Shah Jahan—King of the Universe!!

I went to the Lal Quila (Red Fort) yesterday, which was originally built by the great Moghul and King of the Universe (no kidding, exact translation of his name) in the 17th century. Yes, yes, yes, very impressive and a must see in Delhi, but the trip to get there is what turned me on!

We took the metro, originally opened in 2002 and quite honestly not quite up to the task of transporting 13 million Delhians who have places to go!! After we went through some serious security, including preliminary metal detector, physical search and bag screening like at the airport, we were on our way! The BEST thing about the Delhi metro is the ‘Ladies Only’ car. In bright pink on the floor of the train platform are signs that say Ladies Only. In some places they also have the area roped off and in particularly busy stations (you can imagine the hoards!), there are monitors insuring that men don’t get on these cars. The cars are HEAVENLY!!! Not particularly crowded, no one rubbing up against you inappropriately (a widely practiced sport) and because the cars don’t have proper doors between them, you can see the overflow of men squeezed into the remaining cars. The first time we changed trains, there was one in the station already. We ran to get on and didn’t end up in the Ladies car. Needless to say that is an experience not to be repeated. However, the metro experience was only a prelude to Chandni Chowk Road. Oh my!!!

I had heard that this was a shopping road. That is putting it mildly. I have NEVER seen so many people, vehicles, crates-cartons-bags surging in all directions in my entire life! It can’t be more than half a mile from the metro station to the Red Fort, yet it took almost 40 minutes to weave in and out of the human, dog and vehicle traffic. Despite the very apparent dangers, people tend to walk in the street, unless they have business with the shops or a natural break in the traffic occurs on the sidewalk and the flow of street traffic is temporarily impeded. At the end of this mighty shopping road stands the imposing fortress Lal Quila—a sanctuary in the midst of mayhem with a seemingly endless complex of buildings in marble and red stone. It is gorgeous, though crowded by my New York standards—isolated by Indian ones. Despite the grandeur, I confess that my fascination was held almost entirely by walking the streets of Delhi, a task not for the faint of heart. I loved it!

My house

Something has disturbed the pigeons who are circling around and the chant from the mosque, appropriately old and India picturesque, is heard distantly in the background.

I live in Defence Colony, a gated community originally built for British officers. It's car washing day here in Delhi and the man directly below me lifts off his tightly fitted, silver Mercedes Benz car cover to pay homage to his wealth. Although there are plenty of people out day and night, I would say overall that this place is not densely populated.

I got SO lost yesterday, both going to and from work. What a maze this place is!! People are very friendly once you speak to them and I have had MANY occasions to speak to people asking for directions. I still haven't figured it out yet--despite the fact that the map they have provided me is a grid. I did notice that they failed to include the triangular shaped park that is right in front of my house. I seriously question the grid...

The photo is a picture of my living room with my beloved terrace beyond.

Arrival

A very funky chipmunk-like thing just ran across the electric wire that runs in front of our house. Wait! He’s back! Really scraggly long tail and the coloring is off—light brown with blond strips. He looks kind of creepy. I initially ended up on the back terrace overlooking the alleyway between two rows of houses with a view of mangy dogs, kings of the early morning hours, not a person to be seen in this upscale part of town, though the scaffolding and dust belie the wealth of the neighborhood. Of course I gravitated to the kitchen and the area where women dominate. You learn so much more about the day to day functioning of life from this perspective. However, now that I’ve found the front veranda, I am happily perched on the third floor with an overview of the guard in his blue button down shirt, seated on his red plastic chair willing the day to begin. He has yet to notice me. Even so, this side shows signs of life. I’m getting ahead of myself!

Last night I arrived after 20 or so hours of travel to a modern, enormous and stream lined airport with surprisingly few people. Granted it was almost midnight, but this is Delhi! I had expected hordes. When I opened the doors and found a quietly waiting crowd, I was greeted by a night thick with smoke from unseen fires and dust, signs of construction and recent human upheaval. At last I finally found my driver—the last one in the line, quietly holding a battered cardboard sign. I was very relieved to see him.

My driver this night has a boxy dented car with a clean dashboard and vacant never used slots where things like a radio and glove compartment should be. The car is not devoid of decoration however, as several items line the upper part of the vehicle. My favorite is an antique photo just above my head on the ceiling that states it is a genuine photograph from 1916, though it looks like a copy to me. Manad Singh is decidedly old school in his driving technique. Rather than commit himself to one lane over another—here as opposed to Africa, there are many—he holds steady following a line between two lanes, sometimes swerving to avoid another swerving driver or one with no lights or another who has decided (or whose car has decided for him) that this is a reasonable place to stop. The highway runs through the city and I am surprised when we suddenly exit to the back streets which alternate with Christmas light festooned buildings snuggled next to those that lack electricity entirely. We enter some gates and the labyrinth I now call home and he expertly follows an invisible trail that leads right to my front doorway.

Next stop...India!

I've been back in the states for a few weeks--feels like a few minutes!--and have wandered the eastern seaboard meeting and greeting the many people, but far from all, who I greatly missed when I was in Malawi. As I was standing in line at the Indian consulate with reams of stamped, photographed and otherwise official-looking documents, surrounded by enormous photos of the Taj Mahal and other majestic places that I cannot yet identify, sitar music soothing in the background, I realized that in about a week, I'll be in the Indian capitol with a new epidemiology project! Wow.

The travel hiatus is over! Stay tuned for fun filled adventures in Delhi and beyond!!!