I've been in Delhi for about a week now. Let's see, arrived on the 22nd it's now the 30th, so make the three a two, and the zero a ten, and you've got, yep, eight days. About a week.
You may recall a long while back that I was trying to stretch regularly; make it part of my morning ritual. Well, the reason you haven't heard about it in so long is because of the epic fail on my part to stay on that particular band wagon. I've started it up again though, so stay tuned. One day you may get a selfie of me with my head between my knees.
Won't that be nice.
I haven't been out and about all that much. Were I to show you pictures of the bulk of my time the first few days you would see action shots of me blogging, or skyping, or reading a book. Mind you, were you to see pictures of all of that that would mean Neha, the lady from whom I am renting a room, has got cameras hidden around the place and you've been wandering parts of the internet best left alone.
She doesn't seem the type.
Neither do you.
But, no, that is not a tattoo.
So I haven't been out much, and when out, I haven't been super camera happy. Honestly just trying to get my bearings, experience the place, and try not to get run over in the process.
That said, when putting together some pictures for this initial blog entry on Delhi I couldn't help but laugh, because they are just so juxtaposed with one another. I've heard the word chaos used to describe this city, and I'd have to agree. That said, chaos is pretty beautiful.
Christmas Day after skyping with Noah, Jake, and my mom, I headed out to the DLF mall CityWalk, in hopes of seeing the third installment of The Hobbit. I ended up seeing it the next day. Totally awesome.
DLF is actually one of a few malls all strung together. Getting in to CityWalk was nearly as complicated as getting through customs. No questions. More scans and pat-downs. Nicely though they have his and her pat-down lines. Oh, and of course x-ray machines that all bags go through, guys with mirrors on the end of sticks sweeping under cars coming in to the parking lot. So security is serious.
I'd noted the same thing when getting a local SIM card. No, no pat-down or x-ray, but my passport was required, as was a new photo which they took on the spot and then printed up. And they needed to know my father's first name, which at least gets used as a validation questions when you call to activate, I found out the other day.
So yes, security is something taken seriously here. I mean, I perhaps could have guessed that by the guy outside the jewelry shop next door to where I am staying having a double-barrel shotgun. But who knows, maybe there is concern about stampeding elephants or something.
Something else they take somewhat seriously is Christmas. Betwen all the people with Santa hats I saw along the way, and the number of bakeries telling me to order my custom Christmas cake today, it was hard to miss. Had I missed that though, the following upon entering the mall would have made it pretty clear.
Nothing says Christmas like Santa speeding through an astroid field in a flying saucer, and then out into the stars.
It certainly explains how he gets it all done. Access to alien technology. Just like the US military.
Am I right? Right.
This was my Christmas wish.
No, I did not buy a baby grand piano for Christmas. I don't care what the rupee is at, I do not have that sort of money, nor the room in my bag. A few days before Christmas my friend Maureen posted a "This Christmas I wish for..." thingy on FB with the expectation that people fill in the blank. Well, people did. Her cousin Nikki beat me to the utter destruction of cancer, so that left me deciding to be a wee bit selfish and wish for someone in Delhi to let me play their piano.
Enter Furtado Music in CityWalk mall. Or rather, enter me entering Furtado Music in CityWalk mall on Christmas Day. And yes, I told them my Christmas wish. And they, being the lovely people they are said "Go for it", and then after about 30 minutes of playing when I decided I had made them suffer enough for their kindness, basically then told me "any time".
So I've got a piano to play while in Delhi. Actually, I have a small room of pianos to play while in Delhi. Sometimes it's as easy as asking. Sometimes.
When you turn around and offer to take a picture of two friends, one from Delhi the other from Myanmar, who are trying for the selfie, you don't actually expect to be invited to join them. But invited I was.
And then out into the night of festive lights.
And that was Christmas.
The following are a few shots from around my neighbourhood, which is Malyiva Nagar.
These couple are from just outside the metro station, which is about a 10 minute walk from where I live.
This is part of that 10 minute walk.
Almost as much fun as trying to share the street with them, is riding in an autorickshaw.
Delhi is a city made up of several cities (seven or twelve depending on how you want to count) that have sprawled together over the years. And when I say years, I mean thousands of years, as Delhi is right up there with Jerusalem vying for oldest city in the world. Lots of it appear to be very pedestrian friendly, not necessarily from the "you won't get run over" perspective, but more from the "lots of interesting stuff to look at as you walk along, just don't get run over" perspective. But there is also lots of "nothing to see here" space, devoted to cars. The metro does an excellent job of connecting all of these places together. The autorickshaws do too.
By the way, I'm good with having to make sure I'm not run over. Having to be an active participant in my own safety sits quite well with me. Pedestrians in Toronto seem to have gotten to the point where they feel they should be able to walk out into the street blindfolded and be able to get across without any misfortune. Delhi, and many other places I've been on this trip, don't see it that way. No, no one is out to crush you, but they do expect you to be paying attention. It's a dialogue, between the person walking, and the person driving. It just so happens that the person driving is talking alot faster and using bigger words.
Anyway, I like it.
I don't understand cricket, and watching people play it in the park does not make it any clearer whatsoever. Perhaps a project for me should be getting someone to explain it.
Walking along to the CityWalk mall there is the Satpula Lake District complex.
At first I thought it was the remnants of an old fort or something. Turns out it is the remains of a weir, or damn, built in the mid-14th century as part of the wall for what was the fourth medieval city of Delhi, Jahanpanah, and was used to support irrigation. Thank you Wikipedia.
This is a view of the "lake district".
Apparently alot can happen in 700 years.
Back at home in the evenings I find myself reading my book (finally got Book Five of Game of Thrones) or figuring out what I want to do the next day. And I keep hearing fireworks, but when I step out on my balcony I can't see them. Fine.
Earlier this week though I also heard music. So I decided to head out and follow it.And that's when I came across this really big white and red checkered tent, inside of which was, I am told, a celebration for the god Washib. Or at least, that is what it sounded like over the din. It was very loud, the person I was asking did not speak English, and my hearing doesn't appear to be that good to begin with. Thing is, I couldn't find such a god in the various lists online. So maybe I got the name wrong, or maybe not. With some estimates putting the number of Hindu deities at over 330 million, that would be understandable. By the way, apparently that is a misconception. These countless number of deities are actually the manifestation of a single divine being. Again though, time for me to shut up about things I know next to nothing about. All I'm trying to say is that this celebration was related to a god, and I couldn't find the name of that god to validate my hearing or spelling, and to understand what they are making manifest.
This though, based upon the eight arms and assorted weapons, I'm pretty sure is Durga.
And this is the tent. Durga is on the right, and my assumption is that the prime focus is on who's in the middle. Shortly after my arrival a big banner was covering that area though, so I didn't get a closeup.
And here's who is on the left.
Wonderful, friendly people, who welcomed me in. Fantastic music, though very loud. Loud can be good though, and certainly contributed to everything else going on. And I wouldn't call it overwhelming, but it definitely was stimulating.
The flip side of which would be Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Park in Old Delhi, which I came across by accident as I did a short wander through Old Delhi on Sunday.
My plan had been to go to New Delhi, the one that got built by the Brits when they announced Delhi was once again the captial of India, in 1911, and wander around for a bit. Hop on the metro, go a few stops. Easy. But instead I decided to not hop off the metro New Delhi station, but instead get off at Chandni Chowk, the heart of Old Delhi, and start walking from there. I can't say I saw alot, or wandered much. Part of it was just getting some basic navigation and layout into my head for future trips. So it ended up being more of a beeline down through Old Delhi, over to Connaught Place, which is kinda the top of New Delhi, and then over to India Gate, and along the park to the parliament buildings and picking up the metro home.
I'm sure that made sense to everyone and you've all got my route clear in your heads now. Suffice it to say that it was alot of walking, some of which would have been better served by an autorickshaw, and it was barely a taste of these areas of the city. But that's okay, as I've plenty of time to be spending here.
So that's some of the old, and this is some of the new.
Now if only I had something borrowed and something blue.
You'd think maybe the sky. But no.
This is India Gate, and while it, the colonade, and the parliament that the colonade ends at are pretty spectacular, I'm sure they're evening better on a clear day.
Apparently the winter months are the worst for visible smog, and we're right in the middle of those now. The rest of the year I am assured is quite clear, visibility wise at least.
That said, I'm hoping for some clear days, as I'm sure what the architect Lutyen's had in mind when he laid all of this out must be pretty amazing when you can actually see it all.
So it's a beginning. We'll have to see what happens next.
Along with Game of Thrones I actually bought a travel book on Delhi. First travel book purchased so far for this trip. I didn't feel I needed them other places, but having done some looking online, Delhi really seemed to warrant the investment. So we'll have to see where the book gets us.
I'll finish off right now by admitting to a bit of apprehension about wandering about this city. What you read online, what you hear from people - it can make you nervous. Like the smog I think, preconceived notions of a place distort the actual reality and truth of a place that one gains from actually experiencing it. You're not blind, but you're not seeing clearly either. I'm not saying I now "see" Delhi. But being here is starting to clear it up for me a bit, and my hope is that as I continue to be here I get to know it better through it's places and it's people, and that the smog will continue to lift, both figuratively and literally.
You may recall a long while back that I was trying to stretch regularly; make it part of my morning ritual. Well, the reason you haven't heard about it in so long is because of the epic fail on my part to stay on that particular band wagon. I've started it up again though, so stay tuned. One day you may get a selfie of me with my head between my knees.
Won't that be nice.
I haven't been out and about all that much. Were I to show you pictures of the bulk of my time the first few days you would see action shots of me blogging, or skyping, or reading a book. Mind you, were you to see pictures of all of that that would mean Neha, the lady from whom I am renting a room, has got cameras hidden around the place and you've been wandering parts of the internet best left alone.
She doesn't seem the type.
Neither do you.
But, no, that is not a tattoo.
So I haven't been out much, and when out, I haven't been super camera happy. Honestly just trying to get my bearings, experience the place, and try not to get run over in the process.
That said, when putting together some pictures for this initial blog entry on Delhi I couldn't help but laugh, because they are just so juxtaposed with one another. I've heard the word chaos used to describe this city, and I'd have to agree. That said, chaos is pretty beautiful.
Christmas Day after skyping with Noah, Jake, and my mom, I headed out to the DLF mall CityWalk, in hopes of seeing the third installment of The Hobbit. I ended up seeing it the next day. Totally awesome.
DLF is actually one of a few malls all strung together. Getting in to CityWalk was nearly as complicated as getting through customs. No questions. More scans and pat-downs. Nicely though they have his and her pat-down lines. Oh, and of course x-ray machines that all bags go through, guys with mirrors on the end of sticks sweeping under cars coming in to the parking lot. So security is serious.
I'd noted the same thing when getting a local SIM card. No, no pat-down or x-ray, but my passport was required, as was a new photo which they took on the spot and then printed up. And they needed to know my father's first name, which at least gets used as a validation questions when you call to activate, I found out the other day.
So yes, security is something taken seriously here. I mean, I perhaps could have guessed that by the guy outside the jewelry shop next door to where I am staying having a double-barrel shotgun. But who knows, maybe there is concern about stampeding elephants or something.
Something else they take somewhat seriously is Christmas. Betwen all the people with Santa hats I saw along the way, and the number of bakeries telling me to order my custom Christmas cake today, it was hard to miss. Had I missed that though, the following upon entering the mall would have made it pretty clear.
Nothing says Christmas like Santa speeding through an astroid field in a flying saucer, and then out into the stars.
It certainly explains how he gets it all done. Access to alien technology. Just like the US military.
Am I right? Right.
This was my Christmas wish.
No, I did not buy a baby grand piano for Christmas. I don't care what the rupee is at, I do not have that sort of money, nor the room in my bag. A few days before Christmas my friend Maureen posted a "This Christmas I wish for..." thingy on FB with the expectation that people fill in the blank. Well, people did. Her cousin Nikki beat me to the utter destruction of cancer, so that left me deciding to be a wee bit selfish and wish for someone in Delhi to let me play their piano.
Enter Furtado Music in CityWalk mall. Or rather, enter me entering Furtado Music in CityWalk mall on Christmas Day. And yes, I told them my Christmas wish. And they, being the lovely people they are said "Go for it", and then after about 30 minutes of playing when I decided I had made them suffer enough for their kindness, basically then told me "any time".
So I've got a piano to play while in Delhi. Actually, I have a small room of pianos to play while in Delhi. Sometimes it's as easy as asking. Sometimes.
When you turn around and offer to take a picture of two friends, one from Delhi the other from Myanmar, who are trying for the selfie, you don't actually expect to be invited to join them. But invited I was.
And then out into the night of festive lights.
And that was Christmas.
The following are a few shots from around my neighbourhood, which is Malyiva Nagar.
These couple are from just outside the metro station, which is about a 10 minute walk from where I live.
This is part of that 10 minute walk.
Almost as much fun as trying to share the street with them, is riding in an autorickshaw.
Delhi is a city made up of several cities (seven or twelve depending on how you want to count) that have sprawled together over the years. And when I say years, I mean thousands of years, as Delhi is right up there with Jerusalem vying for oldest city in the world. Lots of it appear to be very pedestrian friendly, not necessarily from the "you won't get run over" perspective, but more from the "lots of interesting stuff to look at as you walk along, just don't get run over" perspective. But there is also lots of "nothing to see here" space, devoted to cars. The metro does an excellent job of connecting all of these places together. The autorickshaws do too.
By the way, I'm good with having to make sure I'm not run over. Having to be an active participant in my own safety sits quite well with me. Pedestrians in Toronto seem to have gotten to the point where they feel they should be able to walk out into the street blindfolded and be able to get across without any misfortune. Delhi, and many other places I've been on this trip, don't see it that way. No, no one is out to crush you, but they do expect you to be paying attention. It's a dialogue, between the person walking, and the person driving. It just so happens that the person driving is talking alot faster and using bigger words.
Anyway, I like it.
I don't understand cricket, and watching people play it in the park does not make it any clearer whatsoever. Perhaps a project for me should be getting someone to explain it.
Walking along to the CityWalk mall there is the Satpula Lake District complex.
At first I thought it was the remnants of an old fort or something. Turns out it is the remains of a weir, or damn, built in the mid-14th century as part of the wall for what was the fourth medieval city of Delhi, Jahanpanah, and was used to support irrigation. Thank you Wikipedia.
This is a view of the "lake district".
Apparently alot can happen in 700 years.
Back at home in the evenings I find myself reading my book (finally got Book Five of Game of Thrones) or figuring out what I want to do the next day. And I keep hearing fireworks, but when I step out on my balcony I can't see them. Fine.
Earlier this week though I also heard music. So I decided to head out and follow it.And that's when I came across this really big white and red checkered tent, inside of which was, I am told, a celebration for the god Washib. Or at least, that is what it sounded like over the din. It was very loud, the person I was asking did not speak English, and my hearing doesn't appear to be that good to begin with. Thing is, I couldn't find such a god in the various lists online. So maybe I got the name wrong, or maybe not. With some estimates putting the number of Hindu deities at over 330 million, that would be understandable. By the way, apparently that is a misconception. These countless number of deities are actually the manifestation of a single divine being. Again though, time for me to shut up about things I know next to nothing about. All I'm trying to say is that this celebration was related to a god, and I couldn't find the name of that god to validate my hearing or spelling, and to understand what they are making manifest.
This though, based upon the eight arms and assorted weapons, I'm pretty sure is Durga.
And this is the tent. Durga is on the right, and my assumption is that the prime focus is on who's in the middle. Shortly after my arrival a big banner was covering that area though, so I didn't get a closeup.
And here's who is on the left.
Wonderful, friendly people, who welcomed me in. Fantastic music, though very loud. Loud can be good though, and certainly contributed to everything else going on. And I wouldn't call it overwhelming, but it definitely was stimulating.
The flip side of which would be Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Park in Old Delhi, which I came across by accident as I did a short wander through Old Delhi on Sunday.
My plan had been to go to New Delhi, the one that got built by the Brits when they announced Delhi was once again the captial of India, in 1911, and wander around for a bit. Hop on the metro, go a few stops. Easy. But instead I decided to not hop off the metro New Delhi station, but instead get off at Chandni Chowk, the heart of Old Delhi, and start walking from there. I can't say I saw alot, or wandered much. Part of it was just getting some basic navigation and layout into my head for future trips. So it ended up being more of a beeline down through Old Delhi, over to Connaught Place, which is kinda the top of New Delhi, and then over to India Gate, and along the park to the parliament buildings and picking up the metro home.
I'm sure that made sense to everyone and you've all got my route clear in your heads now. Suffice it to say that it was alot of walking, some of which would have been better served by an autorickshaw, and it was barely a taste of these areas of the city. But that's okay, as I've plenty of time to be spending here.
So that's some of the old, and this is some of the new.
Now if only I had something borrowed and something blue.
You'd think maybe the sky. But no.
This is India Gate, and while it, the colonade, and the parliament that the colonade ends at are pretty spectacular, I'm sure they're evening better on a clear day.
Apparently the winter months are the worst for visible smog, and we're right in the middle of those now. The rest of the year I am assured is quite clear, visibility wise at least.
That said, I'm hoping for some clear days, as I'm sure what the architect Lutyen's had in mind when he laid all of this out must be pretty amazing when you can actually see it all.
So it's a beginning. We'll have to see what happens next.
Along with Game of Thrones I actually bought a travel book on Delhi. First travel book purchased so far for this trip. I didn't feel I needed them other places, but having done some looking online, Delhi really seemed to warrant the investment. So we'll have to see where the book gets us.
I'll finish off right now by admitting to a bit of apprehension about wandering about this city. What you read online, what you hear from people - it can make you nervous. Like the smog I think, preconceived notions of a place distort the actual reality and truth of a place that one gains from actually experiencing it. You're not blind, but you're not seeing clearly either. I'm not saying I now "see" Delhi. But being here is starting to clear it up for me a bit, and my hope is that as I continue to be here I get to know it better through it's places and it's people, and that the smog will continue to lift, both figuratively and literally.
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