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Oops.
I have now been back in the States for a few days. The last little bit of time in India was very precious, so I didn't blog. Once I finish this last paper I have to submit, I'll get back on here and write about the rest of my time!
This is Tanvi.
Just ate probably a two or three person sized serving of gujar halwa at lunch.
It's my favorite. Who knows when I'll have a chance to eat it again. The real stuff, not the stuff I can attempt to make at home.
I am probably going to be sick and I'm not even mad.
No...not yet.
I realized I only have three full days left.
Twenty-six little letters cannot possibly begin to express the painful sorrow I feel at the thought of leaving India.
Tandoori Night! Tandoori Night!
Tonight was our last Tandoori night for dinner at Tagore.
It is every Tuesday, and is consistently the most delicious meal of the week. I think tandoori style food is quite possibly my favorite among the various Indian cuisines. Everything is cooked in a tandoor, which is a specific kind of oven. Basically, it's grilled food. At Tagore, we always have two kinds of chicken (one boneless, one with bones), tandoori veggies (tomato, green pepper, onion, and pineapple), mint chutney, naan, and either papaya or pineapple.
I was so sad and excited for this evening that I brought my camera down to take a picture of my last plate of Tandoori Night.
Of course, I got too excited and inhaled it all before I remembered the camera. Figures.
This is how India makes me feel.
March 2, 2013.
Travel Week, Day Eight: Delhi Take 2 and Home!
Saturday, March 2
Today began with the long drive back to Delhi! We took off a little after 7:30 in the morning - it was cold as we prepared to leave! It really amazed me how much colder it was in the North of India. We finally got to Delhi around 1pm, which was a lot earlier than I expected!
We drove immediately to the Red Fort, which is pretty much the big thing to see in Delhi. It is enormous, built by Shah Jahan prior to the Taj Mahal. It was really fun to find the little bits of inlay marble around the complex and recognize that it predated the Taj. After seeing all these places, I feel really capable of dating a lot of the architecture. Look at me, learning things!
Otherwise though, the Red Fort was disappointing. It's in horrible disrepair and so much of it is blocked off so people don't wreck it any more. It really makes me wonder why it's in such a state, because it's in the capital, so you'd think they'd be more on top of something representing history in the city. It could be so much more beautiful if it was more properly renovated and taken care of. Who knows.
After a late lunch (Daal and chili naan for me! Yum!), we went to do a quick visit at Humayun's Tomb. The tomb was built for him by his wife, which was really interesting considering it was usually the other way around in the Mughal Empire. The tomb is beautiful and in the process of being renovated. I wish we could see it in its original state - there used to be a lot of colorful tiling, but it's mostly faded or chipped off. Hopefully they restore that some day soon! We were also there at the most beautiful time of day, and the sun was landing so wonderfully on the tomb, making the little bits of marble glow. The large lattice windows let such gorgeous, ethereal light in to the tomb. It was lovely. Somewhere nearby, someone was playing beautiful music - Fluri said it sounded like Sufi music, very Persian influenced, but she wasn't sure. The whole experience felt magical and spiritual to me.
We had to leave sooner than I would have liked to make it to the airport with plenty of time for our flight. The flight back to Hyderabad was pleasant; Rose, Professor Fluri, and I spent the whole time talking. I love hearing about Professor Fluri's life and her take on our lives, too. She has such an interesting history and reminds me that it's okay to take time off between undergrad and graduate school, which puts me at ease when thinking about the years to come.
So...that's that. What a hell of a week.
March 1, 2013.
Travel Week, Day Seven: Coveda and Fun!
Friday, March 1
This may have been my favorite day on the whole trip.
We started the morning with breakfast at the hostel again with Yogesh. I felt incredibly well-rested after my night off, and was chipper and ready to tackle the day!
We first went to Coveda, a free progress primary school. Anu, Professor Fluri's friend from grad school and professor at IISER, sends her children there. The school, currently with students from 6-11 years old, lets the children take the reins on much of their education, with some aid from "faciliators" (they aren't called teachers!). If the children agree they want to work with Hot Wheels cars, a project is then designed around them, probably in this case with math, speed, velocity, and those kinds of concepts. Children are also free to progress per their academic levels, and aren't boggled down by the limitations of the formal Indian education system. There is also a great focus on the well-rounded education of the child, including mental, physical, and emotional health. Children get to play a role in their education, take ownership of it, challenge authority in a healthy manner, and find pathways to passionate learning. It's incredible.
After hanging out there for a while, two students from IISER, Vikesh and Abhalasha, met up with us to hang out for the rest of the day! We ate lunch at a great restaurant and had many great conversations. It was so great to compare opinions and experiences with these smart and fun Indian students. After lunch, they took us around town to see the "non-touristy" side of Chandigarh. We first went to a cheap market in Sector 22 where I got some awesome Punjabi shoes called juti. Next, we wandered around Sector 17, the sector designated as the main marketplace of the city. Last, we went to the lake and just wandered around enjoying the beauty of the city. We had a lot of fun - I really enjoy meeting people and getting to know about their lives.
After all this, we returned to IISER to have a fantastic dinner at Anu's house. It was a wonderful atmosphere - us, Professor Fluri, Anu and her husband, and several IISER students. The conversation was happy, flowing, and intellectual; the delicious food, though superb, was secondary to the company. We ate, drank, and talked late in to the night and I went to sleep exhausted but very, very happy.
February 28, 2013.
Travel Week, Day Six: Chandigarh
Thursday, February 28
Today we had the opportunity to sleep in, which was really nice – especially since the hostel was so rowdy last night and I hardly slept! The students didn’t have school today because ISSER was hosting a “science day” for local school children. Just before 9:00am, we three met up with Vogesh, one of Anu’s phD students, for breakfast at the hostel canteen. I had an omelet and a buttery paratha – yum! I ordered coffee too, but it was hardly coffee and in fact more like warm milk. The food was delicious but very rich, and I couldn’t finish all of it. After we ate, we went on a walk around campus with Vogesh, who was really fun to talk to and gave me the names of a few books I should read for my areas of interest! ISSER is much, much smaller than the University of Hyderabad, so the walk was sadly quite short.
We then met up with Professor Fluri to explore Chandigarh, the main city area. Chandigarh is a post-Independence city built in an incredibly socialist style in the 1950s under the orders of Nehru, with Le Corbusier’s architectural design. The whole city is in “sectors” and it sort of has an Orwellian feel to it, although there are implemented gardens and green spaces that make it very beautiful and, actually, quite suburban looking. We met up with Anu’s husband, who studied architecture, at the furthest point of town where there is the Trench of Consideration and the open hand monument. The open hand – open to give, open to receive – has become the symbol of Chandigarh. It’s an enormous structure! The Trench of Consideration just below the hand was originally designed to be an open space right near the government offices where people could freely speak their minds and voice their concerns. Unfortunately, it has never actually been used for such a purpose, and probably never will now that India has been moved toward a more capitalist style.
After visiting this site, we went on to the city museum, which gave us a lot of information on the construction of Chandigarh. It really is so cool how it was so specifically designed, with each sector having specific purposes. I really think you’d be hard pressed to find a more socialist utopian style city. Once we were done at the museum, we had lunch at a place recommended to us, called the Backpacker’s Café. It was so weird because it smelled like a restaurant back home – despite not really wanting to leave India, it made me feel all nostalgic for the States. I had really yummy grilled vegetables with some garlic bread.
My favorite part of the day was visiting Nek Chand’s Rock Garden after lunch. Nek Chand was one of the construction workers while building Chandigarh, and he would smuggle away bits and pieces of broken or discarded items while he worked. In an area hidden away from the building process, he began creating a garden of sorts out of the recycled items and concrete, which was completely against the rules of the city construction. When it was finally discovered, however, people were so moved by his beautiful garden that they kept it. It is so odd but so stunning – just the way I like things. I really enjoyed wandering around and seeing what he created! The garden keeps getting expanded upon, so who knows how it will look in the years to come!
Now we are finally back at the hostel. I am really exhausted and not really feeling so great, so I’m opting out on the rest of the evening. Tonight Vogesh will take Rose and Kaila to Sector 17 – the main shopping area – and then to dinner. I will get some much-needed rest!
Travel Week, Day Five: To Mohali!
Wednesday, February 27
Today was a LONG day. We spent essentially all day driving from Delhi to Mohali. It took so much longer than I had imagined.
The changing scenery as we entered the state of Punjab was really interesting. The land became more flat and farm looking - and I saw considerably more turbans!
We finally got to the IISER campus around 5pm, where we each got our own rooms in one of the hostels (dorms). IISER is so much smaller than the University of Hyderabad, and it's very new.
This evening we went to Barbeque Nation to celebrate Rose's 21st birthday! They didn't dance and sing at this one (boo), but the food was fantastic!
Travel Week, Day Four: Delhi, sort of?
Tuesday, February 26 I guess it was kind of a weird day today. We spent the majority of the day driving to Delhi - a six hour drive in and of itself, plus a couple rest stops and a stop for lunch. We didn't get to Delhi until about 3:30pm. Before we went to our hotel, we stopped at the Qutb Minar and its surrounding complex. It is very old and very beautiful. BUT, we lingered there for so long that we didn't get to see anything else in Delhi!
We were excited to get up the next morning to see things, but Professor Fluri made the justifiable and understandable executive decision that Ganesh needs more rest after all these drives, so all we're doing Wednesday is drive to Mohali, our next stop, and spend some time there. We can sight-see in Delhi Saturday morning/early afternoon before our later flight back to Hyderabad.
So....a bit of a bust. But oh well. Rest IS needed.
For dinner, Rose, Kaila, and I met up with some Dartmouth '11s living and working in Delhi. They had us join them at this awesome new restaurant called Thirty-Nine. It had fantastic food!
February 25, 2013.
Travel Week, Day Three: Jaipur!
Monday, February 25, 2013
It was nice to have a leisurely Monday morning after a busy day of sightseeing and travel yesterday! I woke up around 7 and decided to go to the little fitness center on the roof of the hotel. The view of the sunrise over Jaipur was magical; the sun was bright orange and its light fanned out all over the city. The fitness center was hilarious. It held a treadmill, bike, Stairmaster, and a dysfunctional multipurpose weight machine all jammed in a tiny room with barely any space in between. Lucky I was the only person there – there wouldn’t have been any more room! I don’t however want to give a false impression of myself. I ran for about ten minutes then decided that was enough. Ha!
After a yummy buffet breakfast at the hotel, we left around 9:00 to sightsee for the better part of the day. On our way to the Amber Fort, we paused in front of some old buildings to get an idea of traditional Mughali housing design. Jaipur is a really beautiful looking place, with so many buildings made of a dusty pink sand stone, earning it the apt name, “Pink City.”
We finally arrived at the Amber Fort! It’s enormous and really beautiful, mostly made of a yellowish sand stone and painted. To get to the fort, we rode elephants up the mountain! Kaila and I rode on a female elephant named Noori. After arriving, we spent a long time just wandering around the fort. The Lion Gate at the front of the fort is painted ornately and very beautiful. The Ganesh Gate in the Diwan-I-Aam (main court space) is also painted and has gorgeous latticed windows from which the ladies of the court could watch the events happening on the court. It’s interesting also to have such a prominent Hindu influence in this Islamic Mughal space. The view from the top of the fort is striking – I got so many great pictures!
I found the other tourists at the fort interesting to watch. On the way out of the fort you walk through this little shopping district, and I bought some bangles and bargained them down to a more reasonable price. I could tell the vendor was not pleased that I was openly haggling with him in front of older American and British tourists who clearly would otherwise have not been aware that they could bargain. I even told one woman what I paid for my bangles and that she shouldn’t pay any more than I did! But besides this lack of knowledge about bargaining, I was a little shocked by what some of the tourists were doing. Several people were buying fake turbans, and even women were wearing them around, completely unaware of the turban’s religious and cultural meaning. It almost made me feel like they were at Disneyland wearing Mickey Mouse ears.
We ate lunch at the Rainbow Restaurant, which was really quite tasty. I had a big bowl of yellow daal (lentils) and sampled from others’ plates. The food in the north is considerably sweeter than that in the south, but its delicious in its own way! After we ate, we made a quick stop to look at the Jal Mahal, which is a little palace built out on the lake. Apparently you can rent it out for weddings or other events! There were lots of hawkers here, too, and I bought a couple anklets! Then, Ganesh took us to a textile shop that had beautiful block printed sheets, table clothes, and wool blankets. Some of them were really beautiful, but I was unsure of the price so I walked away with nothing, intending to return tomorrow if I really regretted it. As we were trying to leave, however, we got hassled to look at things we simply didn’t want, so they unfortunately lost a customer. Someday I’ll return to India with more money – I can get things then!
We returned to the hotel after all this, not entirely sure what we’d end up doing. As it turns out, we just napped and snacked for dinner. Better to be well rested for our long drive to Delhi in the morning! It’s going to take about six hours!
February 24, 2013. Fatehpur Sikri.