Delhi

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  Delhi, India
Tuesday, July 15, 2008

When I arrived in Delhi the first area where I settled down was Paharganj, which is a narrow road full of bazaars, jammed with traffic, and typical of all things attributed to Delhi; the noise, the touts, about every Indian demographic you can imagine (Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, shirtless Sadhus with long beards), cows wandering freely, and white hippies and backpackers randomly distributed amongst the crowds. The traffic seems to have an ordered chaos to it most of the time as walking the streets involves just going with the flow, which snakes around like a river avoiding rain-filled potholes, cow dung, and stray dogs. I did manage to see a couple of heated altercations - always the result of some rickshaw driver holding up the flow. It was hard to relax with the constant racquet outside and I found the best time to meditate was in the early morning around 5 before the day's happenings really began to unfold.

I had been introduced lightly to the Indian brand of entrapaneurship with the hotel manager Ropal who never missed an opportunity to offer his services. "Do you want Chai? Coffee? Water?" "No I'm alright." "Are you sure? You don't want any Tea, Water, Coffee, anything?" "No thanks." "Because if you want anything I get it for you." "No it's okay" and so on. During the first day I was adjusting to the time zone and was taking a nap when the phone rang. "Hello?" "Want laundry service? Water? Chai? Food?" "No thanks". This was a regular occurrence every time I encountered Ropal.

During my second day in town I took an auto rickshaw (a three wheeled motorcycle with a covered bench on the back) to the Tibetan refugee colony in Delhi known as "Majnu Ka Tilla". On the way I wasn't the least bit surprised when the driver sped up to pass a painted elephant casually making its way down the busy street. Majnu Ka Tilla is like a small town the size of a tiny neighborhood which consists of tall buildings crammed close together with narrow walking paths between the buildings. I started walking in any random direction just to see the area, passing red-robed monks and other Tibetan refugees making their living. There were some people walking the halls chanting mantras, and prayer flags were strung up in various areas. There were plenty of reminders of the Chinese occupation of Tibet through posters: everything from "Save Tibet" to "Boycott 2008 Olympics and Chinese Goods". In what seemed to be the center of the community there was a temple with drumming sounds emanating from it. The whole area had a peaceful feel non-characteristic of what I had seen of Delhi so far, so I walked into a couple of guesthouses to see about staying the next day.

On the way back the auto rickshaw driver pulled to the side of the road and joined a massive queue of other auto rickshaws. When I asked him what he was doing he pointed to the fuel gauge which indicated nearly empty. A few minutes into the chaotic queue the driver directly in front of us was too preoccupied with buffing his auto rickshaw with a rag to notice the line advancing and this created a great stir with my driver as well as the others behind us. It was an entertaining site and I had a front row seat.

The next morning I changed some money, gathered my pack together, checked out of the hotel at Paharganj, and made my way to Majnu Ka Tilla; but of course all of this was preceded by an encounter with Ropal: "Chai? Coffee? Laundry service? You want it I get it for you."

Majnu Ka Tilla backs up to the peaceful, slow flowing Yamuta River, which is surrounded by unspoiled land and makeshift homes, reminding me of how this land probably appeared over a thousand years ago. The settlement is also close to Old Delhi and a few minutes away from the famous Red Fort, which I visited Sunday.

The Red Fort was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (the same man who built the Taj Mahal) during the peak of the Mughals. The massive complex has a perimeter of about 1.5 miles and contains everything to sustain the life of an Emperor within its walls including Mosques, private audience halls, and well-kept gardens. Also the Indian flag currently displayed at the front of the fort is highly symbolic of India's independence from Britain as the British Indian Army had occupied the fort as their headquarters.

At this point I'm set to leave Delhi tonight with a 12 hour bus ride to Dharamsala.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

Early Morning in Paharganj	A Perturbed Cow Freely Expresses Itself	Life Along the Yamuta River	The Indian Flag Flies Over the Red Fort
An Audience Hall Within the Red Fort	Red Fort	A Soldier Walks On - Red Fort	Prayer Flags Over the Yamuta River

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