Walked to India gate this morning

Walked to India gate this morning. Don't let the pretty image fool you, its not worth it.

Jama Mosque

Went to the Jama Mosque today, which is the biggest in India. It was very pretty in the setting sunlight. Sadly, I could not take pictures inside so I got this photo of the outside. Imagine that sort of red stone towering into minarettes as the sun sets.

The mosque runs a set of interesting soup kitchens (I think they run them--I wasn’t sure about this). People line up in the street, waiting for someone to come and give a donation. When a donation happens, the appropriate number of people from the line goes in to eat. So for example I gave 10 rupees, and got to see 5 people bumped off the line and into the kitchen. It’s surprisingly satisfying, and you're guaranteed that the money you give is going towards feeding someone.

Perspective Watch

Saw this on my way to India Gate. Impoverished families live in tents on the Rajipath, the Indian equivelent of the capital mall in DC. These guys are just a few of the people washing their clothes (and themselves) in the reflecting pool. You can see the government ministry buildings in the background...

Moral victory watch

This may sound rediculous considering I've been here almost a week, but I finally won a negotiation with a tuk-tuk driver, keeping him from completely screwing me on the fare.

(Yes, I'm patting myself on the back for negotiating 20 rupees (about 50 cents) from a third-world working man, but trust me, they're overpaid considering how they drive.)

Market Forces

Went to the Kahn market in Delhi with Pasang today. Imagine a superwalmart's worth of food and merchandise, but sold piece-meal by individual vendors. The meat stalls are all grouped together, and the veggies are together, and the shoes are together and so forth. Shopping here is definitely less organized than in the states, but it seems you can get almost all the same products, provided you know where to look.

We were there for the week's groceries, so the first stop was the butcher section. Besides the live goats and chickens in cages, the most memorable thing about the butcher section of the market was the smell. Surprisingly, it wasn't constant, going from the obvious (rotting meat and/or feces) to the unexpected (rotting cabbage) to the bizarre (toasted bagels).

I was surprised by how unconcerned the caged goats and chickens were about their circumstance. It was crowded in the cages, and the lanes between stalls were bustling with people. The animals must have been able to smell the blood of their compatriots, so why they weren't going nuts is beyond me. For a good ol' suburban-raised American, this was closer to the source of my food than I am normally used to. Even though 80-cents-a-pound chicken is cheap, I can appreciate the attraction of Frank Purdue's plastic-wrapped mark-up.

As for Pasang, the woman may be short but she's a feisty negotiator. She walked away from a stall after the meat was cut because "they changed the deal." She insisted on only seeing meat that had been butchered in the last hour, which seemed reasonably since nothing was refrigerated. She inferred from the color and smell of the meat how healthy the animal must have been, and was very specific about how it be cut from the carcass. As strange as it sounds, she clearly knew what she was doing and it was a pleasure to watch her work.

From the meats we went to vegetables, grains and beans doing approximately the same thing. By the end of about 90 minutes we walked away with two bags full of food for the week, from which she expected to feed herself, her daughter, Dave, Shannon and me. All told I think she spent about 1500 rupees, about $35.

Gandhi, a Unitarian?

"I believe in fundemental truth of all great religions of the world. I believe that they are all God-given and I believe that they were necessary for the people to whom these religions were revealed. And I believe that if only we could all of us read the scriptures of the different faiths from the standpoint of the followers of those faiths, we should find that they are at bottom all one and were all helpful to one another."

--M.K. Gandhi

Birthday

Happy birthday to me!

Culture Watch

A small cultural aspect which I found really interesting was the matrimony pages in the weekend paper; imagine 3500 classified ads full of so many detailed stats it would up ESPN to shame. Arranged marriages is still a very big deal, but for some reason I didn't expect it to be so organized. They're divided up broadly by caste, though if the girl is over 26 there is usually no caste requirement. They also all list the income of the guy, and occationally the dowry of the girl (I think).

One of the interesting population projections right now is that Indians are selectively keeping boy babies over girl babies at about a rate of 10:7, partially because to a need to provide a dowry for a girl. It will be interesting as eligible women become scarcer and scarcer to see if the need for dowries declines; there's likely a cool Econ paper in there somewhere. Also a possible cool paper is to see how much a given caste level is worth--how much more or less of a dowry can be provided to get someone to marry outside their caste?

Poverty

The poverty is truly impressive, in ways that my prior travels in Panama, nor China nor the best warnings of people who have been here before could prepare me. I say impressive because it is so over the top that it starts to take on the air of performance art, kind of like those French mimes who act like statues. I am trying not to be heartless, and I'm sure some of these people really are the salt of the earth, but others are clearly taking what must be a terribly painful misfortune and exacerbating it in order to manipulate money out of visitors.

It is an interesting balance to strike; they only have you there for a few moments before you move on, so they need to keep your attention to the exclusion of all the other beggars on that particular corner/street/curb, but not look so awful that you panic and call for immediate medical attention. They need to play upon your pity to draw a few rupees out of you, but not so over-the-top that you drown in a sense that no amount you could give could possibly help this person. One of the more over-the-top beggars was a guy with warped legs who walked on his hands across an intersection during a red light. His head barely made it over the top off the hood of the taxi, and your main thought was "my god, how is this man not been run over yet?"

Most of the beggars are sad and pitiful, even if I do think its incredibly manipulative. A few of the beggars have gotten me angry, most notably the little girls who stand on their heads. Imagine very cute two, maybe four year olds brightly dressed in traditional little outfits who hold their arms up as you approach, lean backwards and stand on their heads, then pop back to their feet and ask for money.

I saw one’s little brother spin her like a top. The problem is that these children are doing this on the corners of, sometimes IN busy intersections. Imagine a little girl in the middle of 14th street and Constitution standing on her head! She runs out when the light changes and there is the inevitable traffic tie-up while the last few cars way push through the intersection before the traffic change. She's always sure to do it near some taxis or tuk-tuk so tourists can pay her before she darts out of traffic again. It just seems unconscionable that they (I actually mean plural, I've seen at least half a dozen little girls do this) is being rewarded and encouraged to do that.

Red Fort

Shannon and Dave and I went to a place called Red Fort today in “Old Delhi,” an area of the city very different than the “New Delhi” that the British built. The Red Fort was originally the palace of the Mogul emperors, some set of Indian rules in the distant past. It’s a nice place to visit, but all in all I don’t recall all that much spectacular about it. Here's a picture of the main gate, and one from the inside.

I'll go into details about old Delhi in later posts, but the best description I've heard about the main market area called Chandini Chowk is that its like the Cairo market scenes in Indian Jones.

Perspective watch

I saw family of four on a vespa; father was driving, one kid standing on the floor holding his legs, mother was on the seat behind, holding the father around his waist with one hand, holding an infant in her lap in the other. I henceforth have no sympathy for people who say they "need" an SUV.

Dave and Shannon's place

Dave and Shannon have been really great about showing me around and putting me up. Their apartment is a fairly spacious three-bedroom two bath place the diplomatic quarter that is the approximate equivalent of NW DC. They live on the second floor, while the maid lives on the third and the doorman/guard lives on the first.

Needless to say D&S (I've been told) live better than about 98 percent of Delhians, if nothing else for the reason that they have a stable electricity supply provided by a diesel generator, air conditioning in almost all their rooms, clean water from an in-house purifying unit and Internet access.

The discussions I've had with the maid, Pasang, indicates that they are very happy and grateful to be living/working there. This is not only because D&S are relatively quiet, clean and without children, but also because they get the benefits of D&S's electricity, water and generator, and live there for free. Even being paid only $100 a month, the Pasang claims she is living better than all but the highest of government ministers here.

Walking in Delhi (very different than in Memphis)

In general the streets here are significantly dirtier and more crowded than the ones I saw in China or in Panama. Cars drive on the left, as per the British influence, but it's really more of a fashion statement than even a polite suggestion. People (as well as bikes, mo-peds, vespas, motor rickshaws and farm animals) all are in the same streets as the cars and buses.

The pedestrians in the streets are partially because all the shade trees are planted smack in the middle of the sidewalks. They're essential to protect pedestrians from the brutal sun, but being in the middle of the sidewalk the roots break up the concrete and the poorly pruned branches become obstacles to navigate around. Often cart sellers set up shop on the sidewalks between the trees, as well as people sit and rest in the shade. So, no walking on the sidewalk.

Also, as mentioned, the streets are dirty. There are inexplicable piles of concrete, dirt, bricks and rocks. The people think nothing of urinating against a wall. Cows and Camels are more common than trucks in the street (at least during the day b/c of g'vmnt restrictions) and I've been told elephants are seen occasionally. But needless to say none of these animals have poop-bags attached to them. I saw a bull throwing up in the street as well, which gave a slight satisfaction given how ill visitors are supposed to get while here.

Jet lag recovery

I'm getting over my jet lag, which now seems to be manifesting as a strong urge to nap between 2 and 3 in the afternoon.

Elephant Driving

One of the funnier stories I've heard so far was from an office mate of Dave's during the octoberfest celebration. He rented an elephant for his son's 3rd birthday. Elephant and handler shows up at his house on the appointed day two hours early for the party. He goes outside to talk with the handler saying "you don't need to be here yet," to which the response in an Indian accent is "Dude, I drive an elephant! Be happy I’m here at all."

Octoberfest in India

As absurd as it sounds, my first full night in India was spent at an Octoberfest celebration. Lots of fun, actually.

Of course the all you could eat bratwurst and all you could drink beer for Rs 600 (~$14) helped too.

Travel Info

I've gotten lots of questions about the flights, so I'll just post some quick details here.

Flew Alitalia from Dulles, through Milan to Delhi. The flights were long, about 20 hrs total with a 2 hr lay-over (in Milan).

Yes, I did get stuck behind a crying baby in the second leg. The kid screamed for a solid 5 hrs; pretty impressive, really.

I spent most of my two flights talking to my seat mates, one of whom was a Turkish business consultant on her way home to visit family in Istanbul. On the second leg I sat next to installation artist on a commission to do work in Delhi. I kept thinking of that line in Fight Club about single-serving airplane friends.

Dave and Shannon picked me up at the airport.

Quick note for travelers

Just FYI for people traveling through Milan: bring bottles with water or some other beverage with you in your carry-on. The Italians don't know what a water fountain looks like. If upon arrival you are thristy, the bervage stands will accept dollars, but only grudingly, at an awful exchange rate, and will return change in Euros.

Finally Arrived!

Well, I finally made it here to India. I wasn't sure for a while if this was actually going to happen, but apparently it is. Who knew? Should be fun.

So, here I am, and I am tired.