We arrived in Delhi in the early morning (around 1 AM Delhi time) of Monday December 22nd. As we left the airport we saw elephants on the road carrying cargo to Delhi. We settled into the Connaught Hotel where we were greeted by the Indian God Ganesh, son of Shiva (seen on the left). Despite the 10.5 hour time time difference we slept well.
When we awoke that morning we began our exploration of Delhi by hiring an autorickshaw driven by a young teenage boy. He introduced us to the Pavilion restaurant where we found wonderful food and I realized that I would not lose weight on this trip as I had hoped.
In the morning we took a guided tour of Old Delhi visiting the Raj Ghat - the memorial at the site where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated, the Jama Mosque - the largest mosque in India, and the Red Fort - once the most opulent fort and palace of the Moghul Empire. Here a vendor placed a red dot on Kathleen's head for good luck.
We also had our first encounter with the unfortunate beggars of India. This experience is indelible. Many of the beggars are multiple amputees who somehow navigate around in the dust using whatever means possible. It was very sad but, after having visited major cities in the United States, I found the presence of beggars somewhat familiar. Lunch that day was a special opportunity to count our blessings.
Outside the Red
Fort we enjoyed a traditional snake charmer performance. Our guide told us of
a text that is often sung with the snake charmer's song describing the female
snake expressing love for the male snake charmer and admiration for his music.
I was carrying my cassette recorder and managed to get a recording of the performance
pictured here. The recording is a QuickTime 3.0 File (78
K).
For lunch we stopped
at the Bitro Village in Old Delhi. We had lunch with our guide who explained
the realities of gender roles in middle class India. She also told us of her
hobby as a singer. I managed to get a recording of her singing the snake charmer's
song. The recording is a QuickTime 3.0 File (156 K).
The menu that day included chicken, lamb, and many varieties of vegetables.
My friend on the left, however, was not on the menu anywhere in India.
After lunch we enjoyed a guided tour of New Delhi visiting Humayun's Tomb (pictured on the left), the Qutub Minar, the India Gate, and various other monuments. The architecture was stunning and the detail was overwhelming. Pictures do not do them justice but a complete photo library of Indian monuments is available at http://www.tourindia.com. Humayun's Tomb was built in 1565 by Hamida Bano Begam, wife of Humayun. It is the earliest example of Mughal architecture in India. This architectural pattern was later used for the Taj Mahal in Agra.