Delhi: Day One

Wake up, breakfast here at Likir House. The program director and our Tibetan Culture & Civilization instructor, prof. Tara Doyle ("Tara-la" to us, using the Tibetan suffix that marks respect) had just arrived and guided us through a general orientation; she and the other program staff already here talked about food and water, personal safety, etc. etc. They had all they students write down our hopes and fears for the program on little slips of paper, which we put in a basket that we passed around and read from. It was heartening to hear others having many of the same (as well as some different) concerns about basic physical things like illness, as well as uncertainties about the work we'll be doing, fitting in with our classmates, Tibetan roommates, and host families, adequately immersing ourselves in the new culture, etc. Tara-la and the others talked over some points about these issues and it was good.

I kinda wanted to take a picture of our "Basket of Hope" and "Basket of Fear," but it just didn't seem like the right time to pull out that camera. Instead, I'll just put this image in, which my Australian soon-to-be-hosts should appreciate. It was taken on the bookshelves in the lobby/lounge of Likir House, and I don't really have any idea why these two adorable fellows are here:

This time, since our wanderings around the city were of a more official nature, we rode in SUV's with drivers hired for the day. Quite a bit nicer than auto-rickshaws. Today's journeys focused one the very nice areas of New Delhi, the section of the city built by the British as their model capital; just as India was the "star in the crown of the British Empire," so was New Delhi built as the centerpiece of British India. Anyway, even here, you can't help but occasionally drive past the oldest fortifications in the city:

Our first stop was the National Crafts Museum, built to showcase the folk arts of India. An important concept for any country/culture, given that we all tend to focus on "fine" arts and forget the expressive forms that most people actually interact with daily and/or make. The complex was pretty well labeled, with a name, location, and story for each building in their "village" of traditional building types from around India. It was a bit strange to see structures from wildly different areas right next to each other, but it was a quick way to sample lots of different cultures. Here are some of the buildings in the complex:

We also got to watch a dance performance by some boys from... I don't remember where. According to Tara-la, they were probably from families that do this as their thing and pass on the art to their descendants. Interspersed with sometimes-incredible acrobatics, the dancers would gather together and pose for a few seconds in various configurations representing scenes from religious stories--Krishna with his flute, somebody riding something somewhere, etc.--as a sort of living painting; Tara-la explained this as an opportunity for the viewers to receive darshan, "seeing," the Hindu-and-related-religions concept of contacting the divine through vision, built upon the notion of eye-contact-as-physical-touch. Apparently this is a thing in Bollywood films, especially mythologicals--all the action just stops for a second for that moment of darshan.

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Yep, they're walking on their hands while twisted backwards like that.

There was also a section of various craftspeople showing off and selling some amazing wares, and since this was an official sort of place, they're all legitimate artists who aren't too pushy and don't overcharge. I managed to pick up a gorgeous Pashmina (really really high-end goat hair that feels more like silk than silk does) scarf as souvenir/gift from the Kashmiri guy who made it--for 1000 Rs, after haggling him down from 1200 Rs. (haggling is an accepted and important part of the transaction, but apparently this was an appropriate price). That's $20. I don't have a picture of that, but I do have some of these little stone boxes and things...

... plus a wonderful lady who makes and sings along with narrative paintings with her husband. He wasn't there, but we got her to perform one for us... wow. Not knowing Hindi, I could basically just pick out place names in her story, but the emotional content transcends the language barrier. Any guess as to the story, or that of the one with the guy on the long beard right above her? (Answer below)

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The 2004 tsunami! See the fearsome personified/deified spirit (pran "spirit", like the Sanskrit prajña "breath") of the tsunami on top, with all the sad, drowning people in the blue mess below? She was pointing to individuals in there and saying who they were. Harder to see, on the left is a green area with witnesses to the tsunami, including a reporter holding a television camera, a room of people watching the proceedings on the television, and in the rolled-up part at the bottom, an elephant and lion in tears.

The bearded guy? That's Bin Laden, on a panel talking about 9/11. Another one was about the Titanic, while the one to the right of the image is a traditional story she proceeded to tell us about a snake goddess. What a juxtaposition--ancient religious stories next to 20th century history next to practically current events. While these crafts aren't as popular as they once were, hopefully institutions like the Crafts Museum and clever artists who bring
in new stories will help keep the traditions alive. Speaking of traditions, this fellow is simultaneously riding a horse on a major road, stopping to talk with an auto-rickshaw driver, and pointed the wrong way. Oh, India!

Lunch was at the Bengali Sweets House, a short drive away. Busy place, great food (at least to this inexperienced American!). Gordo (nickname of Matt Gordan, a former student at the program who's helping run it this year) was sitting next to me and forced quite a bit of food on us. I and three others skipped dinner as a result. I'm sorry not to have pictures of food--there was so much of it and it was coming so fast I couldn't catch it--but this RIDICULOUS lassi should be more than enough:

With everyone there and eating far too much, it was nice that the program covered this meal (as they do all the ones where we're all together). Look at the bill!

The total is less than $60. For 21 people. Including drinks & dessert.

Security is quite the thing here. Not that anything in particular has happened lately, but there's always fear of politico-religious terrorism and such; the entrances to the Metro have X-ray scanners and metal detectors. Hence the police and military folks just about everywhere:

Next they took us to a twelfth-century-ish stepwell, used for easy access to water throughout drastic fluctuations in the water table. Remember, we're talking about a monsoon climate--fairly dry much of the year, massive rainstorms for a season. Here, in order, are some of the Emory folks on first sight of the place, a detail of the Islamic-style arches (this was built in the first period of Islamic-folks rule in India), some of the locals, and yours truly (see, I'm actually here! I'm not good enough with photoshop to fake that!).

Speaking of Islam, that's the little mosque that someone decided to build at the top of the stepwell:

We then drove through some of the enormously ostentatious section of government buildings, which now house a mix of government offices, museums, and even some embassies. First is India Gate, built by the British in 1931 and repurposed as a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier after the revolution. They also took down the statue of King George V around then.

The British were really into consolidating their power with grandiose buildings displaying their power and master. One was the Viceroy's Palace--the President of India still lives here, though in a smaller side wing, not the lavish chambers built for the Viceroy.

I was a little surprised by the bare dirt. Climate make it expensive to have that much grass?

We walked around the twin buildings of the Secretariat, where various government Ministries have their offices. In the pictures below, note the obvious symbolism--Indian-style features adorning an essentially Greco-Roman structure.
Note the satellite dish just tacked on in the last picture. Oh, India.

Finally, we got to unwind by walking around the Lodhi Gardens, a public park built around some tombs and mosques of the Lodhi Dynasty of Muslim rulers in the 1400s-1500s. After the grand display of government might, it was really nice to see people with their dogs and children, bouncing balloons and playing cricket and badminton. Ok, so the games were different but the spirit was familier. But then they were doing that next to 500-year-old monuments. Hmm.

Look at the calligraphy!

I saw several of these species, including lots of the green parrots. Just kind of hanging out with the pigeons and fluttering away when the giant hawk-like raptors (not sure what they were) came around.

I guess we just missed the march, but a schoolgirl handed me this. We've seen lots of signs encouraging recycling, water conservation, and the like, so it seems like there's a growing environmental awareness in India. Which is great, but the pollution in the air is still palpable.

The very informative labels said this was a turret form what was once a larger fortification complex, but I think it just looks like a dalek. Don't you?

Hey Swatties--the trees are labeled here too! In Latin and Hindi.

Aww pretty sunset.

I'll end with a priceless image from in front of a home-appliances-and-various-useful-things store in Defence Colony:
Yes, I'm pretty sure those are Christmas trees. No, I don't know why.

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So I hope you all are enjoying this blog. I may not be able to keep up with the daily updates, particularly since I don't think I'll have Wi-Fi once we get to Dharamsala. But I'll still try to keep you all updated with regular posts, so we'll see how it goes. Regardless, I'm so happy whenever I see someone has commented on a post--while I'm having a great time here, I'm always honored to see that it's actually being read and to hear from folks back home. Questions, comments, souvenir requests, whatever are more than welcome.