The Taj and stuff

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You are all so gorgeous! I’m receiving loads of lovely post and it’s amazing. Thank you so much. I have lots of jealous colleagues - not that that’s the point you understand. In fact, your messages have been all the more welcome this week as I got myself in a tizz (when was the last time you used that phrase?).

Monday was amazing. Eamon bowed out of language lessons - another hangover I believe - and so I had a one-on-one session and learnt masses. I was feeling so positive about it and finally started to grasp some of the grammar. Then on Tuesday, it all went pear-shaped. The difficulty we’re having is that Eamon and I learn in very different ways and so its extremely difficult for us to do any work that is helpful to us both, at any point in each lesson, its pretty much a given that one of us will be frustrated and feel like we’re wasting our time. Not through finding it difficult, but through the lack of stimuli. We’ve had a few rocky lessons, however I’m pleased to say we’ve now come to a compromise - well, I say that, be really I had to give in or neither of us would get anywhere, though it needs to be called a compromise in order to perpetuate the sense that we are ‘working together’. Basically, we now literally have half the lesson each, while the other half is ‘self-study’. This means we get half the language training we’re entitled too, about which I’m not so chuffed, but something had to change. On Friday I had another good lesson and so I’m feeling more positive again. Bengali lessons very much dictate how I’m feeling as they are my prime motivation at the moment. During my revision on Friday, for the first time I was able to create properly structured sentences that I hadn’t learnt off-pat, very smiley indeed. The whole task of proficiency suddenly draws a more forgiving topography… Sorry, couldn’t bear to use the phrase ‘learning curve’; so corporate, so pretentious and so missed used.

The other things that ignited my ‘tizz’ last week were: a gender and sexuality workshop that explored neither issue - unforgivable in a society with such oppressive social norms; an absolutely phenomenal lecture on Indian politics and local governance - infuriating only because of the painfully ignorant reactions of some of my colleagues; and a session on coping strategies, which although useful in many respects, also achieved a summation of every single possible fear I’ve had in the past 4 months. Salvation from myself came from the most unexpected of sources - The British High Commission. After the usual hideousness of doing anything as a group - people being late, stressing about what to wear, disagreeing over transport, getting lost, etc - we finally arrived to what turned out to be a pleasant evening. I arrived very tense and, if I’m honest, pretty much without hope for the evening ahead, but after being ‘assisted’ with my mingling, I soon found some interesting people and away we went. Did a lot of talking and a lot of eating (clearly most of the group did a lot of drinking as well) and managed to get a few useful contacts, including the Deputy High Commissioner. He and his wife were our hosts, and I was really pleased to discover that they’re really sound people; it’s a very odd world they inhabit, but they seems to be relatively unscathed. Oh, and the food deserves a special mention; unadulterated green vegetable and salad, of course there were loads of other things, but that’s what really made me happy.

On the food theme, the next morning VSO laid on a cooking lesson. This was such a great session in which we planned and cooked an Indian lunch with the guidance of the VSO cooks. The idea was to choose things that weren’t obviously easy to cook, but with there being so many unfamiliar foods here, especially vegetables, we ended up realising that very little was obvious. We were taught to make; pilau rice, chick pea dahl, sag paneer, raita, roti (similar to chapatti, but much easier to make), mango shakes and… oh, some random goat meat dish that I stayed well clear of! We invited loads of people for lunch and it was a roaring success; very smiley. I now feel a little more confident to make such things (from raw materials of course), though whether I’ll have the time or not, only time will tell. A top tip; for a more zingy raita, try adding pomegranate, cumin and a pinch of salt! So odd, but so tasty. I think pomegranates and mangoes are going to be staples for me - very cheap and very gorgeous.

In terms of fun things, the peak of joy this week was clearly the trip to see the Taj Mahal. I feel like I’m going to struggle to describe it here. It’s a building that so many great writers have written reams about with such expressiveness that my words will be a little trifling. Suffices to say however, that it is unquestionably as magical as people will tell you. I certainly felt a slight trickle of scepticism beforehand, based purely on the fact that I’ve seen so many pictures of the Taj now, that I felt visiting it may feel like nothing new; a let down. I’m pleased to say I was very wrong. The Taj Mahal captures your attention and will not let go. My first sighting of it was from across the city at the Red Fort, even at such a distance, I struggled to pull myself away. It stands with great majesty above the Yamuna River, proud as any building you’ll see. We were lucky enough to have planned a sun-set visit. We have since learned that most people go for sun-rise given a choice and all the tour buses go midday, so actually it was so much quieter that you’d imagine. I was expecting it to be rammed and that finding a space to appreciate the place would be tough. Far from it, the peace and tranquillity of the whole complex was almost tangible. It was also almost exclusively Indian visitors who were there at that time and so we were able to feel less like tourists than our skin would normal afford us. The fabled symmetry is mind blowing, even down to the shimmering reflection in the garden pools. The Taj is studded with thousands and thousands of precious stones and so catches the sunlight beautifully. We were not allowed to take photos inside the tomb itself, but it’s practically dripping with wealth and opulence. We stayed for over three hours just watching the light change and enjoying the fickle moods of this very special place; really an experience not to be overlooked. As you’ll see from the photos, the day was full of amazing sights in addition to the Taj, indeed already I’m getting the feeling that such phenomenal buildings exists in each and every nook of Indian society. Indians seem to be so humble that I guess the understatement of their remarkable heritage is to be expected.

My love affair with Lodhi Gardens is continuing. I go jogging there every morning that the whim takes me. The amusement I get from doing so makes it worth while. A whole microcosm of life as we know it exists in this park between 7 and 8 each morning. Specifically, it’s my fellow fitness cronies that I enjoy so much. All the fit athletic locals run between 5 and 7am when it’s still relatively cool, but just after 7 is so much more fun. There are still a few dregs of runners (in which I included myself), but also there are masses of people who ‘pseudo-run’. Pseudo-running is a concept I’m claiming the intellectual property rights for. It’s got to be uniquely Indian. The jogging track around the park is rammed at that time of the morning, full of people who, fundamentally, are tripping over their own feet. It’s a form of jogging no doubt perfected as a response to the immense heat. The movement varies from a fast hobble, through to controlled tripping and, for the advanced practitioner, wild power walking. Believe me, a joy to behold.

So it’s almost time to leave Delhi. Apart from Lodhi Gardens and the direct support of the VSO Office, I’m unlikely to miss much of this city. It’s not that I don’t like it or that I’ve not had some good times here, far from it. But really, it’s not what I came to India for. It’s too shiny, too easy, slightly false and I’m convinced, it’s not really India. The story continues in Kolkata next week….

xxxx

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Photos

Not the Taj
If you turn your back to the Taj, this is your view. Not too bad itself me thinks!

Red Fort - Agra
This citedal is less big than the one in Delhi, but far more impressive.

Fatehpur Sikri
The lost city. A mystical place that is a former capital of the Mughal empire, but was soon abandoned due to lack of water. It remains very much intact and has a spooky air to it. This shot is of the entrance to the city which leads to its mosque.

Fatehpur Mosque
This shot is from inside the central tomb.

The Last Mughal Tomb
It encompasses architecture from throughout the Mughal era. Its a little tired now and so is generally not visited much. I guess this is testimony to the richness of Indian Architectural Heritage.

Comments

[Drew]

'Mazen!
..As the Bristolians would say when meaning to say 'Amazing'... Just caught up with your blogs and they are quite the read - keep em coming! And a massive THANK YOU for my birthday card- well remembered and well organised, arrived in plenty of time - thank you :)) x