India III

Saturday (16^th Jan): Day trip to Agra

 

We set out bright and early Saturday morning for Agra and the Taj Mahal. Then we waited for three hours at a nearby gas station because our bus broke down. But then we again sat out for Agra, stopping for McDonalds along the way.

 

              Finally getting there several hours later, we were transferred from the bus to a camel cart to make the 3 km walk to the Taj go by quicker. Some of the girls got a chance to ride on the camels themselves, though I hear they were asked to pay extra for that afterwards. When we finally reached the gates before the Taj, we were each handed a bottle of water, a ticket, and sanitary bootees for our shoes (so as to not dirty the Taj). While it is not uncommon in other countries, others in our group looked at their tickets disapprovingly when they say that because they were not Indian citizens that they would have to pay an entry fee nearly 40 times greater than the other people in line. I can’t say that I was all too pleased myself, but my disappointment was well made up for by the Taj itself.

              At first our tour guide brought us up to the gate before the Taj and told us the entire history of it and its constructions. Built from 1632 to 1653 by Shah Jahan as the final resting place for his third wife, the only one who could produce him an heir, the entire thing is made of white marble with semi-precious stone inlays and is perfectly symmetrical. It is so well designed that the architects even made it so that the minarets of the Taj were to face out by 1 degree so that if there were ever a natural disaster, the minarets would fall outwards and not hurt the Taj Mahal. There was such an emphasis placed on symmetry that after the Shah commissioned a royal Mosque beside the Taj, he also built an identical ‘guest house’ on the other side of it, one which was never meant to be used. Shah Jahan apparently wanted to build another Taj Mahal for himself, but in black, across the river from the Taj, but was prevented from doing so by his son because he was spending far too much money. The beginnings of the second Taj can still be seen. Shah Jahan now lies beneath the original Taj Mahal with his wife.

              After viewing the magnificent Taj, and sneaking a video from the inside, we got the chance to do some great shopping in Agra. There are apparently descendants of the people who made the stone inlays on the Taj still in Agra, there in order to fix any problems in the Taj, and they now sell other beautiful stone-inlayed items. This was a bit late in the game, but I think that shopping in Agra is what first introduced everybody to the concept of bargaining. There were massive groups of people following us all the way from the Taj back to our bus trying to sell us things, mostly things we did not want. We were forced to keep walking, but they thought we were bargaining so they kept after us, lowering their price along the way. That made way for a number of great purchases, such as my $2 full-leather whip. What kind of leather, I don’t know, but it is leather none-the-same.

India II

Sunday (10^th January): Morning Free (optional programs), Leave for LPU-Jalandhar noon.

Today some of us got to wake up early and go for a bike tour of Old Delhi. Mounting our bright-orange 1-speeds, we got an up-close and personal view of the Delhi spice markets. The Indian spice markets are up and moving quite early. Not only that but it is also quite a surprise to see that they at moving at all. There are next to no traffic lights, signals, nor lanes (and even if there are, no one pays attention to them). Each of us had our own near run-in with a 500 lb spice cart or moped while on our ride, but it was quite enjoyable. Everyone we pasted along the narrow, winding streets was very kind to us, generally greeting us with a smile and an excited “Hello!” the girls would occasionally get an additional catcall of course. We made a number of stops along the way, including climbing to the top of a local building fully framed with people; they were sleep, eating, dressing, bathing, working, grinding peppers into spice to sell at the market. It gave us all a very different perspective of domestic life from the one we were so used to. The roof gave us a whole new perspective on the area of Old Delhi.

              We then continued our ride through the newer parts of the area, those which were created by the British after the Indian revolts. The houses were comparatively simply enormous. It was almost hard to believe that such places existed within Delhi and in such great numbers! When we passed the Vice Governor’s home there it all made sense as to what kind of neighborhood this really was.

              We rode our bicycles up through Chandni Chowk, past Red Fort and then around the Jama Masjid Mosque, finally returning to Old Delhi. Then it was time for some lunch (or maybe breakfast), and for that we went to the world famous Karim’s! Owned by the same family for generations, this seemingly small restaurant had been reviewed by the times of London and New York and consistently voted as one of the best places to eat in Asia. There we had a vegetable dish and some mutton, our first and just about last taste of meat in India. Needless to say, it was excellent.

              We then rode back to where we started and got onto our bus for the eight-hour trip to Lovely Professional University! Along the way, we got to see a bit of the Indian countryside, and stopped for some Indian fast food.

 

              When we finally arrived at the University we were greeted by the smiling faces of our e-buddies, the best of course being Neha Bindra. They had a surprise bonfire in store for us, and we spent the night dancing around it, getting to know a little bit more about each other and the culture of our peers in this foreign land.

India I

Reach India Thursday (7^th January) evening

Friday (8^th January): American Center Orientation in morning, Parliament Museum in afternoon. Sit-down Lunch (Regional Indian cuisine), Evening Reception at hotel. 

              After arriving in India we were immediately struck by the distinctions of the Indian environment. As we were leaving the airport we were helped with our luggage by several insistent men. People though that they were part of the program, there to aid us, but as soon as they got our bags next to the bus, they began to demand large sums of money despite the fact that they moved our bags only five feet and had not asked us for payment in advance. They did not get me, but was our introduction to India. We were then packed tightly into our tour bus and driven through the mist to our hotel, where we finally met our roommates and went to bed.

  

              First thing next morning we went to Connaught Place, a major retail center in Delhi where the princes and princesses used to do their shopping off the backs of their elephants.  Unfortunately, we came a bit too early and so everything was closed (with the possible exception of the first McDonalds we saw in India, a welcome taste of home). To make up for this, Professor Gupta decided to take us around the park which is the center of this circular area. Again, he was met with defeat, as we were not allowed entry due to our cameras, which were not allowed due to fears of terrorism, especially, to our great surprise, from Americans as a recent terror suspect had apparently lived for some time in our country.

  

              From there, we began to walk to the American embassy, passing through more market districts along the way. Here we learned two important things: 1. Driving in India is crazy and so is crossing the street, and 2. Despite the fact that some of the stores were extremely small and did not look all that great from our perspectives, they were all valued from at least a half million dollars, a large amount in the United States and a seemingly impossible one in India. Despite how the businesses look, they have been paid for wholly in cash, the land likely owned for generations, and each were quite profitable.

 

              When we arrived at the embassy, we were greeted by members of the Foreign Service and presented with an informative lecture on the present state of India: economically, socially, politically, and with relation to the United States. This served as a good launching pad for our perception of India as a whole and provided us with a proper lens through which to view all that we saw.

              We then began to walk back, but turned into Janpath where we stopped at a moneychanger and went to eat our first Indian meal. I was really excited to try my first authentic Indian and I was in no way disappointed, until the Professor tricked me into drinking some of his buttermilk that is. I’m told that the mango lassi is just a myth here in India; what a disappointment. Turns out that this cuisine was south Indian, and this would be the last time our tongues would taste it; how sad. Going back from the bus, we passed our second McDonalds, now with an opportunity to go in. Not too many people went, and I was pretty full, so I just got an ice cream, but it was scrumptious. As we made our way back to the bus we were accosted by a variety of people, some looking to sell us things, others asking for money, and a few who tried to take our McDonalds. I was nearly a victim myself, though Alan almost had his McNuggets snatched right out from under him. It was an unfortunate situation, but not something which we would find uncommon in India, nor was it a problem we could immediately resolve in any meaningful way.

 

              Next, we traveled to the parliamentary museum, passing statues of famous Indians along the way. Entering, we all got an exceptionally thorough pat down, especially the girls, for reasons previously mentioned. Again, we had to leave our cameras and electronics behind. Here we learned about India history from prehistoric times, through the empires, the battles for freedom, and then the success of Gandhi. We even go to see an animatronic Nehru give his famous “Tryst with Destiny” speech to the Indian parliament.

 

              After our tour was over, we still had to wait for our bus so the Professor decided to take some of us to the Sikh temple across the street, which turned out to be one of the most holy sites in all of Sikhism. So we all took off our shoes, washed our feet, covered our hair, and walked into the temple; though we did lose quite a number of people in the preceding few steps. Inside there was a man in the middle of the temple singing what I assume was some holy psalm through a microphone while others maintained his equipment, while at the other end a man handed us a sweet, nutty rice dish, as no one should leave the temple without being fed. I found it absolutely delicious, though some people didn’t seem to like it. Luckily, I got their portions .

 

              When we finally made our way back to the hotel we were greeted by a grand reception. We were gifted with bindis and flower necklaces and then treated to some food, which thankfully included french fries. The hotel had a little ceremony for us, welcoming us to India, which then followed by Marissa’s birthday celebration and Indian birthday cake! What a day!