Hi everyone,
For most of you who know me personally, you probably know that I've been back in the US for about 2 months now. I'm sure you're all wondering why this post is coming up so late. The answer is simply that I procrastinated to the point of having forgotten about it, and was reminded that I had a follow-up to write because of an email a friend of mine sent me today of the blog she's writing while studying abroad in Brazil (thanks for the unintentional reminder, Shelby!). So for all of you who have been waiting impatiently, if there are any of you, I sincerely apologize about how late this entry is. The good news is that while I had forgotten about this blog, I haven't forgot my stories from Delhi (specifically the stories from my final week there, all of which will be new to you)!
A lot of interesting things happened to me before I returned home. With only seven days left to see Delhi (only the day I returned home was free), I really felt a lot of pressure to make sure I could see everything I wanted to in the city before going back home. So while I had been traveling around Delhi my Sundays off for the previous weeks, and Sunday being my last day in India, I had to force myself to make time after work to see the sights - definitely a very stressful experience. Monday, I went with two friends from work to see the Lotus Temple, one of the most interestingly-designed buildings in all of Delhi, since it happened to not be too far from the Khushi Home for girls in the southeastern part of the city. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we found out that it was closed on Mondays, so we weren't allowed to enter. In spite of our thorough disappointment, we decided to just hang out and found a tourist-oriented restaurant nearby.
Don't be too disappointed for me though. On Thursday, after working at the Ummeed Boys' Home, my Indian co-worker there, Sachin, invited me to see the Lotus Temple with him, so I DID end up getting to go! It was a very hot day, so I was relieved that he took me there in his own car (complete with air-conditioning and the Indian version of Sirius Radio!) instead of us taking an uncomfortable autorickshaw. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me (this was an impromptu trip), but he had his smart phone, so we did get some photos of the complex. Unlike most of the religious monuments in the city, which are either Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh, the Lotus Temple is actually a house of worship for the Baha'i Faith, a relatively recent religion from Persia which emphasizes the unity at the core of all religions. As a result, members of all faiths may enter and pray in this unique building's austere, simple interior, as were we. Neither of us really WANTED to spend much time praying, so we (like most of the other tourists) were only there for a few minutes before touring the rest of the site. One thing which was a complete surprise to us were the pools in the shape of lotus petals in a ring around the temple. Though one of them desperately needed to be cleaned out, they were a nice complement to the beautiful grounds surrounding the temple. Afterwards, upon learning I had never tried sugarcane juice before, Sachin drove me around for a while looking for a sugarcane juice stand, as we talked about Indian music (
this song in particular, which he tried to teach me the chorus of - my Hindi isn't nearly good enough to actually know it, but apparently it was good enough to find the song on Google two months after the fact, so I think that's pretty good!). The creamy juice tasted very different from what I was anticipating, being not super sugary like soda, but ended up being rather good! He then was trying to drive me to a nearby metro station so I could head back to the Ria Residency, but with the rush hour traffic (INDIAN rush hour traffic), the fastest thing to do was jump out of the car in the stalled traffic and have me jump on a bus heading for the metro - when I finally arrived there, the cars were so clogged up with commuters, I missed my stop because I couldn't exit the train!
The Lotus Temple, with its petal pools (photo by spirittourism.com)
The other big site I had to see before leaving India was the famous Akshardham Temple, an enormous Hindu temple complex located on the western side of the Yamuna River. On Wednesday, after work, one of my co-workers told me she and two of her roommates were planning on visiting this site after work, and she invited me to come along with them! Of course I said yes, and we took the metro further out than I had ever taken it before. I had heard that this complex was very recently built (it opened not even a full decade ago), and as a result of its newness, its size, and its importance, the security was very tight - we had to give up our cameras and bags before being allowed entry. It was very disappointing not being able to take photos inside - the entire complex is gorgeous and quite modern, with plenty of small fountains and pools, the hum of quiet music, and a well-constructed temple in the center, adorned with carvings of scenes and animals/animal-gods from Hinduism. The inside of the actual temple was beautiful, with ornately carved walls and ceilings, paintings of propagators of Hinduism in India, statues of various gods, and an awe-inspiring central room, filled with huge golden statues and decorated with bright crystals. While touring the area outside the temple, we noticed that it looked like a storm was coming. After being separated from my co-tourists as we went different ways on the metro, I exited the Hauz Khaz station near Munirka and found that it was pouring rain. After 15 minutes of having Indians beat me to the autorickshaws outside the station, I got lucky and heard a car shout "Munirka!" I confirmed what I had heard, and squeezed my way into the tight cabin in the back of the truck, with seven or eight Indians packed in. Though it normally takes about five minutes from the station in an auto to get to my neighborhood, the heavy traffic and flooding roads turned five minutes into 30-plus! In spite of this painfully slow end, it was still a memorable (in a good way) day!
The Akshardham Complex (taken from the metro station)
A DECENT photo of the main temple (photo from Wikipedia)
The fabulously opulent central chamber (postcard image from
mountainsoftravelphotos.com - the bigger version linked is certainly more impressive!)
My last few days of work were interesting, but relaxed. On Monday at the girls' home, I found out that a girl named Kajal had had an allergic reaction to some sort of plant the previous weekend which left her with hives covering her face. Although she was going to be okay, it was clear that the rash was bothering her. That same day, I saw one of the older girls at the home grinding leaves with stones and mixing that with water into a thin paste. When I asked her what she was doing, she explained that she was grinding neem leaves in order to make a medicine for the hives on Kajal's face. I thought this was absolutely fascinating, and was touched that she was going out of her way to help her friend - it's a real testament to the close bonds that the girls have from living together! On Friday, I watched part of a movie with the girls (Bhoothnath - a movie about a ghost that befriends a child whose family has moved into his manor, and perhaps the first movie appropriate for children I had seen them watch, besides on of the animated Barbie movies). They were so enthralled with the film, they didn't even notice me leaving to go home on my last day there! It made me a bit sad, but the next week, when I was home, my co-worker who was still there said that they all missed "Erik-Bhaiya," which made me smile.
Ishrat making the medicine for her friend
Meanwhile, at the boys' home, I spent my last few days mostly talking with students about the United States, and the cultural differences between the US and India, with many of the lessons about India involving Salman Khan, a famous action star and a favorite of the boys. We also spent a lot of the time playing games, like carrom, but also cricket, hangman, Uno, and chess, all of which was fun. On my last day there, the boys gave me a parting gift to remember them: a nice, white shirt that they all signed! It was a very sweet gesture, and they took a photo of me holding the shirt next to Sachin as I was about to leave - if I look a little sad, it's because I was - it was my last day of my internship in India, and the next day I would be leaving Delhi.
My goodbye to Ummeed Sneh Ghar
My final day in Delhi was a lot more relaxed than I was anticipating - having seen everything I definitely wanted to in Delhi before leaving for home, I spent the day relaxing, trying to avoid feeling stressed about going home. But before going home, there was one thing I still had to do. I had heard the whole time I was in India that I absolutely HAD to try butter chicken, an Indian delicacy popular in Delhi. I decided to finally try the little hole-in-the-wall restaurant just down the street from the Ria Residency to sample the food I had heard so much about. I sat down at the otherwise empty restaurant while the staff sat and watched the Dark Knight in Hindi. When my food came out with some rice and a Sprite, I dug in. Butter chicken is a chicken cooked in a spicy, buttery sauce and served over rice. It was probably the tastiest thing I had eaten since I had arrived in India! The dish managed to live up to the hype that had been built up around it for me, and I'm definitely glad I managed to get to try it before leaving. When I got back, I found out that the owner of the Ria Residency had cooked me a lunch for my last day in India, even though I had just eaten a very filling lunch. She had prepared some delicious puri, an Indian dish involving small "balloons" of fried bread, which are dipped into a sauce and eaten. I managed to be able to fill my stomach even more, and thanked her when I was all finished. I then spent the last two hours or so in my room at the Ria Residency, enjoying the air conditioning and just chilling out and packing up my stuff around the small room that had been my surrogate home for the past six weeks. When my cab arrived at 5:30 to take me to the airport, it was definitely a bittersweet moment - I was happy to be going home to see my family, but I would miss my Indian "family" (Smita-mum and Suresh the caretaker), all the friends I had made during my too-short time in India, and all the experiences that I had had in India and wouldn't be able to have back home.
And here I am now,contentedly watching a two-week long marathon of the Simpsons on TV and dreading the end of summer break, while at the same time looking forward to being busy again and enjoying thinking about where my next big adventure will take me. Two years ago, I could never have possibly foreseen myself spending six weeks in Morocco, my first experience outside of the country (besides Ontario, which isn't TOO different culturally from Michigan), and even last year, never would I have guessed that I would spend the first half of my summer in India. I certainly have some ideas, but who knows? It could be almost anywhere! I'm sure I'll go through the same stresses that are involved with travel and being an especially nervous person, but I'm still looking forward to more positive experiences in new and fascinating cultures and societies. Until then...
Namaste (for now),
Erik
