I woke up at 6 am but forced myself to stay in bed until 6:45. Went down to the Grand Ballroom to the huge breakfast buffet that is included with the room and had a wonderful waffle and fruit. I read the local paper and found out that there is civil strife close by that has in fact shut down roads and the railroads between Delhi and Agra. They are describing this in the press as a "caste war" and it is centered around Gujjar - between Delhi and Agra. I guess I'll find out tomorrow whether or not I get to go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. If it doesn't work out, then it was meant to be that way and I'll have to save Agra for my next visit to India - with Lauren and Lillian (and Chris, Leslie and Lincoln?). I certainly don't want to get in the middle of a civil clash - especially one in which 20 people have already been killed.
I had my breakfast on the glassed-in terrace and it was beautiful - already hot outside - supposed to be at 110 degrees today. I watched the yard crew sweeping the beautiful green lawn. I don't know how they keep everything so green in this heat - and I haven't seen sprinklers running.
Sanjesh told me yesterday about the Indian Sekhs - those who wear turbans. They do this since they never cut their hair. They just wrap it up all under the turban. Apparently this is a big turn-on for their women too. Can you imagine what is up in those turbans? I don't even want to think about it.
Also Sanjesh told me abou the Maharajahs. There are at least 4 levels in the hierarchy - 1) Raj's, then 2) Maharahjah, then 3) Maharahaj Dhirajah, then 4) Maharajah Dhirajah Ashwannafha - I want to be one of those in my next life!!!!
Sanjesh and my driver picked me up at the hotel at10 am. We drove through Connaught Place where the hotel is located in the center of Delhi. We headed out of the city to Qutab Minar, a tower of victory begun by the Muslims in AD 1193 and completed in 1300. The tower was beautiful and the ruins around very interesting. We then went to the Tomb of Humayun, the 2nd mogul emperor of India. This tomb, unlike the Taj Mahal, was built by the emperor's senior wife for him - the Taj was built by him for her. It's huge and totally symmetrical. This tomb is about 1/2 the size of the Taj Mahal so this was a good teaser for tomorrow (if I get to go due to the civil strife). I had Sanjesh check on the Agra train and showed him the newspaper article about the strife. Gujjar is a group of minority people who are protesting for more privileges but the other minority groups don't want them to get these privileges - so it is a real mess. He found out that the Express Executive Train to Agra went this morning so they expect it to go tomorrow. So far, so good. We then took a break and went to a Kashmir crafts showroom. The government set this up due to the strife in the Kashmir Region- there is a conflict with Pakistan and both now have nuclear arms which is a big issue. We looked at rugs first - and I learned more about the making of silk rugs in Kashmir. This was somewhat similar to what we saw in China. Before this was over, the rug merchant had 2 roomsd of rugs laid out for my inspection - I was the only customer there since the tourist season is over. Tim will be happy - I didn't buy a rug - nothing "spoke" to me.
We then looked at a lot of cashmere clothing, marble objects, wood carvings, and furniture. I decided we didn't need any more nic-nacs so we just looked and then left.
We were then off to the Crafts Museum to see ancient relics of pottery, housing items, textiles and statuary. Sanjesh gave a great explanation of things that helped explain the history of India. It was mid afternoon when we finished and so hot - it hit 111 degrees F today - so we decided to call it quits for the day. I was taken back to the hotel to rest and then went to the Atrium Bar for high tea - this will be lunch today. High tea was very British reflecting that time when India was a British colony. Scones with jam, finger sandwiches (including cucumber ones), small pastries, and tea. Very good and it was only about $15. Such a deal!
Later I had drinks in the bar with Satyendra - tried Kingfisher beer which is an Indian beer and it was good - and cheap.
I had dinner at 8 in the Restaurant 1911 - a French restaurant which apparently are very unusual in India - but it was excellent - exceptional. They gave me a complimentary hors d'oeuvre that was a creme brulee fois gras - didn't sound right to me but it was excellent and tasty - ate the entire thing. It was so hot I ordered cold melon soup that helped cool me off and then filet de boeuf with a fabulous wine reduction sauce - this was very authentic French. I know I should be eating Indian while in India but I do like my French things.
The restaurant was named to commemorate the year when the British moved the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi. India finally got its independence from Britainin 1947. I saw the site of the Queen Victoria statue on my tour but noticed that there was no statue. They have a picture of the statue of Queen Victoria in the restaurant so I found this interesting. I asked the maitre d' where the statue was now - heshrugged his shoulders and said "I guess it is like the statue of Sadam Hussein" - Funny!
After dinner I updated my journal and blog, packed an went to bed. I have to get up at 4:45 am in order to catch a 6:15 am train to Agra. My driver is picking me up at the hotel at 5:30 - so tomorrow is going to be along day.
Some miscellaneous things I have learned: Hair -I've seen many Indians with red hair that I thought was unusual - it's henna. Some have only slight red tint in their dark hair but there are a few who have bright red henna hair. Sanjesh told me that these were mistakes!
Red dots (not whoo-whoo's!) - are everywhere here. The women get the red dots when they are married - their husband puts the red dot on their forehead and sometimes in the part of their hair - I saw this a lot too. This means that they are married. A black dot means that the woman is single. Many marriages in India are still arranged marriages. Also many men have lines on their foreheads - the shapes of the lines indicate their religious sect.
Most Indians are cremated - it is honorable to have your ashes spread in the Ganges as they believe this helps get your soul to heaven quicker. There is one religious group of about 90.000 people in India who stack their dead in a special room and they let the birds and animals eat the corpses. After a while when there isn't much left they put whatever remains in a pit with lime dust on top. Ugh!
Lastly, eunochs in India - there are still LOTS of them here and they live in special colonies. They used to serve the emperors and ruling people in the past but this still happens even today in India. Sanjesh told me that as we had heard in India, but questioned, they cut "everything" off - not only the testacles but also the penis (ouch!). Many eunochs were and still are entertainers - but Sanjesh said not very good ones - but they make money by entertaining at weddings and other celebrations. They had a special place in the courts of the Maharajahs and emperors. Many dress as women but wear no makeup. Sanjesh also told me that the Indian people can recognize a eunoch by looking at them. Wow - so different from America (thank goodness).
Larry
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