Resilient Delhi

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As with Bangkok, we used Delhi as a convenient jumping-off point for many of the places we wanted to see nearby, including Varanasi, Nepal, Jaipur, and Agra. Over the course of our trip we were in Delhi for around four days. In our first two visits, we had plenty of time to get the feel of the city, and pack in the sights. Our final night in Delhi came just two days after the September 13 terrorist attacks, and the tone of our visit was radically different.

On our first arrival, our flight from Bangkok landed in Delhi late in the evening and we were promptly picked up by our driver and taken to our hotel in the neighborhood of Karol Bagh. Delhi's unbelievable pollution threw us for a loop, assaulting our respiratory systems, causing us to wheeze and cough. The air smelled thick with smoke and exhaust, reminding Jordan that on his last trip to Delhi the weather report for one of his days there had actually read "smoke". Indeed, "smoke" appeared to be on our trip's forecast as well, and made the colds that we picked up while in Nepal significantly more aggressive and uncomfortable.

Pollution aside, Delhi is very impressive. During our stay, we spent time visiting most of the major city sights. Although Delhi is comprised of "Old" Delhi and New Delhi, it really feels more like a vast metropolis with ever-extending suburbs, throughout which life takes place everywhere, filling streets and roads with sights, sounds, and impressions. Indeed, at times it felt like the entire population of India must live in Delhi - that is, until we got out of Delhi and felt exactly the same way in other Indian cities. But truly, Delhi is crowded. Brilliant splashes of beautiful color mix with diluted sepia-tinted images, overpowering views in every direction. Everywhere you turn, what feels like a sea of humanity is commuting or living on the city streets, with the raw edges of human life exposed and vulnerable for all to see. This also is a great part of the city's charm, as traveling in Delhi feels like an extremely unfiltered view of life in India.

While in Delhi, we visited Humayan's Tomb, an impressively large Mughal tomb built in the 1500's; the Red Fort, a still-important structure built centuries ago by Shah Jahan; the Old City, a warren of streets preserving their ancient character that we toured by rickshaw; the Lodi Gardens, Delhi's favorite make-out spot and site of more Mughal tombs; and Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site. Each visit was complicated by exhausting negotiations with transport operators and continued endurance through pollution and heat, but all were fabulous insights into the grandeur that is Indian history. The sites were impressive and stunning, each with its own particular mystique and charm.

We also devoted a significant amount of our time to and energy to eating--and it was time well spent. Indian food, it turns out, never gets old. We gorged ourselves on curries and breads, and happily expanded our horizons with such genius inventions as potatoes stuffed with cashews and paneer. Even room service at our kind of divy Delhi hotel was incredible.

We also took advantage of one of the city's greatest assets - its tailors. Having fallen in love with tailoring on previous sections of our trip (Hoi An, Kathmandu, and Chiang Mai), it only made sense to spend some serious energy acquiring some suits in Connaught Place, Delhi's central shopping area. Our first day there, we headed to the tailor where Jordan had a suit made on a previous trip. Because Jordan's tailor did not appear to know much about women's suits, we took a recommendation out of our guide book and visited another tailor in the area, a gruff man located in what was almost literally a hole in the wall. Because the tailor only tailors and uses no fabric of his own, he required that we select, purchase, and bring our own materials. When he realized we were serious customers he sent us with "his boy" to a fabric shop a few blocks away.

As soon as we stepped into the fabric shop, we were met by its affable and charismatic owner, who promptly began unraveling the entire contents of his well-appointed shop, guiding us through a dizzying array of fabric and materials until we were completely confused. When we began forgetting everything he told us, he patiently worked with us to remove fabric we knew we didn't want and began again with his explanation of wool quality and other things that we definitely still don't remember. With any sign of interest from us, he would quickly fashion a mock lapel with the fabric, slinging it over his shoulder and patting the fabric, all while singing its praises (sometimes literally) and pointing out its most virtuous qualities. The whole experience, though overwhelming, was absolutely fabulous. The result was being able to pick exactly the fabric we desired for the suits and feeling like we had a direct hand in their manufacture - so fun! After a prolonged shopping period, we marched back with the tailor's assistant to his shop, where we delivered the fabric and Lindsay was measured for her suits. After coming back from Nepal, we returned to our respective tailors for fittings; and seeing that the suits came out beautifully, we even ordered a few more items.

Our visit to Delhi was also punctuated by a visit with a friend. Our second to last night in India, we were invited to dinner by our travel agent, Shakeel. Jordan met Shakeel on his last trip to India, and although using a travel agent is something neither of us are particularly keen on, in India it is by far the easiest way to arrange transportation and logistics while traveling throughout the country. Shakeel proved reliable, trustworthy, and helpful, and using his services vastly simplified our time in India. Moreover, his kind invitation to dinner was something that we could not refuse, particularly because more than a few times on the phone leading up to the dinner he would remind us that he was excited to give us a gift.

Shakeel is from Kashmir and spends three quarters of the year in Delhi, where he works for the travel agency, and one quarter of the year in Kashmir, where he helps manage the family business. We met him late in the evening as he broke his Ramadan fasting for the day. We shared pleasantries over heaping bowls of curry at a delicious restaurant near the largest mosque in the country. Our conversation turned from lighthearted to serious and back again, as we switched from conversations about our travels through India and the absurd length of our flight home to more serious discussions about the violence in his home state and the future of American politics. The dinner was fascinating exchange of life experiences, and both of us were glad we had the opportunity. At the end of dinner, Shakeel presented us with the unbelievably thoughtful gift of two beautiful cashmere scarves from Kashmir and we reciprocated by giving him Nepal's national board game, a Chinese Checkers-like game that we had picked up for him in Kathmandu.

Our final visit to Delhi came two days after the September 13 bombings. In our Agra hotel, we had flipped on our TV to find that Delhi had been rocked by numerous bombings in three areas in the city's center. One of the areas was a shopping district in central Southeast Delhi. The others were in Karol Bagh and Connaught Place - literally steps away from our Delhi hotel and our tailors' shops, respectively. They were the worst bombings in Delhi's history and resulted in dozens of fatalities.

As we headed back to Delhi from Agra on the September 15, we were anxious about what the city would be like after the attacks. It was especially sobering when, an hour or so into our trip, the driver received a phone call telling him about the death of a close friend in one of the explosions. He pulled over to the side of the road to take the call for a few minutes before wiping the tears from his eyes, pulling back onto the road, and driving us stoically back to Delhi without a word. Only later did he tell us what happened, needlessly apologizing that he might not be able to available later in the evening because he had to go pay his respects.

We spent our last day running errands and meeting with Shakeel, both in Connaught Place. Coming back to the neighborhood was a huge surprise. We had expected to return to a changed city, one that was more fearful and more subdued. Instead, we found life carrying on as always, just as much a testament to the endurance of Delhi residents as it was a confirmation of what we feel so strongly about India - that here, life carries on. In all its forms, and in both happiness and sorrow, life is on full view here, and is an inescapable, sometimes brutal story.

We left Delhi in a state of extreme exhaustion, but with a strong desire to return. India is an inexplicable, often paradoxical place, and it gets under your skin.

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Photos

Street Scene in the Old City
View from our rickshaw as we whizzed past