How can i possibly convey the experience of my arrival in India? I still need time to reflect on these things, and will write more about it later. So, here is the unedited version.
By the time I arrived, I had been travelling for close to 24 hours, and was already feeling light headed. I lucked out and found an honest pre-paid taxi service. Coming out of the terminal into the Indian night, the air hit me like a wall. It was hazy from the humidity and pollution, and smelled heavily of sulfer and coal.
Category: Delhi
Delhi and a Wedding
My second visit to Delhi has been much more comfortable. I am staying with an American friend, Mark, whom I met in Mussoorie. He is one of those amazingly generous people, who is quick to open his home to visitors. Right now he is actually in Sri Lanka for work, but has left me the keys to his home — which is beautiful and spacious.
Parvez Imam
I think I wrote about my first evening in Varkala, when I met a couple people playing guitar and singing songs. One of them was Parvez, a documentary filmmaker from Delhi. When I got back to Delhi this time, I gave him a ring, and he invited me over for dinner.
A Trip Delayed
I am sorry I haven’t written in so long. The last two weeks have been a bit crazy. Sarah was scheduled to arrive on February 7th, and we had our plans all set. We were going to go to Pushkar and Udaipur in Rajasthan, and then head north to Amritsar, McLeod Ganj and Mussoorie. Our plans were changed due to problems with Sarah’s visa.
Usually the Indian Consulate gives visas the same day they are applied for, but because Sarah was applying in Germany, and was not German they said they needed three business days. This, combined with problems getting seats on a later flight, meant that she ended up arriving a week late.
After the initial panic and disappointment wore off, I was left with a week with nothing planned. I was staying at my friend Mark’s apartment in Delhi, but he had left town, so I decided to head up to Mussoorie and spend the time with people I knew. So I cancelled our Rajasthan trip, and booked a ticket for Dehradun. It was interesting retracing my steps after so much time in India. The last time I had taken the trip, I was still a bit dazed and confused. Now I knew my way around and felt confident.
Mussoorie was very cold, and I decided to stay at a hotel down in the town rather than up at Devdar Woods, which is 1000 feet higher (and where there was still snow on the ground). This made it easy to visit my friends, and take a Hindi lesson from one of my old teachers. I had a very quiet week, and then headed back to Delhi to meet Sarah.
On the morning Sarah arrived, I hired a taxi and headed to the airport. Sarah’s re-routed trip brought her first to Mumbai, and then by Air India to Delhi. So, I directed the driver to the domestic airport. When we arrived there, I discovered that Air India lands at the international airport, so I jumped back in the taxi and we sped off. I still managed to make it to the airport a few minutes before Sarah’s flight landed. I waited about fifteen minutes watching strangers wander past. Then she appeard in the crowd. It was such a relief to see her: after the disappointment the previous week, I wasn’t letting myself believe that she was really coming.
We spent the next two days zipping around Delhi to see monuments and to do some shopping. I have to say that she held up much better than I did in my first two days in Delhi. We wandered the back streets of some of the busiest Bazaars in the city, ate at little roadside Dhabas, and got to know each other again.
More soon, I promise…
The End of a Journey
Well, it’s almost over. I can hardly believe that six months have gone
by. In some ways it feels like I just stepped off the plane. At the same
time, I have adjusted so much to the life here, that my arrival seems in
another lifetime. As I sit here in Delhi at the end of my trip, I’ve
been thinking back to my first few days in India. I was so dazed and felt
so small. Now I know my way around, argue with the auto-rickshaw drivers
in Hindi, eat in little shacks on the side of the road, and hardly notice
the noise and pollution. I think I’m in for major culture shock when I
get to Germany.
I spent the last two days hanging out with my friend Parvez. I sat and helped him and his assistants edit a movie yesterday. They were amazingly open to having me make suggestions. I have never really done video editing before, and I found it very fun.
I went to Saravana Bhavan (a South Indian meals place) for lunch. Did some more shopping: I discovered the other day that I am allowed twice as much baggage as I thought, and have been shopping ever since.
Tonight we went to a concert at the Habitat Center, which was sponsored by the Spanish Embassy. It consisted of flute, guitar and dance. Afterwards a group of us went to a little dhaba near Parves’ house (my idea for my last meal in India).
Now I am just waiting for the taxi to take me to the airport, and biting my nails worrying that I have forgotten something.
I would like to thank everybody who helped to make my trip so wonderful. Special thanks to Vish (and his cousin Anu) Jasdip (and his father Harjit), and Babu (and his cousin’s family in Ahmadabad).