Days 2 & 3 of Delhi – plus our train ride to Agra
Wow – these were packed days as well!
To summarize first, Day 2 included special treats for the girls from our hostess and a priest because it was “Girl Day,” going on a fabulous walking tour, which included a Hindu and Sikh temple, spice market, rickshaw rides, and views of the city! We almost missed the tour due to a very odd set of coincidences…. Parag and Alex return to the Gandhi festival for more shopping and dance performances!
Day 3 included a trip to Qutb Minar, a 1000+ year old mosque, built of course on the site of a former Hindu temple. Then we went to Delhi Haat to get some handicrafts before catching our train. The sleeper car was a hit, and we made two new friends who are traveling the world for 18+ months!
Read on….
Day 2 – Delhi
Let’s start with Girl Day! We were in the midst of the 9-day Navrati Festival, which celebrateds the harvest and women goddesses. Today apparently is girl day, where the amazingness of girls is noted.
For us, this meant our hostess wanted to do a little aarti with the girls (mini blessing, red and yellow powder on the forehead), wash their feet (which was really putting a little water on them), giving them a bracelet of thread to ward off evil spirits, and giving them a gift. They also got Cadi’s favorite Kaju Katre before breakfast! (This is like dessert first!)
Later, at one of the temples, a priest took particular interest in Alex and for girl day gave her 50 rupees! Our guide had her donate it back to a different part of the temple :-).
For other girls, they dress up and go around to different houses. At each, they get sweets and some money! Seems to be a kind of version of Halloween.
Also here is a pic of our host – a retired Colonel. This was our lovely breakfast setting. And one more of their rooftop terrace, which was BEAUTIFUL! We had a nice dinner up there one night.
Then onto a Hindu temple. We learned about some of the gods and did some rituals. Our guide – Samerjeet – had been raised Sikh, but his mom was Hindu, so he knew both religions well.
One pic is Alex just after she whispered into the ear of a bull, which was Shiva’s (one of the powerful Hindu god’s) modes of transportation. Each god gets his/her own animal. If you share your wish, it should come true! (Parag shared his, and as he leaned up, the horn caught the pocket of his new shirt and it ripped. He was told that was good luck… Hmmm…)
The Sikh temple was a really new experience for me, and was quite amazing. They had a little education center next door where we took off our shoes and put a covering over our heads. There were 3 areas in the temple. The first area was where music was accompanying verses of their holy book.
The second area was a community kitchen. This was incredible. The temple serves 5000- 10000 (!) meals a day we are told – all from volunteers. We got to help prepare the roti. Cooking them was fascinating. It requires something like the skills you need to keep track of 24 bingo cards. You have to track many at once — flip them, move them onto the flame.
They also take food donations. Any food left on plates is scraped and given to animals.
The third area was where the serving was done. Anyone can come. You sit in a row, and are served food, break, etc. As much as you want. Pretty remarkable.
We learned a lot about the Sikh religion. In the interest of getting this post up, I won’t go into it here!
These last pics are just of the city streets, spice markets, etc. It was remarkable how crowded it was – and of course a bit noisy. And people really just carve out a place to live just about anywhere. Running water is not a given. You can also see the city just layered up upon itself over time.
The lower middle here was our guide’s favorite chai guy. Here his is putting sugar in our tea. Delicious!
And here are two final pics from that Delhi day – us enjoying our lunch, with our tour friends Megan and Janie, who are both on business in Bangalore and decided to visit Delhi for the weekend. And then a funny sign on a business. We were going to get mango lassis from this place, but it was closed!
Lunch! The big puffy bread is batura, and is Alex’s favorite! 
The sign says “Due to some reason shop will be closed for a few days.”
I didn’t tell the story of us almost missing our tour. That will be for another time. Let’s just say that it required a bunch of coincidences, including Parag’s phone not working!
Cadi and Parag went back to Gandhi’s birthday party that evening. (Alex and I stayed “home” and watched Parent Trap. New one is really good!!) Here’s Parag enjoying a favorite snack! (I won’t mention that that was just moments after he lost our bankcard, which wasn’t discovered until the next day…). If only he hadn’t paid cash for the snacks….
Day 3
We started the day with another lovely meal and then went to see a very old mosque called Qutb Minar. It rises 7 stories up. Some stone had been quarried, and some was taken off of earlier Hindu temples. The detail of the carvings is what constantly blows me away.
After a quick trip and slightly frenzied shopping hour or so at Delhi Haat (handicrafts), we went to the train station to take a train to Agra (city of the Taj Mahal). The sleeper car was way too much fun. We were also crazy impressed by the food service. Before the train leaves, someone comes on the train. You put in an order (thali or biryani). It costs I think $2. And it’s delivered right too you – nice and warm!
serious convenience!
Alex had a blast playing in the bunks of the sleeper car. In Parag and my seating area we met Mel and Kate. They were from England and were traveling. They had saved for years, left their jobs (Mel teaching, and Kate photography), and just embarked on an 18-month trip (or longer—depending on when the money runs out!). They have 2 months in India, and then will continue on east. Amazing. They were great to hang out with. (You’ll see them in our Agra pics if we ever get those up!)
I thought I was going to have some bonus time with them at one point when we stopped at a station. Parag and the girls got off to get a quick snack. Mind you, these stops are only a couple minutes. Well, the girls got back on. We were sitting there, and Acadia yells, “the train’s moving!” The girls ran down to the car door to see where Parag was. Yup, he had had to run with the peda he purchased in hand and jump onto the train. The peda seller got a 50 rupee tip out of the change Parag didn’t wait for (!). Some things don’t get the benefit of pictures, but the mind’s eye can enjoy the details!
Joshi-Staples Family India Adventure! 