Chime introduced us to the Metro—the crowding made Tokyo
train cars look like empty warehouses—thank goodness for the first “ladies
only” car, as we were back-to-bosom all the way. We all managed to rendezvous
at the famous Chowri Bazar, a warren of shops and nameless alleys selling
everything from street food to underwear. Nothing compares to this major visual
overload. Chime does not like to shop: We literally ran down the street known
locally as the wedding market; incredible beads, laces, and trims beyond
gorgeous for those who made their own saris. I probably could have lingered
there for a couple of days. Overhead, the electrical wiring was in itself a
thing of wonderment. One power line was usually spliced into 20 others—in
America, every power pole would have yellow hazard tape around it. 
After our shopping-free sprint, we went to Jama Masjid, the
most famous mosque in India, built by Shah Jahan in 1650. Four gates surround the courtyard of this huge and
peaceful place, which can hold up to twenty-five thousand worshippers. Women in
pants (most of us) and men in shorts were given either full body dresses or
sarongs to wear, though we were allowed to refuse if we chose; women were asked
to cover their heads and men were given caps.
A few blocks down the street, we paused in the waiting room
of the Sikh Temple before washing our hands and feet in the fountains on the
entry steps. Inside, we sat a few moments while the Sikh holy book (Guru Granth Sahib) was read (a
continuous process that takes several days for each reading); the book is
considered to be instruction on both the spiritual and material life of all
Sikhs. Author Pearl Buck wrote these words in the introduction to a 1960
English translation of the Guru Granth Sahib: “I have studied the scriptures
of the great religions, but I do not find elsewhere the same power of appeal to
the heart and mind as I find here in these volumes. They are compact in spite
of their length, and are a revelation of the vast reach of the human heart,
varying from the most noble concept of God, to the recognition and indeed the
insistence upon the practical needs of the human body. …They speak to a person
of any religion or of none. They speak for the human heart and the searching
mind.”
We were led to the communal kitchen where we joined other
volunteers in food preparation, then ate lunch on the floor of a
gymnasium-sized room, seated on 50-foot-long sisal mats. The lunch consisted of
daal and chapattis served on tin plates; the temple feeds hundreds of people
for free all day, every day.
 |
| Audience Hall of the vast Red Fort |
Chime left us on our own after that, and we milled about
like lost ducklings for a few minutes until several of us decided to go to the
nearby Red Fort.
For a World Heritage Site, the fort was ill maintained, a
disappointment. Bamboo framework held up some of the structures and the gardens
were untended. As Claudette, one of my troop pointed out, Europe was in the
dark ages when the Red Fort was built; India lead the world in architecture,
mathematics and astronomy. Now we see two men with sledgehammers busting up an
ancient monument to stick an iron rod in it so they can build a bamboo scaffold
to hold it up. Rumor has it that there are so many palms (and I don’t mean
trees) being greased in political circles in Delhi and India that everything is
sliding to ruin. The Red Fort was a sad example.
Josef and I decided to skip the group visit to yet another
tomb and head for real coffee. We took the Metro to Connaught Place, the
“British” part of town, found a Starbucks-like cafe, and enjoyed the first real
caffeine hit of the trip. Espresso! Brownies! Yes! I fear I am one of those
tourists I’ve make fun of, minus the socks and sandals. Wait…I did wear socks
with sandals on the plane….
To see specific reviews of guides/travel companies, places
to eat, stay and shop in India, see my
custom guide to the golden triangle on GoGoBot.
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