What are the rates?

What do you get when you stick three Americans in India?  (If bowel problems was your first thought…then you wouldn’t actually be wrong). But otherwise you get an awesome time exploring some of the greatest sights in the world.

I recently met up with Mr. Rahul Barwani, who traveled the long distance from Berkeley, California, and Mr. Josh Brown, a Fulbright-er currently teaching English in South Korea, for a two week bonanza through northern India.  For me, it was a nice break from the routine here in Andur.  And to be able to spend New Years in Mumbai…what more could I ask for.

So I packed up and boarded a car, then bus, then rickshaw, then train to get over to Mumbai to meet up with Vickybhai, Rahul’s first cousin that lives in there.  The two of us then boarded a quick flight and made our way up to Delhi, the capital of India and the beginning of our journey.  We were soon accompanied by Rahul and Josh, arriving on flights from Kolkata and Seoul, respectively.  And thus we began…the four of us (and Sushil…our driver). 

First stop, Delhi.  Delhi, as the capital of India and the recent host of the Commonwealth Games 2010 (an athletic competition between former colonies of the British Commonweath) had a lot to say for itself.  As a little village bumpkin who has only really scene the chaos of Mumbai, I was amazed by the relative orderliness of the Delhi streets (people actually drove IN their LANES) and the cleanliness of the city.  We spent a day exploring the different sites around the city, including the:

Qutb Minar – erected in the 12^th Century, it is one of the most historical and prominent symbols of Delhi.  It's a great example of Indo-Islamic architecture as it was built by an early Muslim ruler in India.

The Qutb Minar.

Lotus Temple – a holy site for people of the Bhai’i faith.  They told us a bit about the religion there…unfortunately I don’t remember too much.  What I do remember is that they believe in universal peace and equality between men and women.  Also, interestingly enough, a tenant of the religion is obedience to one’s government.

Lotus Temple...because it looks like a lotus.  Get it? 

Humayan’s Tomb. . A mausoleum for Humayan…some dead old ruler/conquerer.  This was actually a model for the Taj Mahal, which was constructed in the same style but on a grander/more magnificent scale.

Compare this against the Taj Mahal picture later in the blog.
Any similarities?

Gateway of India – a remembrance for all fallen Indian soldiers.  Interesting story: there were a group of African people visiting this site who attracted huge attention from domestic (Indian) tourists.  As a white American, I get a lot of attention in the villages I visit.  So it was interesting to be an outsider to that same experience and see the attention given to others.  These people were loving it though.

Raj Gat – where the cremated remains of Mahatma Gandhi (the leader of the Indian freedom movement) lie. 

The Man himself.

Jantar Mantar – an observatory in the middle of Delhi built in the 1600s.  Although this place has some historical significance, it seemed to us more of a big playground than anything, complete with structures looking like a half-pipe and another like a gladiator pit (apparently they were used to track celestial bodies.  How? Don’t ask)

The Colosseum-like structure. Rahul's expression says it all.

Next stop, Haridwar. Haridwar is a city pretty far North in India where the Ganges starts flowing.  Therefore, in Hindu culture, it’s an important place.  The mythology behind the Ganges is that the river flows from the head of the Lord Shiva, an important God in Hinduism.  As much as I’m sure you’re interested in the theological underpinnings of the city, I’m sure you’d be more happy to see…MONKEYS.  Yes, Haridwar is also home to two temples, both of which many monkeys call home.  Therefore, you can imagine the excitement of Rahul, Josh, and myself as we attempted to feed monkeys at the temples located on the hills surrounding the city.  Unfortunately, the monkeys also bombarded Josh and the ice cream he was holding in his hand.  You can correctly assume that he didn’t get to eat too much of it before he had to give it up to them.

Does anyone else see the resemblance here? 

But the magical part of Haridwar comes at night, when visitors throng the sides of the Ganges river and partake in the nightly pooja, or prayer, that happens.  It really was a beautiful site, with thousands of candles lit up and hundreds of people following along to the prayers.

It's gorgeous.  Add to this the voices of hundreds following
along in prayer.

Rahul, Josh, and I also were able to partake in the ceremonial prayer of the Ganges.  It is composed of having prayers said over you by a religious leader on the side of the river, dunking in the water, and giving an offering to the river.  Josh, thanks to his dearth of Hindi language, dumped the offering into the river PLUS the plate that was holding it (I think you had to be there, but Rahul and I really got a kick out of this one).

The four us watching the pooja.

One of the great parts of being in Hardiwar was that I was actually able to impress some people with my Marathi skills.  Sitting at a restaurant for lunch just as we’re about to leave the city, a group of women at the table behind us tapped our shoulder and asked “America?”  We replied yes, and then asked them in Hindi where they were from.  They replied “Maharashtra.”  This got me going, and I asked, in Marathi, if they spoke Marathi (Tumhi Marathi boltaka?).  Surprised, they replied in the affirmative, and we had a brief conversation about where they were from and what I was doing speaking Marathi.  It was great to be able to use my Marathi outside of the village of Andur, and really boosted my confidence in my speaking ability.

Moving on, a quick overnight stop in Rishikesh…an extremely spiritual place that is full of ashrams (similar to what I lived on during my orientation).  The Beatles actually came here and composed a fair amount of music at one of the ashrams (now closed).  I don’t’ know if I mentioned it, but it was FREEZING cold during this trip, with nights going down to 5/6 degrees Celsius (that’s about 40 Farenheight).  I definitely didn’t sign up, or pack, for this kind of weather…

We then made our way up to Punjab and the city of Amritsar, a holy place for people of the Sikh religion. It was about this point that Josh and I were both overcome with…Delhi Belly.  I’ll spare you the gory details, but let’s just say that a bathroom became an essential part of the rest of our journey. 

Amritsar is way up in the North of India, right by the Pakistan-India border.  Daily, a huge, nationalist ceremony is held at the border in which Indian and Pakistani soldiers parade fanatically in front of each other from across a small gate.  Add to this hundreds of crowds (on both sides), flag waving, and chants and you have what looks like a Cal-Stanford football game.  There is a lot of historical tension between Pakistan and India (more than I want to go into in this post), so it was interesting to see that play out before your own eyes. 

Down the road in the center of the picture past the gate is
Pakistan.  Spectators throng both sides to see the "show"
every night at 5:30pm.

Back to Amristar: This city is home to the Golden Temple, or the holiest place for people of the Sikh religion.  The Sikh people traditionally wear turbans (it is a religious custom that men and women will not cut their hair).  We went early in the morning, just as the sun was rising over the temple.  It is surrounded by a body of water, making the whole place feel extremely calm and surreal.  It was like an oasis in the middle of the city.  Similar to all gurdwaras (Sikh temples), it is customary to offer food to all visitors.  Therefore, we joined the line of other guests and worshipers and sat down for breakfast (a nice meal of dhaal, chickpeas, and chappati). Given the high tourist traffice, this place busts out 80,000 dishes per meal! 

Posing in front of the Golden Temple.  It's customary to cover
 your hair when entering a Gurdwara.

We then made our way back through Delhi (passing through a part of India that legitimately looked like the apocalypse: dark, foggy, ghost towns) and made our way to Mathura which is where the Lord Krishna (a main Hindu god) grew up.  There is a large temple there dedicated to him.

A little American indulgance.  Do we look excited?

And finally, what I know you’ve all been waiting for…Agra, home to the Taj Mahal.  By this point, we travelers were so weary and exhausted that it’s no wonder we were excited by:

Yep...the Taj Mahal.  Although the most attractive part of
 the photo is in the foreground.

It truly is a masterwork of architecture, with gorgeous stonework and marble detailing.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with its history, the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built by the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan in the 1600s for his wife, Mumtez. 

And then, on to Bombay…and some relaxation.  To put our previous trip into perspective, we traveled about 2500 km in 6 days.  That’s a lot of car time, a lot of hotels, and a lot of sights.  So coming to Bombay for a little rest was much needed by the end of our journey. 

Here’s where I want to take a brief pause and pay my deepest tribute and upmost respect to the Barwani family.  Rahul’s family in Bombay greeted us weary travelers as members of their own, taking us within their arms and literally bringing us back to health.  Through delicious, home-cooked, non-vegetarian meals, satellite TV, and a little TLC the three of us were able to recover from our hectic journey.  We spent much of our time in Bombay relaxing, slowly venturing out into the suburbs of Khar and Bandera where we were staying.  But mostly laying low and meeting up with different parts of Rahul’s family.  

With part of the Barwani Family.  again...THANK YOU!

Did I mention there was a bagel shop in Mumbai? Fellow
"fellow" Sami posing in front. It's like a Jewish heaven.

New Years was a blast.  Maybe not the craziest one I’ve had, but definitely the most relaxed and mature.  The three of us, along with Rahul’s cousin and another couple, went to an extremely gourmet, Pan-Asian, buffet restaurant.  Well, right on Indian Standard Time, we got there at about 10pm.  Didn’t eat until 1:00 a.m.  And left around 3:00 am.  Along with some great cuisine, we had fantastic conversation and were really able to bring in the New Year with style.

Bringing in the New Year! The guy's end of the table.

Now for some introspection.  Right before we got into the restaurant, as we were waiting outside with other people all dressed to impress, I couldn’t help but notice the child that was going from person to person, hand out, asking for money.  Being in India for a stint (and especially as a foreigner), you almost become immune to the endless people that come up asking for money.  I have personal reasons for not giving money to people on the streets (it’s not a sustainable way to help people get into poverty, only further snowballs the effect of begging, etc.).  But this time it really hit me…the blind eye that I usually turn to such things wasn’t so blind.  We were standing there, getting ready to enter and gorge on a delicious buffet, dressed up and ready to celebrate the coming of a new year.  And here was a little girl, maybe 7 years old, who might not have had a home, family, or meal.  It really put things in perspective for me…that even when I’m in India and realizing all that I take for granted in the US (hot showers come to mind), I still stand in a very privileged place where I have so much to be thankful for.  It also made me thankful to those who are continually work to help alleviate poverty in parts of the world where its a very common tragedy.  

Aside from that, we made our way to the Taj Mahal Hotel, probably the nicest hotel in all of India, but also one of the sites of the shooting on November 26, 2008 – an event in which Pakistani terrorists killed over 100 innocent people around the city of Mumbai.  Similar to 9/11 in the US, it unified the Indian people .  So the Hotel has stood as a testament to the vivacity of the nation. It has bounced back and really is a gorgeous hotel…if only we could have stayed there a few nights…

The Taj Mahal Hotel.  This picture doesn't do it justice

And that marked the end of my vacation.  I boarded a train and made my way…10 hours later…to my cozy home here in Andur.  It was nice to be back, and to realize that the life I had left is still here and constant.  Fortunately, I came back on a holiday (meaning no work), and was able to celebrate with some prayers and a special meal with all the residents here.  The holiday is Yelvasmoushi (sp?) and celebrates the harvest and 5 god-like beings who defeated evil (not quite sure of their names or the story, but that’s all I remember).  

Celebrating Yelvasmoushi(?) in the NGO garden we have here.

Overall, my trip was a nice getaway from the relative calm here in Andur, and it was nice to meet up with some long-time friends. 

A map of our travels.  Follow the dotted blue line to
see my journey to Delhi (pit stop in Bombay),
and the solid blue line is our trip together.

Just putting it out there, if anyone else wants to make the journey, there is plenty to see in this big country!

I hope you all had a great new year! 

Andrew