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Published: December 10th 2005
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Dolly
This is Dolly (I am sure I am spelling her name wrong but this is how it sounds!). She is one of the servants here. She is often smiling. I just spent 30 minutes writing five-six paragraphs about the challenges of life in Delhi and a sudden power cut erased what I wrote! A perfect example of what I was writing about. I am still very happy to be here, and am even considering moving here, but boy oh boy life is challenging here. Intense smog, power cuts, hordes of people everywhere, scary insects, animals and water, beggars -- including tiny children gripping your car door so you can't shut it -- traffic chaos, a huge temperature drop every night (from 28 in the day down to 7 at night, and no heating) and my personal pet peeve: Indians eat lunch at 2 or 3 and supper at 9, 10, 11 and even midnight. My system is sooo out of whack. I was so hungry at lunch yesterday and supper (they don't use the word dinner) the day before I thought I was going to faint. I have a bite on my face and my skin turns a lovely shade of blotchy shiny pink when I'm out because the air pollution is burning it. And I can't stop coughing. My friend Cynthia calls the experience of being in Delhi "full-on
India Gate
My first sighting of India Gate, one of Delhi's most famous landmarks. sensorial rape."
Luckily it is an oasis of calm and plenty at Ajay's house. A wonderful place to retreat to.
Yesterday I had a wonderful time with my colleague Kailash, who is a professor of psychology. I met Kailash online because we have the same professional/personal interests: Gestalt and yoga. Kailash was in Toronto last June and I met him and his wife several times there.
I met Kailash in Connaught Place, in the centre of the city (it is all being dug up because they are building a subway system here, apparently based on Toronto's model). My first taxi ride, and I went alone. I was a bit nervous, but also excited by the adventure of course. Everyone at Ajay's house helped by calling me a taxi, talking to the driver and seeing me off.
Kailash took me to his college, part of the University of Delhi and I sat in the staff room with several of his colleagues. We had a great conversation, very relaxed, lots of laughter. There is so much time here to just be with people. And I feel Indians must be among the world's warmest, most hospitable and most open
Kailash and I
Taken in Kailash's office by his colleague, who reminded me of Omar Sharif as a young man. people.
Kailash's friends officially christened me Indrani (Mariellen is very hard to pronounce), a name given to me by my friend Sanjay in Toronto, and thye came up with several excellent plans for me to make money giving workshops, training and doing therapy here in Delhi. So, maybe I can really move here!
Then we met Kailash's wife Mohini, a profesor of zoology, and went for lunch. We went to Nathu's Sweets, a bustling, casual spot famous for good food. It was my first experience eating Indian food in an Indian restaurant in India and it was fantastic. I avoided the salad and drank bottled water and no problems. I am slowly continuing to learn how to negotiate life in Delhi.
So, now Kailash and I have met on each other's turf!
By the time I got home in the late afternoon I was exhausted, and felt unwell, and did nothing but talk to Ajay in the evening, and watch some TV. Indian music videos. They are all amazingly similar, very happy and colourful and bizarrely suggestive. They will show this couple rolling in the mud, but NO KISSING ALLOWED! Everyone in the videos are so
Mohini and I
Kailash took this picture outside of Nathu's Sweets after lunch. happy they seem almost hysterical.
I had a snack at about six -- they do this every evening -- but was too tired to eat supper when it was finally served. I have not actually had supper yet because they eat too late for me.
For example, Ajay's sister-in-law had a dinner party last night. The guests arrived at 10 p.m. and they ate at about 12:30. That is considered perfectly normal.
Today I changed money and went shopping by myself. Ajay's brother drove me to a bank and we had to go into an office building to change the money. The bank, like Kailash's college, had an old-fashioned air to it, kind of like the 1940's. Everything made of wood, most operations done by hand. It's a bit like stepping back in time.
Money in hand, off I went to Fabindia (a kind of Indian version of Banana Republic). I wanted to buy some more Indian-style clothes and also something warm to wear because the house is chilly in the evening. No central heating. So, I bought three outfits (two silk and one wool) and the total came to about $170 CDN.
Ajay just
called me -- he is at the club -- and told me my taxi driver was still downstairs waiting to be paid when he left an hour ago! I thought I had paid him, but apparently not. I am so confused. So much to learn.
Another highlight of the past two days was my first visit to a Hindu temple. Again I felt I had walked back in time, but this time eons not decades. Dark, smoky, chaotic, exotic, ancient. I did not perform puja, but I said a prayer of thanks to Ganesha for ensuring I had a safe journey, and I recieved the prasad (sugar candy), coconut slice and orange mark on my forehead from the pandit (priest), I gave the coconut slice to a tiny girl begging outsside the temple, and of course she and a tiny boy followed me, clinging to the car and crying out. Another challenging thing about life in Delhi.
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christine
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see you in january???
hey! you look great, glad to hear you are well taken care of/ you'll have to work on sanjay to get me over there in January if you really plan on moving there!!!!! miss you lots. C