle - son up front, then the father driving, followed by daughter, and mother (in sari and all) seating sideways at the end holding a baby. How's that for fine balance! (And I have not mentioned the state of the roads yet. ) This would be something I would see many times over during my stay here.
And this allegory I suspect applies to many aspects of daily Indian life. Perhaps I could say that the trip has changed me. It probably has in many ways but their effects will not be clear until sometime down the road. Once I have been able to digest what I saw, heard, smelled...
Right now all I know is that I am still craving for that orange and drinking water that does not leave a weird metallic aftertaste - they add chemicals to 'purify' water that is bottled. Can't wait to run again. It has been more than 2 weeks since the marathon.
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I purposedly had nothing planned for today. I wanted to pack (yeah, it all fit in the big backpack) and just have time to relax, read, write before I went back to my daily routine.
The title of the Rohinton Mistry book that Dana recommended I read before I came here has never left my mind these 2 weeks, "A Fine Balance". What a fitting title. Ordinary Indians are in their daily life masters of some sort of balancing act.
Driving in here is a such an example. To my eyes it is sheer insanity. Cars, buses, trucks, rickshaws, motorbikes, bikes, people, cows, buffaloes, the occasional camel and elephant, are all thrown together in the streets. All you hear is the constant sound of horns announcing that one should stay clear and move out of the way. Yet I am surprised that I did not witness any accidents during my stay. They do happen, of course, but not as much as I would expect.
On my first day here I was horrified when I saw on the road a family of 5 crammed on a motorcycle - son up front, then the father driving, followed by daughter, and mother (in sari and all) seating sideways at the end holding a baby. How's that for fine balance! (And I have not mentioned the state of the roads yet. ) This would be something I would see many times over during my stay here.
And this allegory I suspect applies to many aspects of daily Indian life. Perhaps I could say that the trip has changed me. It probably has in many ways but their effects will not be clear until sometime down the road. Once I have been able to digest what I saw, heard, smelled...
Right now all I know is that I am still craving for that orange and drinking water that does not leave a weird metallic aftertaste - they add chemicals to 'purify' water that is bottled. Can't wait to run again. It has been more than 2 weeks since the marathon.
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04 May 2009
Agra
I had issues with my cell reception again. Therefore could not post anything from my visit to the eery Fatehpur Sikri and impressive Taj Mahal.
It was an exhausting daytrip. The heat is unbearable, road conditions are what thet are (this is India!) and traffic jam on the way back never ending.
I will publish pictures in the next day or two.
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03 May 2009
Back to Delhi
The trip back to Delhi was mostly uneventful except for the taxi ride back to my host's home. My active imagination added to inability to communicate, it made for quite a tense journey.
Upon claiming my bag I started looking for the pre-paid taxi stands and saw one sign indicating left. I was surprised to see one company, the city operated one, only. I line up and also notice that not one of the foreigners are around; it is only me and the Indians. Strange. Maybe all the foreigners had a pick up already? At any rate, I go tell the dispatcher where I am going, pay Rs 300 only (last week I paid a whopping Rs 750) and get the paperwork.
As I turn to exit there I find all the foreigners at the Easycabs counter. Damm! But then it was too late. It will be fine, I thought.
Findind car and driver was not a problem but communicating was big time. He was a young guy who did not understand or spoke a single word of English. When I gave him address and map of my host's place he barely glanced at them. At the moment I did not know but he probably can hardly read, even Hindi. He perked up when I said Oklha (the neighborhood). So off he went. I remembered how to get to the house so could give directions (ok, signals).
My (false) suspicions started to brew when all of a sudden just as we past security another just jumps into the car unannouced. My mind is shit am I in trouble? Are they really drivers? I decided to confront them and ask were there 2 of them? Of course this did not go too well as my Hindi is nonexistant. They just shrugged and repeated the word Okhla.
My mind is racing. What should I do? I had not taken the police number that was at the taxi stand. I had Yasmin's nephew number down so thought of calling him and talking to the drivers. But did not do it right away since we were still headed to the right direction. And thought, if they were going to do something with me they would have done right away.
Then they make a turn I did not recognize and start to freak out. Again I said to go to Okhla but this time he said something else. So decided to call the nephew but damm it is out of reach as his mobile was out of Delhi region. Fuck, what do I do? The only other local number I had was Yasmin's mom but I was loathe to do it. So tried Yasmin in New York instead. I felt a sigh of relief when she picked up the phone. Summoning the calmest voice I could muster I told her the situation and asked her to talk to the driver and find out what was going on. They talk for awhile. He gives me the phone back and Yasmin cheerfully tells me that he knows where he is going and to call her back once we were at the major road in Okhla. Ok, my initial thought was good for you, you are not stuck in the backseat of a non-air con car with Dumb and Dumber. You are out buying shoes for crying out loud!
Just as I hang up they approach a gas station and we get to pressurize the tyres. Aha! So this is what he was telling before. The journey continues, we get to the main road and I start to recognize the landmarks once again.
But we are not home safe yet. He does not know the address that I am going to. He hardly saw the piece of paper that I showed him. We reach Jamia University which is barely 200-300m from destination and they want to drop me off. If it were not in the middle of a busy intersection, at night and I was not carrying luggage, I would have love to walk. I wanted him to keep going and the only way to urge him to go on is to have Yasmin talk to him again. He finally obliges and at the end of the road I have to stick my arm in front of him to turn right and then another right. And I am at my destination.
I was sweating and happy I got safely. The moral of the story: at Delhi domestic terminal go for the Easycabs counter that is located to the right once you have retrieved your luggage, you will pay double but will surely get a driver that speaks English.
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02 May 2009
01 May 2009
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