“Once upon a time Julia and Mark went to India. It was a dark and smoggy night” ….at the Indira Gandhi Airport. Our noses detected smoke, dust and a faintly sweet something…was it incense? We knew without seeing that we had arrived in a different world. Mark Strate
October 25, 2011
Namaste!
Street scene in Old Delhi
The trip lasted 24 hours from the time we stepped onto the Cathay Pacific 747 in SFO and the time we walked off an A330 in Delhi. It was 3:30 am local time when we dove into bed at the Imperial Hotel. Up at 8, we met our sari clad guide for the day, Seema. Her card said she was a Graphic Designer and an Art Historian. She was clearly very knowledgeable about her history, art and architecture and was on a fast pace to teach us what she knew. We were hard pressed to keep up with her as we wandered through the old Muslim city, Shahjahanabad, founded in 1639 by Akbar, the greatest Mughal ruler of India. We visited the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India, took a noisy, dusty rickshaw ride in the shopping area and drove around the Red Fort. The streets were narrow and totally congested with people, vehicles, rickshaws, motor scooters, protruding shops and an unbelievable amount of exposed wiring hanging from every building and draping in all directions. Ancient, interesting and extremely noisy, it was not a place to hang out for long.
After we got away from that maddening scene we drove over the Yamuna River into eastern Delhi to visit the brand new Akshardham Temple Monument to World Peace. The contrast was palpable. A huge parking lot provided ample room for the multitude of visitors, the buildings were spacious, the landscaping lovely and expansive, the people respectful and quiet. Stepping into the main temple was awesome, not unlike stepping into St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Every inch was covered in sculpted figures and design elements. Seema told us everything was hand carved and individually attached to the walls, ceilings and columns by hundreds of artisans and completed in 8 years. Mark is certain the carvings were machine-made because he could find no chisel marks. and then individually attached to the columns, walls and ceiling. Either way it was an impressive sight.
Humayun’s Tomb
From there we drove back across the river to Humayun’s Tomb and Mausoleum. It was built during the mid-16th century by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in honor of his father. It is a truly beautiful. The main building and the surrounding landscaping are perfectly symetrical. The materials are the red sandstone and marble common to Delhi, the lines and form are very pleasing and the whole scene made me feel peaceful. It was not surprising that the builder of the Taj Mahal took his inspiration from this Mausoleum.
We arrived back at the hotel in time for the beginning of Diwalli, the Festival of Light which is held to honor Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. It is a national holiday that lasts for several days that combines elements of our holidays–Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and 4th of July. Family’s get together to visit; buildings are decorated with millions of marigold flowers, lit with streamers of lights in green, white and red; millions of candles are lit and placed everywhere; everyone dresses up; sweets are given to friends, workers and family and everyone has a good time “bursting crackers” they have purchased by the hundreds. Indians think of the holiday as their new year’s celebration. Anyway, we watched the hotel’s small fireworks display, had a salad in the hotel’s Italian restaurant and went to bed.
The next morning, October 26th, we were up in time to catch a 6:30am 2-hour flight to Jabalpur in central India. From the airport we drove 3 1/2 hours south on surprisingly good, if narrow, roads to Bandhavgarh National Park and our home for the next 4 nights, Samode Safari Lodge. Our accommodations were spacious and luxurious even though they were in the middle of a grassy meadow with a few broad leaf trees, stands of bamboo and bushes–rather un-appealing as scenery goes, but next to the park. Our reason to come her was to see elusive and scarce tigers, if possible. We arrived in time for lunch, which was most delicious–soup, salad and small fish entre. We had the afternoon free to catch up on sleep, swim and have a massage.
Diwalli, festival of light
Dinner, we learned, is served late in India–8 or 9pm. Cocktails begin about 7:30pm. Since our clocks were off kilter anyway, we went along with the program. As this night was the official beginning of Diwalli, the staff were bustling around to make preparations—placing candles everywhere, setting out the firecrackers, getting dressed up. Because it is a family festival, the staff’s families were in attendance as well as the guests and the lodge owner and his family. We were escorted through a sea of lighted candles to the pool side where the ceremony was to take place. We were asked to stretch out one arm (right are for men and left for women). A string was wrapped and tied around our wrist and our palm was filled with cooked rice, which we held until everyone else was prepared. Then we flung the rice, representing evil spirits, over our back and embraced the string, representing prosperity and good fortune. Immediately fire crackers began to go off, fountains were lit and the children squealed with laughter. We felt like we had been included in a very private family event. The few guests and staff mingled together and we met our game driver and guide, Bacchi. He was quite pleasant, but unwilling to promise us a tiger. Dinner was an all Indian affair with many little round dishes of different ingredients and sauces arranged around each person’s plate. I cannot tell you what it all was, but it tasted good and was not too hot. Bedtime was also delicious.
Adventures with Julia 