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Published: October 7th 2007
GD #1
The Qutb Minar, a UNESCO World Heritage Monument and India's highest single tower, marks the site of the first Muslim kingdon in North India, established in 1193Today was a great day and it made me realize how much I miss having friends close by!
My company has been lucky enough to have a trainer from the Munich office visit us for two weeks. She super nice and we had some good chats during the week. As much as I enjoyed just talking with her, it was also nice that she helped validate many things I had been observing in the office. I certainly trusted what I had seen, but another observer is always nice. Maybe between the two of us, we can help get things in place to bring the office into line.
On Friday night as I was in the car being driven home, Vijay mentioned that Christiane was going to do some sight seeing and shopping on Sunday and he asked if I wanted to go along. I said "yes, please"! Vijay said that the car would pick me up at around 2:00pm, although he said he'd call me Sunday morning to confirm the plan. I didn't hear from him and I had some other things to do so I called Vijay at 10:45am. Vijay said he hadn't talked to Christiane, was waiting
GS#11
The Qutb Minar and the 4th century iron pillar which was originally a flagstaff in Vishnu's honor and is a tribute to Indian metallurgy for her to call, and would call me after he talked to her. I heard nothing back from him. At just a few minutes after noon, I got a call from my lobby guard saying that my car was here and I should come down! I went down and I don't know who was more surprised: Christiane or me! She didn't even know she was going sight seeing at all - she just got a message that morning at her hotel saying her car was there. She didn't know I was coming or what the itinerary was. All very much typical of the way things seem to happen with our company in India so I grabbed my stuff and off we went!
We started at the Qutab Minar in Delhi. I visited there in 2005 and was quite impressed so I was happy to go back. The minar is in Mehrauli Archelological Park which was built over Rajput terrirorie called Lal Kot and Qila Rai ithora. In 1193, Qutbuddin Aibak made it the center of the Delhi Sultantate. The Qutb Minar was built to mark the site of the first Muslim kingdon in North India. The five-storeyed Victory Tower
GD #2
Interesting stones which were probably originally somewhere else was started by Qutbuddin Aibak and finished by his successor Illutmish.
Next to the minar is the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque which is beautiful and my favorite spot in the park. The Quwwat-ul-Islam ("Might of Islam") Mosque is a patchwork fusion of decorative Hindu panels, salvaged from razed temples around the site, and Islamic domes and arches. Hindu motifs such as bells and garlands are still clearly visible on the pillars of the mosque. It was a sunny day, but with a breeze that kept it from being too hot. There's some green space in the park and it was nice to just wander and chat.
Our very nice driver named Deepak next drove us to central Delhi where we saw the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of Indian's president. We drove past many of the government buildings, including the Sansad Bhavan (Parliment House), the Prime Minister's Office, and the Defense Ministry. At the opposite end of the wide avenue is India Gate.
India Gate was built to commemorate the Indian and British soldiers who died in World War I and those who fell in the battle in the North-West Frontier and the Third Afghan War. Behind India Gate
GD #3
The Quwwat-ul-Islam ("Might of Islam") Mosque is a patchwork fusion of decorative Hindu panels, salvaged from razed temples around the site, and Islamic domes and arches. is a sandstone canapy where a statue of King Geirge V was installed in 1936. In the 1960's, the statue was moved to Coronation Park and the canopy now stands empty. An eternal flame burns beneath India Gate in memory of the soldiers who died in the 1971 India-Pakistan War.
After having a walk around India Gate, we headed to the Baha'i House of Worship, one of the more quiet places in Delhi. There were quite a few people there, but we took off our shoes as required and got in the queue to go inside. The inside of the temple is sparsely decorated and no talking is allowed as it's a place for silent prayer and meditation. We sat in blissful peace for a few minutes and then went back outside into the loud world of Delhi.
Deepak offered to take us shopping and we stopped at one store featuring goods from Kashmiri. We were both tired and hungry and not in the mood to look at carpets, pashmina shawls, and other things we had no interest in buying. We weren't allowed to walk around by ourselves and everyone wanted to show us things so we got
GD #4
Hindu motifs such as bells and garlands are clearly visible on the pillars of the mosque. out pretty quickly. Christiane wanted to see a Gurgaon mall and I, being the local resident and mall expert, was happy to show her one. We went to Sahara Mall which is a typical mall, but also has the Big Bazaar which has to be seen to be believed. It was more packed than I have ever seen it! Sunday evening must be shopping time for half of Gurgaon and they were all in the Big Bazaar.
We had a delicious dinner in a Punjabi restaurant in the mall. We ordered one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian tandoori platter and some naan bread. Everything was soooo good, but I don't think we ate even half of it. I now have some yummy leftovers for tomorrow's lunch and dinner.
Having a new friend to do things with, especially one who is so interesting and funny and has traveled to many places I have not, was so refreshing and it made me realize how different things could have been here if I could have found people to do things with. Anyway, it was a great day and I am happy for it.
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