10.10: INDIA: Delhi (Chandhi Chowk)
Trip Start
Oct 04, 2008
1
9
15
Trip End
Oct 12, 2008
Delhi,
India
Friday, October 10, 2008
Hi Mom & Dad & family,
Today I got up late and am awoken by Dev at Shahi Palace in Jaisalmer who is calling to check in and see how my trip was going Post-Tour Scam experience! This means that my India Vodaphone SIM finally works again... a little late but better than never! My flight leaves at an odd red-eye hour of 1:15A tomorrow morn and my hotel is allowing me a late checkout.
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Last breaths:
This may be my last day in India and its been hard to decipher whether I want to extend my stay and continue on
heavy_2
. I want to experience more and find more redeeming qualities about it. But the fatigue of constantly scrambling to find my bearings is getting to me. Its not easy to travel solo 24/7 with last minute preparations & my annoyance is primarily a wish that I planned for myself better! Right now, I seek an oasis of calm, "a moment" of beauty and a bit of spoiled privilege to rejuvenate myself. None offers itself within the Delhi madhouse of honking horns, zig-zag driving, near death collisions, dirt, bugs, haggling, outdoor urinals and the constant visibility of poverty..
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Everything is a Negotiation
As a tourist, most of the time you're uncertain of whether a smile means you've just been scammed or if someone is going to ask you for rupees for it! Places with 'fixed prices' are a godsend because if nothing else, its a honest foundation to base your dealings upon vs that constant feeling that no matter how earnestly you haggle, you're bound to be a victim of a hiked up tourist price!
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Haggling for my Taxi:
There is no "ART" or playfulness to my method of haggling a taxi
CC- off duty cab
. I simply- ASK a local what the going-rate is for my destination before hailing the auto!Armed with my new Indian vocabulary...
1- the"swivel-bob" action with your head that looks like you're saying NO but means "Yeah, sure why not?" &
2 - what I personally call "Chalo! hands" (a "Go" or "Go away" flicking of a hand as if shooing away flies or as if saying "There's none left")
I have two points to my closed negotiation with taxi drivers:
1) I state the rate i've been given by a local upfront OR
2) I tell the taxi driver I want to use the meter! (something most want to avoid )
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Last day for gift-getting is a scramble & I've done nowhere NEAR the amount of shopping as I hear M&D are doing on this trip...
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Chandni Chowk (or Moonlit Avenue) is a congested and historic marketplace of in "Old Delhi" with dilapidated havelis and small souk-like streets which specialize in a specific commodities. Saris! Saris! Saris! spices, jewelry, books, grains, sweets,... you name it (I got my dad a kurta and dhoti here). Here, the traffic of people, workers & rickshaws is a swarm as it is everywhere else in India, and while there are a handful of famous neighboring tourist landmarks, what makes CC the mother of Delhi markets and bazaars to me is what I call, "THE HUMAN PLOW"!
Firstly, the cargos of product or produce are transported via 1) being strapped on the top of one's head or 2) via "pullcart wagon" with one man up front pulling, followed by two men behind pushing
CC- work boys
! Secondly, these cargo loads are LARGE & seemingly BEYOND NORMAL HUMAN CAPACITY and these men DO NOT make it look easy! Their sweat pours physical strain and uneasy facial winces.Cows are considered sacred in India, so it's a bold sight to see men doing the mule work, strapped to the plow as the cows lazily look on. I've an immediate respect for The Human Plow. IT IS WHAT IT IS in extreme manual labor and a hard day of honest work! And despite the discomfort and the strain of their work, most of these hard-working men will make the time and energy amidst their work to lend a smile to my camera. These men love the attention of having their picture taken & why shouldn't they?...What they do is phenomenal. (**Note: I've a dedicated photo album for these workers)
Like worker bees and ants- each man is necessary to the great wheel of commerce. A man's insignficance and his greatness is bound within the daily contract of...a few rupees!
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Street Food
I've been progressively bolder about eating foods from local shop vendors
CC- mr.handsome
. Today I pull out all stops. I admit, a part of me foolishly believes that i've NOT experienced TRUE INDIA until i've experienced Delhi-Belly, so I go crazy with sampling those foods off the streets sold in "the newspaper envelopes and banana leaf bowls"! Street food is a common & inexpensive fast food restaurant substitute ...but without a roof! A chai stand could lend a table & bench for people to "sit & sip" or it may consist of only one person, squatting on a mat while brewing cups for willing squatters. Food vendors sell a range of things- chaat (Indian Chex Mix & you choose the mixings), puris, samosas, jalebis (a deep-fried breakfast pretzel soaked in sweet syrup), curries, etc... Anywhere nearby is 'squat or stand' real estate for patrons taking their meal-on-the-go.The cups, packages and bowls that hold street food is a novelty! No plastic knifes, forks or paper plates - everything is biogradeable trash. Small packages holding samosas and burfis, etc... are made from newspaper, while bowls are constructed from banana leaves. In Bhaktapur, Nepal, one chaat vendor had made scoops from folded paper and cups were made from composition book pages containing someone's homework on it. Crazy but I love this way of resourcefulness!
