Making chappatis in Old Dehli
Trip Start
Dec 05, 2004
1
3
25
Trip End
Jan 17, 2005
Delhi,
India
Tuesday, December 7, 2004
As we arrived in Old Dehli, I realised that the abundance of free roaming (i.e
Cow in Old Delhi
. middle of road) cows was not just a myth - they are everywhere (in every town) - scrawny and eating quite literally plastic, paper and their own sh*t and everyone elses! Add to that every conceivable mode of transport known to man and it all looks very intimidating. Vegetables being sold on the street, next to piles of waste and plastic bags strewn everywhere (this is not just in Delhi), people loaded onto cycle-rickshaws, carts, donkeys, women in colourful saris, dirty kids running free, men squatting drinking Chai (a very sweet, milky and spicy tea) on every corner next to men peeing in the street. Wow! And the smell of spices, sewage and fumes - well you have to get used to that.We visited the Jama Masjid - the largest mosque in India (35% of Indian population is Muslim), built by Shah Jahan - a red and white sandstone building with dones, minarets and arches. We then ventured onto the streets again and walked down the hustle and bustle of Chandi Chowk - the main bazar of Old Delhi - well we "dodged" through the street is more correctly described! The sanctuary of the main Sikh temple was welcome and after an interesting talk on Sikhism (lovely religion), we went into the Gurdwara and sat with the other worshippers who were listening to songs from the Guru Granth Sahib (holy book). Sikhism is based on oneness with nature and equality of humans and was founded in 1469 near Lahore by Guru Nanak
Making chappati in Sikh temple
. Everyone is welcome to have meal in the communal area and even stay the night. In return you help out - so we went to make chappatis, sitting on the floor with the other helpers - I made about 1 to their every 10 and not very round! The meal of black dahl, rice and of course chappatis was delicious, sitting on long carpets next to people of all walks of life - rich and poor (no separation in Sikhism).Taking a cycle rickshaw ride down the main road to the spice market was knuckle biting but great fun - you realise that India is most certainly the second most populated country in the world (1 billion people - 17% of humanity) in only 2.4% of planet's land mass! The others had sweet lassi from a big vat being stirred on the street - I hate lassi so that's one less way of getting ill! We walked through the market with kids running up to us and saying Namaste (hello) and everyone staring. It got so hard to walk on the "pavement" that we walked along the central reservation, side-stepping a cow humping a lamp post and a man displaying his enormous enflamed balls and peeing into the road (he had elephantitus - which apparently is very treatable as is leprosy nowadays but makes for a good way of making a living (begging) - so I was told by locals).
Our rickshaw back to Karol Bagh got a puncture in the middle of the road - had to hold onto my heart as we got to the side of the congested road
Making lassi
! I spent the rest of the afternoon in Karol Bagh market buying a Salwar Kameez (the 3 piece suit - tunic, trousers and scarf - worn by unmarried women in India and Pakistan). I'll tell you more about why I'm dressing mostly in local Indian attire another time - just to say it's very comfortable.At 10pm, we got taxis to one of the railway stations to catch our overnight train to the Shekhawati region. Watching all the people piling through windows into 2nd class unlit carriages to get a place on the hard wooden benches was jaw dropping. Fortunately, we had a a/c sleeper compartment - relative comform in comparison. And so we chugged along at snail pace all night stopping every 20 mins at some deserted station.
