Today we went on a tour of "Old Delhi". Most historians would say that it isn't old Delhi, but just Delhi. The reason "old" was added in, is because when they started building south Delhi, the name "New Delhi" was added. Obviously you cannot have a "New Delhi" if you don't have an "Old Delhi"- although we don't call England "Old England" when we are discussing "New England". Sorry- I digress.
We were lucky to have one of Marcelle's co-workers take us out for our own personal guided tour. Marcelle works for INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage). They are responsible for a lot of the preservation work that goes on in and around Delhi. Meena (her coworker) is Indian and is the biggest fountain of knowledge. It was so nice to have her there and to pick her brain. She picked us up on her scooter. This made me quite a bit nervous. The entire time I kept saying "We are going to DIE". It was a little much for me, but we made it safely. I don't know how to describe Delhi. I am so glad we did this on Sunday instead of on Saturday like we originally planned. I would have probably boarded a plane for home. It was a lot to take in and there were A LOT of people. But, she took us throughout the area and I really started to get an idea of what an amazing history Delhi has. I really should have done more reading up on the area before I got there (note to self for future trips). I decided that Marcelle should be in charge of the camera (nice) and off we went. We walked up and down the Chandni Chowk which was the "main road" leading to the Lahore Gate at the Red Fort. The Red Fort was built by Shah Jahan- the same emperor that built the Taj Mahal. The Chandni Chowk was, and still is, a large market. Because we went on a Sunday a lot of the shops were closed, but this is a good thing. There were already way too many people, so I cannot imagine having anymore in a small space. One of the interesting things about this place, is that they have like 5 different temples/mosques/churches on the same road. There is a Jain temple, a Mosque, a Hindu Temple, a Sikh temple, and I think like a Christian church or something. This little road is a hotbed when it comes to religious/political unrest in the world. So- you can see why I was totally freaked out.. standing there on a very busy day for worshipping.
I cannot describe what Old Delhi is like. Pictures obviously cannot capture the sounds, SMELLS, or how small the streets are in the area. Also, Meena told us that hygiene is a "new" concept for a lot of people when it comes to garbage. They are clean, but not in the same way we think of clean and there is no garbage truck that comes and picks up your garbage. Some man has a small cart and yells for you to throw down your garbage and he takes care of it. (When Marcelle was at a little festival she took a picture of a "Dustbin Prototype"- I'm not kidding.) Sorry- the pictures do not do it justice.
Afterwards we headed back to Marcelle's house for a little cooling off and went back to Lodi Gardens to just sit and relax.
2 comments:
It's so comforting to read that you feared death while riding on the scooter and that if you had gone on Saturday you probably would have wanted to head for home. I KNOW I would feel that way, so it makes me feel more normal. It sounds interesting, though I'm not real keen on places where hygiene is a new concept.
Like Jill, I'd have some trouble with the hygiene issues -- can't imagine having to deal with garbage that way. I'm glad you went there on Sunday too! Sounds like any other day would have been WAY overwhelming.
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