So yesterday we flew out of Pune and arrived in Delhi, the capital of India. Between Mumbai, Pune, and now Delhi, we have been in cities with a total population of nearly 40 million people. Wow.
The first impression of Delhi compared to the others is that it seems much cleaner and much more organized. Traffic seems to move much more smoothly as well. I’m fairly certain that I saw more actively engaged policemen in the drive from the airport to our hotel than I saw in over a week in Mumbai and Pune. And I suppose that makes sense, since this IS the capital and center of government.
We were on the drive to the hotel when we passed this really cool, old looking building. Several people were ooo’ing and aww’ing, even fumbling to take a bus picture, when we were told that the building was actually our hotel! The Oberoi Maidens Hotel is amazing. It looks a bit like an old mission from the outside and on the inside. The halls are long and very wide. And the rooms are incredibly spacious. My roommate Tom and I were lucky enough to get what appears to be a suite, meaning that we are actually sleeping in two different rooms for the first time on this trip. Very cool.
One unfortunate change we have encountered by coming to Delhi is the temperature. After a week in Pune with low 80’s and quite bearable humidity levels, we are now battling much higher temperatures and ridiculous humidity. A leisurely walk outside can have my shirt fairly wet with sweat in just a few minutes. Thank goodness for a tour bus that has good A/C!
For our first full day in Delhi, we began by visiting the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara Sikh temple. It is a very large Sikh temple, and they do an amazing work in feeding the poor in Delhi. Each day they serve a free breakfast, lunch, and dinner to about 30,000 people per meal. That’s nearly 100,000 meals served each day! And they have been doing this for…well, a very long time.
To visit the temple proper, we were all required to have our heads covered in the Sikh tradition. That meant all the men had to find something to wear, and many of us borrowed scarves from the ladies on the trip. It made for some very interesting looking Americans, as you can see in the posted pictures. We were also required to remove shoes and socks, but this is fairly common for most of the temples we have seen throughout the trip. Finally, we were allowed a trip through the kitchen where the meals are prepared for the feeding of the poor. It was so hot in that kitchen that it actually felt cool outside when we left! But seeing the many volunteers giving of their time and energy to accomplish such good was very inspiring.
After the temple, we had the unique privelige of having an hour with Dr. Shashi Tharoor. Dr. Tharoor is the Minister of Human Resources for India, though this title actually has quite a bit to do with the issue of education in the country. It was roughly equivalent to being given a sit down with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for about an hour. Dr. Tharoor spent many years working at the United Nations before taking a position with the Indian federal government, and he has written many books, both fiction and non-fiction. He is incredibly intelligent and an extremely gifted speaker. The hour he gave us was quite a pleasure and I was impressed with his candor.
A nice lunch at Lohdi Garden was followed by a couple of sightseeing trips. The first was to Lotus Temple, which is an amazing structure built by the B’Hai faith as a place of meditation and spiritual seeking. It is open to people of all faiths, but you are asked not to speak while in the temple, so that all those there may pray, meditate, or worship in their own way.
The second site we visited was Hamayun’s Tomb. Hamayun was the second Moghul Khan who ruled in India in the 16th century. During a recent visit to India, President Obama was unable to fit a trip to the Taj Mahal into his busy schedule, so he visited Hamayun’s Tomb instead. It is a beautiful and historical sight that has been well kept up and restored, providing a really interesting glance in to a time in India’s history that is over 400 years old.
Our trip is rapidly winding down. There are still some big highlights yet to come, but I find myself looking forward to getting back home to Debra and our humble little home in North Carolina.
Namaste!
The first impression of Delhi compared to the others is that it seems much cleaner and much more organized. Traffic seems to move much more smoothly as well. I’m fairly certain that I saw more actively engaged policemen in the drive from the airport to our hotel than I saw in over a week in Mumbai and Pune. And I suppose that makes sense, since this IS the capital and center of government.
We were on the drive to the hotel when we passed this really cool, old looking building. Several people were ooo’ing and aww’ing, even fumbling to take a bus picture, when we were told that the building was actually our hotel! The Oberoi Maidens Hotel is amazing. It looks a bit like an old mission from the outside and on the inside. The halls are long and very wide. And the rooms are incredibly spacious. My roommate Tom and I were lucky enough to get what appears to be a suite, meaning that we are actually sleeping in two different rooms for the first time on this trip. Very cool.
One unfortunate change we have encountered by coming to Delhi is the temperature. After a week in Pune with low 80’s and quite bearable humidity levels, we are now battling much higher temperatures and ridiculous humidity. A leisurely walk outside can have my shirt fairly wet with sweat in just a few minutes. Thank goodness for a tour bus that has good A/C!
For our first full day in Delhi, we began by visiting the Bangla Sahib Gurudwara Sikh temple. It is a very large Sikh temple, and they do an amazing work in feeding the poor in Delhi. Each day they serve a free breakfast, lunch, and dinner to about 30,000 people per meal. That’s nearly 100,000 meals served each day! And they have been doing this for…well, a very long time.
After the temple, we had the unique privelige of having an hour with Dr. Shashi Tharoor. Dr. Tharoor is the Minister of Human Resources for India, though this title actually has quite a bit to do with the issue of education in the country. It was roughly equivalent to being given a sit down with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for about an hour. Dr. Tharoor spent many years working at the United Nations before taking a position with the Indian federal government, and he has written many books, both fiction and non-fiction. He is incredibly intelligent and an extremely gifted speaker. The hour he gave us was quite a pleasure and I was impressed with his candor.
A nice lunch at Lohdi Garden was followed by a couple of sightseeing trips. The first was to Lotus Temple, which is an amazing structure built by the B’Hai faith as a place of meditation and spiritual seeking. It is open to people of all faiths, but you are asked not to speak while in the temple, so that all those there may pray, meditate, or worship in their own way.
The second site we visited was Hamayun’s Tomb. Hamayun was the second Moghul Khan who ruled in India in the 16th century. During a recent visit to India, President Obama was unable to fit a trip to the Taj Mahal into his busy schedule, so he visited Hamayun’s Tomb instead. It is a beautiful and historical sight that has been well kept up and restored, providing a really interesting glance in to a time in India’s history that is over 400 years old.
Our trip is rapidly winding down. There are still some big highlights yet to come, but I find myself looking forward to getting back home to Debra and our humble little home in North Carolina.
Namaste!
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