A Look at Old Delhi and a Lovely Evening at Lodi Garden

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I continued my Indian education today, with a trip to Old Delhi, the part of town I had only seen by car up until now. First, our morning presentations consisted of a former deputy high commissioner's recommendations for doing business in India, which included a realistic view of both the pros and cons. Since he was not a native Indian, it was interesting to get the perspective of a man who was assigned here, subsequently fell in love with the country, and spent the next sixteen years of his life attempting to get back here (and now lives here). He was followed by an Indian man who spoke about specific opportunities for foreign investment, which was also a fascinating topic because you could really get a sense for the infrastructure changes that the Indian government is hoping to implement which will certainly change the country. Over the next five years, they are looking for about $320 billion in foreign investment.

Following our meetings, we departed for lunch at Haveli, a restaurant in the Taj Mahal. Walking into the hotel made me wish we had been able to host our conference there instead, because it was cool, peaceful and simply delightful. We descended a grand staircase to the lower floor where Haveli was located. Apparently , it's a very traditional Indian restaurant and features rare artwork by celebrated artist Anjolie Ela Menon. We ate a Thali lunch, which is a very traditional Indian meal, served all on one platter. Ours included a chicken leg, white rice, and five little cups filled with a chicken curry, a lamb curry, a vegetable curry, a lentil gravy, and yogurt, and then a small cup with dessert - looked like the red beet that we had for dessert the other night. I did try a lot of it, but mostly stuck with the naan bread and rice, although the chicken was good and the yogurt reminded me of Greek cooking. The decor was also lovely - we sat at one long table in the room, with a cream and burnt orange tablecloth covered in intricate designs. The carpet throughout the hotel was extremely plush, and the windows boasted archways that were very much in the Mughal style of architecture (see how much I'm learning?). The wall adjacent to us had beautiful artwork on it, which appeared to have little birdhouses sticking out. Strange, yes, but definitely beautiful.

After lunch, some of the group split off to return to the hotel, and the rest of us went off to the Red Fort. Originally, we were also supposed to see the memorial for Ghandi's cremation, Rajghat, but there wasn't enough time to do both, so it was decided to see the Red Fort only. It is located in Old Delhi, which was clearly demarcated from New Delhi by an old stone gate. Once we were in Old Delhi, it was certainly obvious how different it was. Old Delhi is busier than New Delhi, with more poverty and even our guide warned us to watch our valuables. Traffic also picked up dramatically (if that's even possible!), although it seemed lighter in New Delhi today anyway because it is a public holiday. Exiting the bus, we had a short walk to get to the Fort itself, and it certainly was crowded on the streets and sidewalk. I almost got run over by a motorcycle, who honked a warning at me, but we all made it safely to the Fort.

The Red Fort is yet another example of Mughal architecture, commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1639. It was the seat of Mughal power until 1857 when the last Mughal emperor was dethroned and exiled. It is a very important symbol to Indians, and is also representative of their independence in 1947 after the revolution inspired by Ghandi, because it was here that their national flag was first raised on August 15 of that year. The prime minister gives speeches from a platform there every year to commemorate this anniversary, and the local Indians with us on the tour said that they felt a little thrill visiting the Fort.

To get in, we had to go through security of course, which was *so* thorough that the guard really should have bought me a drink first. One of our delegates said he felt like he needed to smoke a cigarette after the thoroughness of the security check! We all had a good laugh about it, and headed into a tunnel filled with a small market, which had everything from silk purses, to carved elephants, to postcard books and more. I mistakenly believed that Red Fort was a single building (a fort), but it is really several buildings, each having various purposes. The architecture was so beautiful that I really didn't pay too much attention to our guide, but I did learn that the carved archways were not a part of Indian architecture until the Mughals introduced them. It was quite busy there, mostly locals, not tourists and so we wound our way through the people to visit a number of buildings. We saw more inlaid stonework in a similar style to the Taj Mahal (the same architect created this fort), and equally impressive was what appeared to be inlaid stonework, but was actually the dust from the stones glued into the marble. The weather was beautiful, so it was actually quite pleasant to walk around outside.

We fought our way through the crowds to get back to the bus, and on the sidewalk, I seemed to acquire an additional appendage - a child begging for money. I might have been inclined to give him some, but one of our hosts was explaining at lunch that they recently learned that a type of mafia brings a number of children into service, and forces them to beg as if they have no families and nowhere to live, when they do. The locals advised us not to encourage them by giving them any money, so I simply ignored the hand on my elbow, which stayed there probably the equivalent of the two or three blocks back to the bus. I was walking with the daughter of one of our American lawyers, and she and I tried to walk faster to lose him, but to no avail. He mumbled about his parents, but didn't say anything I could really understand, and was walking along with his sister (whether she really was or not, I couldn't be sure), who was holding a baby. It was very sad, and I truly hope that the infusion of foreign investments over the next few years can help the situation. One of our lawyers asked one of our hosts if they were so used to the poor that they almost didn't see them anymore, or if they saw it as a big problem. Our host said that it's only human to react to them, and they feel the same way that we do - that it's shocking. However, she seemed to believe that homelessness is not as big of a problem as we've all seen it to be. And I think that the foreign delegates from developed countries see the shanty towns as substandard living conditions, while the locals consider that they at least have a "roof" over their heads, so I do think they have become slightly desensitized because the problem is so rampant here. No matter how much poverty I've seen over the past few days though, it still shocks and depresses me. And we mused earlier about what some of these terribly poor people must think when they see foreigners coming in and spending tons of money on luxuries, when they live in such terrible conditions.

The traffic was crazy on the return to the hotel, as always, and it is striking how many people will look directly at you in the bus as you're traveling around. It's extremely disconcerting, although we do stick out as tourists!

After a two and a half hour break, it was off to the Gala Dinner. We were going to Lodi Garden, and I was a bit concerned about having dinner outside with it being a little chilly. But it truly was a magical evening (although I was freezing by the time I got onto the bus at the end of the night!). When we arrived, we walked along a path of flower petals, arranged in colorful designs, up to a woman who gave a traditional Indian welcome, which was to toss flower petals over us. The garden was set up with tables for our group, and there were twinkling white lights everywhere. They didn't cast off a lot of light, so we relied on the single candle on our table to create the meal's ambience, along with a beautiful flower as our centerpiece. In the background, there was traditional classical music played by a band, which included a sitar. One of our hosts pointed out that you really need to have an understanding of the classical Indian music in order to enjoy it, but honestly, we all really enjoyed it!

After socializing for a little while, and taking several photographs, we sat down to dinner. Fortunately for me, the menu offered a number of different options. So I was able to have a roasted garlic and pumpkin soup, spicy chicken kebabs with avocado dip, penne with a tomato and basil sauce, and a chocolate mousse type of dessert. It was delicious. During dinner, we had a performance by various classical dancers. The first performance was by two women and one man, who had a number of bells on bracelets and anklets that jingled as they danced. The next dancer was a man with two batons and a larger white pole - it's hard to describe his performance without seeing it, but he tossed the pole between the two batons, twirling it and tossing it while dancing around. It was very impressive. Next came a drum dance, with two drummers who played while dancing, including this one spin move which looked to be a lot of fun, as well as incredibly difficult. Finally, a woman came out to do a dance, and she had a series of about seven baskets on her head. If that weren't enough, she then danced on top of sharp swords, then two glasses, a basket, and finally on broken glass! It was amazing. Everyone really enjoyed themselves, so it was really a great way to end the conference and give everyone a good feeling.

One of our delegates at my table is excited to return to India already, and is hoping to go to Ananda, which is a spa/retreat place up in the Himalayas. It does sound beautiful, although I'm not intending to come back here anytime soon. One of our hosts was also recommending places for him to stay in Bombay, her home town, and she said that it's a really hot town to visit. I'm looking forward to hearing all about it, but not having to go myself!

Now that the conference is over, I can relax. I've got a ayurvedic duo body treatment tomorrow at the spa, which is abhyanga followed by sirodhara. Then, it's back on a plane for a lovely sixteen hour flight. I can't wait to be home!

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