http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=28.55331,77.193756&spn=0.001692,0.003535&t=h&z=18&om=1&msa=0&msid=116143200733975973292.000001135722cdc385edc
This is where we are at from the satellite
Friday, June 22, 2007
When you've got a ruins in your back yard
Well, Kristin and I finally started to investigate the “park” about one block from our house. What we thought was a modest sized one-room temple, like those scattered around Delhi, turned out to be the ruins of a large fort! Beyond that, there is a wetland with a walking path below it. Check out some pictures and videos of this.
It was right at dusk when we went out, so not much time to investigate for the night. However, what we did see was quite beautiful. The Mynah birds run the grass next to the wetlands. There are ducks in the water and another white bird that I haven’t been able to identify yet. In the distance, the loud squawk of the peacocks is audible. It’s a paradise in our back yard! Kristin and I will likely be spending a lot of time in the coming weeks exploring the temple and preserve outside.
We are also going to open a youtube account so we can embed streaming videos of some things here! So check for that!
What we are doing!
Edwin requested that I post a bit more about what we are doing at Navdanya. Right now, Kristin and I are collaborating on a research project to describe how hygiene laws are used to shut down vendors and the effect that food safety laws in general are having on the population. Basically, large agricultural, petrochemical, and retail companies want into India and as a result the government is passing laws taking away rights from small scale food producers and vendors... this is what we have (About 2/3rds of a first draft, minus suggestions for what kind of food laws should be adopted)
A. Policies Aimed at Protecting Foreign Corporations at the Expense of India
On February 15, 2007, the Supreme Court of India upheld a notice by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) banning all vendors and hawkers from cooking in the streets, citing reasons of hygiene, public health, fire safety, and beautification. On March 17, 2007, the Supreme Court clarified its ruling, ordering the MCD to designate areas for food courts and also removing the ban from tea and coffee vendors (as long as it is served in disposable cups). In Maharashtra Ekta Hawkers Union & ANR v. Municipal Corporation, Greater Mumbai and ORS (2002) the Court observed that hawkers have a qualified fundamental right under Article 19(g) of the Constitution of India to carry on their trade or business as long as it is not causing “nuisance, annoyance, or inconvenience to the other members of the public.” (pg. #?) The recent Supreme Court case allows for even further reduction in the rights of street vendors and hawkers by rubber-stamping the MCD’s orders.
Recent actions by local and national government entities in India, such as the leveling of slums and the mass sealing (similar to condemnation) of small, local retail outlets in Delhi, signal a drastic change in the enforcement of neoliberal economic policy. Providing education and economic opportunities to the lower economic classes has proven too difficult for the government. Instead, an easier policy is to use various methods of persuasion, ranging from legal pressure to outright violence, to push these undesirable elements out of the city to make way for foreign companies to invade India’s cities. Indeed, the Master Plan for Delhi – 2021 makes it very clear that Delhi will be zoned into sectors where only the “correct” elements will be allowed.
Unfortunately for the city planners and their elitist supporters, such a scheme cannot be implemented while multitudes of poor still live in and work the streets. That is why legal pretexts have been created and enforced to destroy the homes, jobs, and livelihoods of the poor in Delhi.
In 2005, the Food Safety and Standards Bill (FSSB) passed through Parliament, replacing 70 years of national food acts and orders. The bill passed primarily because of the prevailing idea that it is necessary to reshape food health and safety laws to prepare for the coming “modernization” of India. However, as Dr. Shiva noted in Seed Dictatorship and Food Fascism, “[c]onsumer health, nutrition, and food culture are not even mentioned as objectives of the integrated food law” (39). The FSSB is heavily biased against the traditional Indian agricultural methods for cultivating and preparing food. Instead, the FSSB favors western, industrial ideas of health and wellness, despite plentiful evidence that the adverse health effects caused by industrial production are far more dangerous, potentially and realized, than the risks involved in traditional production and preparation of food. In addition, health problems caused by industry are harmful on a much larger scale than any caused by traditional food production methods. The exponential increases in rates of birth defects and cancer across the world due to industrial pollution, as well as industrial accidents such as the infamous Bhopal incident, should leave no doubt to the truth of such an assertion.
And yet, the national government is bending over backward to meet foreign investors’ demands for deregulation. Special Economic Zones (SEZ), authorized by the Indian government, are popping up around the country. These zones essentially create tiny, sovereign manufacturing countries inside India’s borders with absolutely no regulation and no taxes for 10 out of the first 15 years. These SEZs are intended to stimulate economic growth through unimpeded manufacturing and production of goods. Unfortunately, deregulation spells low quality for the consumer as companies cut corners to minimize expenditures and maximize profit margin. In addition, the legal borders surrounding SEZs will not protect the Indian people from the mass industrial pollution that comes from unregulated industry. SEZs are not supposed to be used for agriculture, but proposed handouts of prime agricultural land to high bidding petrochemical companies suggest that this restriction will not last for long, or will be ignored all together. The potential of these tiny corporate sub-nations is very scary. If the foreign companies do not even have trouble polluting their “home” countries, the prospects for India’s environmental future are very bleak.
B. An Example of Using Food Hygiene Laws to get rid of “Undesirables”: Sudhir Madan and others v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi and others (2007).
Food laws such as the FSSB and the MCD’s prohibition on street cooked foods not only favor large-scale industry in the area of production, but are also used to quell competition, whether it is small-scale, community-based agriculture in rural areas or local vendors and hawkers in the cities. The unwarranted attack on street vendors in Delhi is an example of such pro-industry, pseudo-hygiene law, used as a pretext to push an already marginalized and struggling class of people out of the city. If trends continue, large foreign retailers, such as Wal-Mart, will soon enter the city as replacements for the open niche left by the forced eviction of small retailers, slum dwellers, street vendors, and hawkers.
In 2000, when the Supreme Court ordered the Delhi government to remove slums and unauthorized colonies from public land, the slum dwellers appealed. The Supreme Court told them “desperation does not give you a right to violate the law.” In 2007, the Supreme Court took the same callous and unrealistic approach to street vendors that it previously took towards slum dwellers. The law should never be used as an excuse to further abuse the downtrodden. If laws and regulations are to be valid, they should at least survive logical scrutiny, protect minority rights, and promote sound public policy. The Supreme Court’s justifications for enforcement of the MCD’s ban on cooking street food (i.e. public health and hygiene, fire safety, and beautification) fail on all accounts and thus should be seen as more of a pretext for gentrification than unbiased enforcement of reasonable law.
Public Health and Hygiene
There is no question that the best possible public health and hygiene are important and worthwhile goals. However, the logic behind the MCD’s findings, taken in conjunction with the FSSB, suggests that individual personal health is at most only a secondary concern.
Although the Court bans the cooking of food in the streets, it allows for food to be cooked at home, “properly packaged”, and brought to the place of business to sell. Presumably, the harm of cooking on site would be bacterial growth brought on by unsanitary conditions. However, this procedure adds many layers of complexity to the goal of preventing the spread of disease. By requiring that the goods now be packaged there is a much greater risk of bacterial growth on the food. The precooked foods would now have to sit out for far too long in the hot sun and would become a breeding ground for many kinds of bacteria and other pathogens.
Instead of solving problems, the Court has just created more. How will the conditions of food packaging be regulated? How will consumers know how long the food has been sitting out? Also, how are poor individuals expected to take the time and the money to package this food? Neither the Court nor the MCD analyzes these questions because public health is not taken seriously as a concern. When put in the context with other recent government actions, it looks very much like a pretext to put economic pressure on those that do not fit into the Master Plan.
Rakesh Gupta is quoted in The Tribune’s article, Food For Thought as saying, "[m]y family lives back home in Meerut. For me, the staple diet of chole-bhature and dal-roti cooked right here in front of my eyes is my idea of good and fresh food. I would not be comfortable with packed food and I cannot afford restaurants everyday." Rakesh’s instincts about food safety are absolutely correct. Food cooked at high temperatures and eaten soon after is very safe, as most bacteria cannot survive such conditions. As noted before, packaging the food in substandard conditions and leaving it out in the hot Delhi weather is a recipe for increased risk of bacterial infection.
If the MCD and the Court were truly serious about promoting health, there are plenty of other measures that could be taken. For example, the MCD could start a program to improve Delhi’s sanitation and make it easier for street vendors to work in more sterile conditions. MCD could also start an educational initiative aimed at reaching out to street vendors and showing simple ways that they could improve health conditions. The city could provide plastic gloves and surgical masks to those directly handling food and require that they be used during preparation. The point is that the new regulations merely provide obstacles and inconveniences to street vendors. The MCD’s requirement of packaging pre-cooked food does absolutely nothing to guarantee food safety.
Fire Safety
Fire safety is another concern that was brought up when considering the pros and cons of street vendors. Any time that heat is involved in the preparation of food a fire is a possibility. By that standard, concern for causing fire should be applied to all heated food, including home and restaurant preparation. There is nothing to suggest that the risk of fire is higher for the street vendors than with any other place where fire is used to cook. In fact, the risk might be less as small scale cooking equipment does not carry the same danger as do higher-powered stoves and ovens.
The second reason the argument of fire safety does not withstand when common sense and reasoning are used is because they are still allowing the use of fire; not for food preparation alone. This is based on the assumption that the poor street vendors of Delhi will not have access to microwaves and cappuccino machines. The MCD is still allowing the preparation of beverages on the streets as long as they are served in disposable cups.
Beautification of the City
(END)
Dr. Shiva doesn't come back until monday so hopefully we are doing the right thing. Anyways, we have been doing a lot of reading about globalization and changing policies related to the government's desire to bring in unregulated industry. It is very intellectually stimulating. Kristin and I are learning a ton at work. Plus we are absorbing facts about India at a very high rate. Neither of us knew much about Indian culture before coming, so it is all first hand impression. We have to learn some things the hard way, but I think overall that this is the best way to learn about a culture!
On another note, I know more about what Brad, Luis, and Pablo are talking about when they tell me that I don't understand what it is like to be a minority. Well, I think I am starting to learn! It's really strange not being able to act naturally with most people. As we make friends, we can start to loosen up with them, but any new interaction is usually uncomfortable.
For instance, Kristin and I went to the store to buy water yesterday. When we walked in, the 6 people or so in the store stopped what they were doing and just looked at us. We thought we were waiting to be helped, but apparently just standing there was strange. The store owner had his young daughter come help us probably because he didn't speak good English. The girl was probably about 15 years old or something. She was really scared! She looked nervous and was stuttering the whole time as she asked "What do you want?!" We said we were looking for some water and she dug through the cooler to get it and then basically thrust it at us. Everyone else in the store looked pretty uncomfortable as well. We paid and left. Today we went back and got a much better response. So upon repeated interaction, people aren't so afraid, but we still see thousands of new people each day when we walk to work, so we still get the entire city staring at us daily.
Another thing that is pretty funny is Indian TV. We have been watching the news and music channels and Tasmin's house the last few nights. The news is not bad. It's similar to the BBC or something like that. Better than American news, but still very biased in what it presents.
The pop music is god awful... and I hope I don't offend anyone when I say that. It's really funny because there are a lot of groups that try to emulate the American tough guy pop/rap music, but they just can't pull it off over here. Also, the love songs are so melodramatic. It's actually really funny. The music channels actually have just commercials for hours on end. It's like teasing the consumer into buying the music.
I want to bring back some DVDs because in EVERY SINGLE movie there is a large dance scene with choreography and such.
I am also learning a lot about how the government works here. There are two main national parties, the Congress Party and the BJP. The BJP is the far right party. Then there are tons of regional parties around India. The Communist party actually rules three states and has considerable influence in the country. However, even Communist controlled States are caving to Special Economic Zones because of the false promises of modernization...
It's a really strange time in India right now... right at the crossroads between traditional India and westernization. I don't know much about it, but it seems like the multinational corporations are going to push into India without much resistance as much of the young population welcomes western culture. I just hope it doesn't trample the traditional culture, because it is very rich. Also, they have the best food in the world!
Anyways... we are on our way out of Navdanya. It is freaking hot today and the air conditioning is broken! Leave us some comments! We love reading them!!!
Gentrification Through Food: How the Indian Government is Using Hygiene Laws to Forcibly Zone Delhi.
Nick Caleb and Kristin Gunderson
Visiting Interns
Navdanya
Visiting Interns
Navdanya
A. Policies Aimed at Protecting Foreign Corporations at the Expense of India
On February 15, 2007, the Supreme Court of India upheld a notice by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) banning all vendors and hawkers from cooking in the streets, citing reasons of hygiene, public health, fire safety, and beautification. On March 17, 2007, the Supreme Court clarified its ruling, ordering the MCD to designate areas for food courts and also removing the ban from tea and coffee vendors (as long as it is served in disposable cups). In Maharashtra Ekta Hawkers Union & ANR v. Municipal Corporation, Greater Mumbai and ORS (2002) the Court observed that hawkers have a qualified fundamental right under Article 19(g) of the Constitution of India to carry on their trade or business as long as it is not causing “nuisance, annoyance, or inconvenience to the other members of the public.” (pg. #?) The recent Supreme Court case allows for even further reduction in the rights of street vendors and hawkers by rubber-stamping the MCD’s orders.
Recent actions by local and national government entities in India, such as the leveling of slums and the mass sealing (similar to condemnation) of small, local retail outlets in Delhi, signal a drastic change in the enforcement of neoliberal economic policy. Providing education and economic opportunities to the lower economic classes has proven too difficult for the government. Instead, an easier policy is to use various methods of persuasion, ranging from legal pressure to outright violence, to push these undesirable elements out of the city to make way for foreign companies to invade India’s cities. Indeed, the Master Plan for Delhi – 2021 makes it very clear that Delhi will be zoned into sectors where only the “correct” elements will be allowed.
Unfortunately for the city planners and their elitist supporters, such a scheme cannot be implemented while multitudes of poor still live in and work the streets. That is why legal pretexts have been created and enforced to destroy the homes, jobs, and livelihoods of the poor in Delhi.
In 2005, the Food Safety and Standards Bill (FSSB) passed through Parliament, replacing 70 years of national food acts and orders. The bill passed primarily because of the prevailing idea that it is necessary to reshape food health and safety laws to prepare for the coming “modernization” of India. However, as Dr. Shiva noted in Seed Dictatorship and Food Fascism, “[c]onsumer health, nutrition, and food culture are not even mentioned as objectives of the integrated food law” (39). The FSSB is heavily biased against the traditional Indian agricultural methods for cultivating and preparing food. Instead, the FSSB favors western, industrial ideas of health and wellness, despite plentiful evidence that the adverse health effects caused by industrial production are far more dangerous, potentially and realized, than the risks involved in traditional production and preparation of food. In addition, health problems caused by industry are harmful on a much larger scale than any caused by traditional food production methods. The exponential increases in rates of birth defects and cancer across the world due to industrial pollution, as well as industrial accidents such as the infamous Bhopal incident, should leave no doubt to the truth of such an assertion.
And yet, the national government is bending over backward to meet foreign investors’ demands for deregulation. Special Economic Zones (SEZ), authorized by the Indian government, are popping up around the country. These zones essentially create tiny, sovereign manufacturing countries inside India’s borders with absolutely no regulation and no taxes for 10 out of the first 15 years. These SEZs are intended to stimulate economic growth through unimpeded manufacturing and production of goods. Unfortunately, deregulation spells low quality for the consumer as companies cut corners to minimize expenditures and maximize profit margin. In addition, the legal borders surrounding SEZs will not protect the Indian people from the mass industrial pollution that comes from unregulated industry. SEZs are not supposed to be used for agriculture, but proposed handouts of prime agricultural land to high bidding petrochemical companies suggest that this restriction will not last for long, or will be ignored all together. The potential of these tiny corporate sub-nations is very scary. If the foreign companies do not even have trouble polluting their “home” countries, the prospects for India’s environmental future are very bleak.
B. An Example of Using Food Hygiene Laws to get rid of “Undesirables”: Sudhir Madan and others v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi and others (2007).
Food laws such as the FSSB and the MCD’s prohibition on street cooked foods not only favor large-scale industry in the area of production, but are also used to quell competition, whether it is small-scale, community-based agriculture in rural areas or local vendors and hawkers in the cities. The unwarranted attack on street vendors in Delhi is an example of such pro-industry, pseudo-hygiene law, used as a pretext to push an already marginalized and struggling class of people out of the city. If trends continue, large foreign retailers, such as Wal-Mart, will soon enter the city as replacements for the open niche left by the forced eviction of small retailers, slum dwellers, street vendors, and hawkers.
In 2000, when the Supreme Court ordered the Delhi government to remove slums and unauthorized colonies from public land, the slum dwellers appealed. The Supreme Court told them “desperation does not give you a right to violate the law.” In 2007, the Supreme Court took the same callous and unrealistic approach to street vendors that it previously took towards slum dwellers. The law should never be used as an excuse to further abuse the downtrodden. If laws and regulations are to be valid, they should at least survive logical scrutiny, protect minority rights, and promote sound public policy. The Supreme Court’s justifications for enforcement of the MCD’s ban on cooking street food (i.e. public health and hygiene, fire safety, and beautification) fail on all accounts and thus should be seen as more of a pretext for gentrification than unbiased enforcement of reasonable law.
Public Health and Hygiene
There is no question that the best possible public health and hygiene are important and worthwhile goals. However, the logic behind the MCD’s findings, taken in conjunction with the FSSB, suggests that individual personal health is at most only a secondary concern.
Although the Court bans the cooking of food in the streets, it allows for food to be cooked at home, “properly packaged”, and brought to the place of business to sell. Presumably, the harm of cooking on site would be bacterial growth brought on by unsanitary conditions. However, this procedure adds many layers of complexity to the goal of preventing the spread of disease. By requiring that the goods now be packaged there is a much greater risk of bacterial growth on the food. The precooked foods would now have to sit out for far too long in the hot sun and would become a breeding ground for many kinds of bacteria and other pathogens.
Instead of solving problems, the Court has just created more. How will the conditions of food packaging be regulated? How will consumers know how long the food has been sitting out? Also, how are poor individuals expected to take the time and the money to package this food? Neither the Court nor the MCD analyzes these questions because public health is not taken seriously as a concern. When put in the context with other recent government actions, it looks very much like a pretext to put economic pressure on those that do not fit into the Master Plan.
Rakesh Gupta is quoted in The Tribune’s article, Food For Thought as saying, "[m]y family lives back home in Meerut. For me, the staple diet of chole-bhature and dal-roti cooked right here in front of my eyes is my idea of good and fresh food. I would not be comfortable with packed food and I cannot afford restaurants everyday." Rakesh’s instincts about food safety are absolutely correct. Food cooked at high temperatures and eaten soon after is very safe, as most bacteria cannot survive such conditions. As noted before, packaging the food in substandard conditions and leaving it out in the hot Delhi weather is a recipe for increased risk of bacterial infection.
If the MCD and the Court were truly serious about promoting health, there are plenty of other measures that could be taken. For example, the MCD could start a program to improve Delhi’s sanitation and make it easier for street vendors to work in more sterile conditions. MCD could also start an educational initiative aimed at reaching out to street vendors and showing simple ways that they could improve health conditions. The city could provide plastic gloves and surgical masks to those directly handling food and require that they be used during preparation. The point is that the new regulations merely provide obstacles and inconveniences to street vendors. The MCD’s requirement of packaging pre-cooked food does absolutely nothing to guarantee food safety.
Fire Safety
Fire safety is another concern that was brought up when considering the pros and cons of street vendors. Any time that heat is involved in the preparation of food a fire is a possibility. By that standard, concern for causing fire should be applied to all heated food, including home and restaurant preparation. There is nothing to suggest that the risk of fire is higher for the street vendors than with any other place where fire is used to cook. In fact, the risk might be less as small scale cooking equipment does not carry the same danger as do higher-powered stoves and ovens.
The second reason the argument of fire safety does not withstand when common sense and reasoning are used is because they are still allowing the use of fire; not for food preparation alone. This is based on the assumption that the poor street vendors of Delhi will not have access to microwaves and cappuccino machines. The MCD is still allowing the preparation of beverages on the streets as long as they are served in disposable cups.
Beautification of the City
(END)
Dr. Shiva doesn't come back until monday so hopefully we are doing the right thing. Anyways, we have been doing a lot of reading about globalization and changing policies related to the government's desire to bring in unregulated industry. It is very intellectually stimulating. Kristin and I are learning a ton at work. Plus we are absorbing facts about India at a very high rate. Neither of us knew much about Indian culture before coming, so it is all first hand impression. We have to learn some things the hard way, but I think overall that this is the best way to learn about a culture!
On another note, I know more about what Brad, Luis, and Pablo are talking about when they tell me that I don't understand what it is like to be a minority. Well, I think I am starting to learn! It's really strange not being able to act naturally with most people. As we make friends, we can start to loosen up with them, but any new interaction is usually uncomfortable.
For instance, Kristin and I went to the store to buy water yesterday. When we walked in, the 6 people or so in the store stopped what they were doing and just looked at us. We thought we were waiting to be helped, but apparently just standing there was strange. The store owner had his young daughter come help us probably because he didn't speak good English. The girl was probably about 15 years old or something. She was really scared! She looked nervous and was stuttering the whole time as she asked "What do you want?!" We said we were looking for some water and she dug through the cooler to get it and then basically thrust it at us. Everyone else in the store looked pretty uncomfortable as well. We paid and left. Today we went back and got a much better response. So upon repeated interaction, people aren't so afraid, but we still see thousands of new people each day when we walk to work, so we still get the entire city staring at us daily.
Another thing that is pretty funny is Indian TV. We have been watching the news and music channels and Tasmin's house the last few nights. The news is not bad. It's similar to the BBC or something like that. Better than American news, but still very biased in what it presents.
The pop music is god awful... and I hope I don't offend anyone when I say that. It's really funny because there are a lot of groups that try to emulate the American tough guy pop/rap music, but they just can't pull it off over here. Also, the love songs are so melodramatic. It's actually really funny. The music channels actually have just commercials for hours on end. It's like teasing the consumer into buying the music.
I want to bring back some DVDs because in EVERY SINGLE movie there is a large dance scene with choreography and such.
I am also learning a lot about how the government works here. There are two main national parties, the Congress Party and the BJP. The BJP is the far right party. Then there are tons of regional parties around India. The Communist party actually rules three states and has considerable influence in the country. However, even Communist controlled States are caving to Special Economic Zones because of the false promises of modernization...
It's a really strange time in India right now... right at the crossroads between traditional India and westernization. I don't know much about it, but it seems like the multinational corporations are going to push into India without much resistance as much of the young population welcomes western culture. I just hope it doesn't trample the traditional culture, because it is very rich. Also, they have the best food in the world!
Anyways... we are on our way out of Navdanya. It is freaking hot today and the air conditioning is broken! Leave us some comments! We love reading them!!!
Research, research and more research!
When we finally had our task given to us, Nick and I dove right in! We have been finding out all sorts of corrupt ways that this city is run and the poor reasoning behind certain "necessary" bills they have enacted. Right now our main research has to do with the street vendors (also know as hawkers) on the streets of New Delhi. The national government passed a bill called the Food Safety and Standards Bill of 2005. This bill takes away the rights of the hundreds of thousands of food vendors that depend on this hawking for their livelihood. There is a great upheaval in the city about this issue but the government does not seem to be paying much attention to the opposition. We have a bit more to do with finalizing our assignment but once we have we will be sure to post it so you can all see what we have been working on.
Nick, hard at work at Navdanya
Lets see... what else have we been up to? I left off last time with the great cooking that Tasnim had prepared for us... well the following night she out did herself once again! We had another absolutely fantastic home cooked meal with fresh mango's to follow! We were very sad to hear that she was leaving town for the next few days, until the first of July, to visit her family. Happy for her to see her family... sad for our stomachs and the loss of great company!! The following day we went home and cleaned our apartment. It no longer smells like dirt every time we enter so we are very pleased about that! A little elbow grease and we had a brand new.. still not so shiny... apartment. It seemed that no matter how hard we scrubbed we could not get the look of dirt off the floors... but our feet could definitely tell the difference when walking from room to room!!!
Cleaning the bathroom! Yuck!
Tasnim had left her key with Manu so that we could go eat and cook in her apartment. So after we were finished cleaning we headed over to her place. Since none of us are very good cooks we just heated up all of the left overs from the past few nights and had a small feast (Tasnim told us to! I promise)! We are still trying to get use to the time change... so we were really tired by about 9:30 and headed off to bed. The jet lag keeps getting better and better but our internal time clocks are not quite back to normal yet. Other than that not much has been going on. Work has been taking up most of our time. We walk about a mile there every morning and a mile home. Most of the time it is a very enjoyable walk but lately it has been getting much hotter. Even in the heat the walk is refreshing in the morning. Nick got a little sick (they like to call it Delhi Belly over here) but he is feeling much better now!
Other than that life has been nice and slow and easy! July 7th and 8th (I think?) we will be heading to Dehra Dun for the mango festival and to see the school so things will get exciting once again in a little bit!
On a side note... thanks to everyone who has been e-mailing and leaving comments about the blog! We love reading the comments and seeing that a few people seem to be enjoying our stories! So keep it up! Also, some people have e-mailed us to tell us that they could not leave a comment because they were not a part of the Blogger community. So, if you want to leave a comment you can e-mail us as kris.gunderson@gmail.com! We would love to hear what you have to say and what you have been up to! Take Care!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
No more black boogers and some GREAT cooking!!
We are now out of Hotel Namaskar for good! Yaaayyyyy! But it was a fun experience! We are now living in an apartment in a village called Hauz Kauz. Hauz Kauz is a bustling little village that has one main road running through the center of it. This sometimes proves to be a problem because if someone is coming and someone is going then there is never enough room for both to get by. Most of the time when this happens instead of one of the drivers backing up they both stick their head out of the window and yell at each other until one back down and moves his car out of the way. (I say HIS car because out of all of the crazy drivers I have see here I have literally only seen three women drivers.)
Anyway... I'll just pick up the story where Nick last left it...
Monday, June 18th, 2007
We waited in our new apartment for the key that Nick somehow managed to lose within three minutes of receiving it. Thankfully the people at Navdanya found it and returned it to us. It was early in the afternoon so Nick and I decided to go wonder around the streets to see if we could find so food and some cleaning supplies for our dirty apartment. We were successful on both counts! After walking down the road about a mile we ran into a little shopping center. It was very Americanized... it even had a GAP! (Of course they advertised that they had much lower prices than the Gaps in America had!)
Up above the little shopping center we found a restaurant that looked trustworthy so we sat and ate. Once again, the food was incredible! I'm not sure what exactly we ate but I do know that it was fantastic and it received a big Mmmmmmmm!!! of approval from Nick. I'll be honest but only because I know Nick will add it if I don't. We ordered some bottled water along with our meal which the waiter then poured into our glasses. We were eating and drinking and talking and all of a sudden the waiter came over. Well... I looked up right as I was about to take a sip and down my front the water poured. Sort of embarrassing... but funny. The serious looking waiter couldn't help but laugh and from then on he had a broad smile every time he came to our table. We then left the restaurant and went on our way to find the cleaning supplies. Before going in that adventure we poked around in the shops below hoping to find a cheap cell phone. We managed to find a few cell phones but they were really expensive (over $100 USD) so we decided that could wait.
We left the shop and crossed the street. Now you may not think anything of it when I say we crossed the street but this could have been the most frightening part of our trip yet! The way that crossing the street works here is much different than in the states. If you see a break in the first lane you cross and stand in between lanes of traffic until you can make it to the next lane and then you stand there as more cars whip past. You do this through four lanes of traffic before finally reaching the safety of the other side. Lets just say that it takes a brave soul to cross the street in New Delhi!
We reached the other side, caught our breath, and moved on with our journey. First stop ATM. We found a CitiBank indoor ATM just as we crossed the street and pulled out some money. I was very surprised that there was no service charge or anything. Just straight exchange for the going rate.
We then moved on and the next embarrassing event was about to happen to me. We were waking past a series of little shops in a small market place. There was a tin roof that jutted out a bit from the building where plenty of birds were scouring the ground. Yep you probably guessed it. I felt a heavy drop come down on top of my shoulder. A bird had crapped on me! This bird crap was not your normal bird poo! This bird must have been eating WAY too much curried food because the crap I now had on my shoulder was a bright chunky yellow. YUCK... GROSS... EWWW!!! I grabbed a piece of paper from Nick's bag and wiped most of it off and we moved on. We were not sure where we needed to go to get cleaning supplies so we headed into a chemists shop. He looked at us strangely when we told him what we were looking for and gave us directions to the general store.
One thing I will never get use to is the staring. The tall girl stares I get at home will never bother me again after this experience!!! Nick and I can walk by a full bus and at every window a head is staring in our direction. Everywhere we go we get this! While we were hunting down the general store (we got a little lost) a car a boys (age 20-25) drove by. I didn't see it but Nick sat that one of the boys stuck his tongue out at me in a really crude manner. Unfortunately for the boys they were planning on stopping a few feet in front of us. The one who stuck his tongue out got out of the car and walked past us. I was a step or two in front of Nick because of the narrow walkway, so he gave me a suggestive look. Once again Nick noticed but I did not because Nick had already told me about the first look and I was trying not to make eye contact. Then Nick walked by and gave him the don't you dare look. The guy barely came up to Nick's shoulder (like nearly every body here) so needless to say he scurried off rather quickly!
We finally made it to the general store, bought our supplies, and then walked about a mile and a half back to our apartment. Thankfully no more excitement on the way back. Just a nice, warm walk.
When we returned to our new home we were exhausted! It was now about 6:30 but we were still suffering from jet lag so our eyes were beginning to droop. We quickly swept the entire apartment because we could not stand the extreme filth. One of Nick's co-workers at Navdanya came by and introduced himself. His name is Manu and he seemed very nice! After Manu left (he was only there for a few moments) we had a nice lazy night of reading and cribbage and hit the sack about 7:45.
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
Once again, up at 5. No matter how hard we try to push ourselves to sleep in late our eyes open way to early. So up we went. It was the first morning in Delhi so far that we did not wake up to the sound of pouring rain. Nick and I were positive that Monsoon season had started early and were thinking we brought all the wrong supplies until Manu told us that it is really rare that it rains this early in Delhi and that it doesn't even tend to rain very hard during monsoon season. He attributed the weird weather to global warming and the melting of the icecaps. Both Nick and I were sad to see the cool weather that came with the rain leave us because the muggy heat is back!
We got up in the morning and did a quick workout before hitting the showers. Then off to work we went. We walked with Manu and talked about all sorts of things. It was very humid so by the time we got to the office Nick and I were both drenched in sweat. The office was a different one from the one that we went to before so we were glad to have Manu to guide our way. We went inside and instantly felt the relief of the fans. They were just installing the AC so it had yet to be turned on but the fans felt wonderful!
(That's Manu on the computer)
For the first few hours Nick and I just sat around reading and using the internet because no one was quite sure what we were supposed to be doing. Then at lunch time Nick received his first assignment. The assignment was to research a current supreme court case dealing with street vendors. Currently there is legislation to try to shut down all street vendors who sell and cook food on the street on the grounds of city "beautification" and the claim that it is unsanitary. A possible reason for this is to cause a need for corporations like Walmart to move in to provide jobs and goods. Much of the Delhi master plan and other planned developments in India are ghost written by multi national corporations looking to influence the direction of India's development and cash in on the upper class's desire to "modernize." Unfortunately a step like this would put millions of people out of work, raising the level of poverty to unimaginable heights. Hopefully that explains it a little.
We decided that since the school I am going to be working at is far away, I will go to work with Nick and he will come teach with me. I am such a spectacle here that I don't even want to try going out by myself yet! Maybe once I feel a bit more comfortable... but who knows if that will ever happen! It helps having Nick with me because he is so huge compared to everyone here that no one wants to mess with him. In truth I am huge compared to most people here as well but I am a woman and woman seem very meek in this society from what I have seen so far. So regardless of my stature and my attitude I am still viewed in a similar way.
After work Manu took us to get some bedding. The night before we had slept on little more than a wooden plank and we were definitely feeling it! We were very happy that Manu came with us because he helped us not to get ripped off like we probably would have. When ever we think we are getting a good deal on something we always find out later that for this society we payed way to much! So we were thankful that Manu came with his fine tuned bargaining skills!
We then walked back to our apartment. Manu invited us over to the neighbors house for tea and dinner but we had a few tasks to get done. First we went down to the creepy basement of our apartment complex where the computer lab is so I could talk to my parents. Unfortunately right as we hooked up to computer the power to the building went out so once again talking to the parents had to wait. So we walked to the store to get some water and then headed to our neighbors house.
Her name is Tasnim (pronounced tas-neem). Manu said she is 36 or 37 but she does not look it at all! She has no husband or children to look after so she has adopted Manu and his roommate, Mukesh (our other co-worker). She makes fun of them for just showing up on her doorstep every night but she always takes good care of them! She cooked us dinner and fed us desert and we talked for a few hours. It was really fun! I think Nick wants to become her next adopted child while we are here because he has yet to stop talking about the food.
Last night she made us tea (real chi tea... Nick and I are thoroughly obsessed with it! SO YUMMY!) Then she cooked a lamb stew... it got a real big YUUUUUMMMMMMMMM from Nick! And lentils in a green sauce... also delicious... with home made bread (sort of like a thick tortilla only way better!) and rice.
Then came desert. Nick and I had our first fresh mango's. I have never had anything like it! They are even better than Yaju claimed they would be!! After we each ate 2 or 3 mango's Tasnim remembered the ice cream in the fridge and told us to mix it with the mango's. Lets just say I have a new favorite way to eat ice cream! Then she pulled out some chocolate that a friend made for her... after all that we almost had to roll Nick out of there!
We all sat around a talked for a little while longer until neither of us could keep our eyes open any longer. So we headed up the stairs to our apartment and went straight to sleep!
What else have we learned so far?
While at dinner we learned that in Indian culture if you have a cold you do not drink anything cold. We learned this because Manu was scared to eat the ice cream with his cold.
Women are seen as shy and weak. I have met very few strong minded women here (but I have met a few!). People expect it of me as well, something as simple as paying for my own purchase when Nick is by my side gets a funny look. Nick is constantly trying to get me to be more confident with this society.
We have been ripped off SO many times! We keep thinking we are getting a great deal because things are so much cheaper here than they are in the states. None the less when we tell people what we paid for various items they tell us we paid far to much!
Anyway... I'll just pick up the story where Nick last left it...
Monday, June 18th, 2007
We waited in our new apartment for the key that Nick somehow managed to lose within three minutes of receiving it. Thankfully the people at Navdanya found it and returned it to us. It was early in the afternoon so Nick and I decided to go wonder around the streets to see if we could find so food and some cleaning supplies for our dirty apartment. We were successful on both counts! After walking down the road about a mile we ran into a little shopping center. It was very Americanized... it even had a GAP! (Of course they advertised that they had much lower prices than the Gaps in America had!)
Up above the little shopping center we found a restaurant that looked trustworthy so we sat and ate. Once again, the food was incredible! I'm not sure what exactly we ate but I do know that it was fantastic and it received a big Mmmmmmmm!!! of approval from Nick. I'll be honest but only because I know Nick will add it if I don't. We ordered some bottled water along with our meal which the waiter then poured into our glasses. We were eating and drinking and talking and all of a sudden the waiter came over. Well... I looked up right as I was about to take a sip and down my front the water poured. Sort of embarrassing... but funny. The serious looking waiter couldn't help but laugh and from then on he had a broad smile every time he came to our table. We then left the restaurant and went on our way to find the cleaning supplies. Before going in that adventure we poked around in the shops below hoping to find a cheap cell phone. We managed to find a few cell phones but they were really expensive (over $100 USD) so we decided that could wait.
We left the shop and crossed the street. Now you may not think anything of it when I say we crossed the street but this could have been the most frightening part of our trip yet! The way that crossing the street works here is much different than in the states. If you see a break in the first lane you cross and stand in between lanes of traffic until you can make it to the next lane and then you stand there as more cars whip past. You do this through four lanes of traffic before finally reaching the safety of the other side. Lets just say that it takes a brave soul to cross the street in New Delhi!
We reached the other side, caught our breath, and moved on with our journey. First stop ATM. We found a CitiBank indoor ATM just as we crossed the street and pulled out some money. I was very surprised that there was no service charge or anything. Just straight exchange for the going rate.
We then moved on and the next embarrassing event was about to happen to me. We were waking past a series of little shops in a small market place. There was a tin roof that jutted out a bit from the building where plenty of birds were scouring the ground. Yep you probably guessed it. I felt a heavy drop come down on top of my shoulder. A bird had crapped on me! This bird crap was not your normal bird poo! This bird must have been eating WAY too much curried food because the crap I now had on my shoulder was a bright chunky yellow. YUCK... GROSS... EWWW!!! I grabbed a piece of paper from Nick's bag and wiped most of it off and we moved on. We were not sure where we needed to go to get cleaning supplies so we headed into a chemists shop. He looked at us strangely when we told him what we were looking for and gave us directions to the general store.
One thing I will never get use to is the staring. The tall girl stares I get at home will never bother me again after this experience!!! Nick and I can walk by a full bus and at every window a head is staring in our direction. Everywhere we go we get this! While we were hunting down the general store (we got a little lost) a car a boys (age 20-25) drove by. I didn't see it but Nick sat that one of the boys stuck his tongue out at me in a really crude manner. Unfortunately for the boys they were planning on stopping a few feet in front of us. The one who stuck his tongue out got out of the car and walked past us. I was a step or two in front of Nick because of the narrow walkway, so he gave me a suggestive look. Once again Nick noticed but I did not because Nick had already told me about the first look and I was trying not to make eye contact. Then Nick walked by and gave him the don't you dare look. The guy barely came up to Nick's shoulder (like nearly every body here) so needless to say he scurried off rather quickly!
We finally made it to the general store, bought our supplies, and then walked about a mile and a half back to our apartment. Thankfully no more excitement on the way back. Just a nice, warm walk.
When we returned to our new home we were exhausted! It was now about 6:30 but we were still suffering from jet lag so our eyes were beginning to droop. We quickly swept the entire apartment because we could not stand the extreme filth. One of Nick's co-workers at Navdanya came by and introduced himself. His name is Manu and he seemed very nice! After Manu left (he was only there for a few moments) we had a nice lazy night of reading and cribbage and hit the sack about 7:45.
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
Once again, up at 5. No matter how hard we try to push ourselves to sleep in late our eyes open way to early. So up we went. It was the first morning in Delhi so far that we did not wake up to the sound of pouring rain. Nick and I were positive that Monsoon season had started early and were thinking we brought all the wrong supplies until Manu told us that it is really rare that it rains this early in Delhi and that it doesn't even tend to rain very hard during monsoon season. He attributed the weird weather to global warming and the melting of the icecaps. Both Nick and I were sad to see the cool weather that came with the rain leave us because the muggy heat is back!
We got up in the morning and did a quick workout before hitting the showers. Then off to work we went. We walked with Manu and talked about all sorts of things. It was very humid so by the time we got to the office Nick and I were both drenched in sweat. The office was a different one from the one that we went to before so we were glad to have Manu to guide our way. We went inside and instantly felt the relief of the fans. They were just installing the AC so it had yet to be turned on but the fans felt wonderful!
(That's Manu on the computer)For the first few hours Nick and I just sat around reading and using the internet because no one was quite sure what we were supposed to be doing. Then at lunch time Nick received his first assignment. The assignment was to research a current supreme court case dealing with street vendors. Currently there is legislation to try to shut down all street vendors who sell and cook food on the street on the grounds of city "beautification" and the claim that it is unsanitary. A possible reason for this is to cause a need for corporations like Walmart to move in to provide jobs and goods. Much of the Delhi master plan and other planned developments in India are ghost written by multi national corporations looking to influence the direction of India's development and cash in on the upper class's desire to "modernize." Unfortunately a step like this would put millions of people out of work, raising the level of poverty to unimaginable heights. Hopefully that explains it a little.
We decided that since the school I am going to be working at is far away, I will go to work with Nick and he will come teach with me. I am such a spectacle here that I don't even want to try going out by myself yet! Maybe once I feel a bit more comfortable... but who knows if that will ever happen! It helps having Nick with me because he is so huge compared to everyone here that no one wants to mess with him. In truth I am huge compared to most people here as well but I am a woman and woman seem very meek in this society from what I have seen so far. So regardless of my stature and my attitude I am still viewed in a similar way.
After work Manu took us to get some bedding. The night before we had slept on little more than a wooden plank and we were definitely feeling it! We were very happy that Manu came with us because he helped us not to get ripped off like we probably would have. When ever we think we are getting a good deal on something we always find out later that for this society we payed way to much! So we were thankful that Manu came with his fine tuned bargaining skills!
We then walked back to our apartment. Manu invited us over to the neighbors house for tea and dinner but we had a few tasks to get done. First we went down to the creepy basement of our apartment complex where the computer lab is so I could talk to my parents. Unfortunately right as we hooked up to computer the power to the building went out so once again talking to the parents had to wait. So we walked to the store to get some water and then headed to our neighbors house.
Her name is Tasnim (pronounced tas-neem). Manu said she is 36 or 37 but she does not look it at all! She has no husband or children to look after so she has adopted Manu and his roommate, Mukesh (our other co-worker). She makes fun of them for just showing up on her doorstep every night but she always takes good care of them! She cooked us dinner and fed us desert and we talked for a few hours. It was really fun! I think Nick wants to become her next adopted child while we are here because he has yet to stop talking about the food.
Last night she made us tea (real chi tea... Nick and I are thoroughly obsessed with it! SO YUMMY!) Then she cooked a lamb stew... it got a real big YUUUUUMMMMMMMMM from Nick! And lentils in a green sauce... also delicious... with home made bread (sort of like a thick tortilla only way better!) and rice.
Then came desert. Nick and I had our first fresh mango's. I have never had anything like it! They are even better than Yaju claimed they would be!! After we each ate 2 or 3 mango's Tasnim remembered the ice cream in the fridge and told us to mix it with the mango's. Lets just say I have a new favorite way to eat ice cream! Then she pulled out some chocolate that a friend made for her... after all that we almost had to roll Nick out of there!
We all sat around a talked for a little while longer until neither of us could keep our eyes open any longer. So we headed up the stairs to our apartment and went straight to sleep!
What else have we learned so far?
While at dinner we learned that in Indian culture if you have a cold you do not drink anything cold. We learned this because Manu was scared to eat the ice cream with his cold.
Women are seen as shy and weak. I have met very few strong minded women here (but I have met a few!). People expect it of me as well, something as simple as paying for my own purchase when Nick is by my side gets a funny look. Nick is constantly trying to get me to be more confident with this society.
We have been ripped off SO many times! We keep thinking we are getting a great deal because things are so much cheaper here than they are in the states. None the less when we tell people what we paid for various items they tell us we paid far to much!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Tour de Delhi and Nick loses his Key
Before I retell the story, let me just say that a person can learn a lot in a 12 hour period. Kristin and I went from being really scared to fairly comfortable with our surroundings in a very short period of time.
On Sunday, we woke up really early (around 6 AM) did some sit ups/push ups and took a shower. Our hotel (Namaskar) was in a really slum-like neighborhood in Delhi down a dark, smelly alley. I think it was actually a market area, but we arrived at night so it was hard to tell. We woke up to loud rain. This was pretty surprising to us because the week before, the weather forecasts had the temperature at 120. So we saw the rain as a godsend.
We still didn’t have any direction on what to do in Delhi, so we just kind of left the hotel and started walking around. The streets were fairly empty early in the morning. As we left the alley, we were immediately stalked by tut-tut drivers who wanted to drive us all over. We told them that we were fine walking through the neighborhood, but one wouldn’t leave us alone for about ten blocks as we walked through the neighborhood. Our intentions were to find an ATM, get some food, and maybe buy a cell phone. We found an electronics “store” but decided we would wait to pick up the phone. As we continued walking down the street we came to a busy street where we could go no further without severely endangering ourselves. Another tut-tut driver had stalked us down the street and gave us a “told you so” look. We let him take us to what we though was the government tourism office. A person at our hotel later told us that there really wasn’t such a thing and that his tours were far cheaper.
Anyways, we had nothing to do, so we let the government tour guy book a day long car tour of Delhi for about 900 Rupees; the equivalent of around $22.50. This probably turned out to be a lot for the tour, but we didn’t know any better and being conned out of a few bucks isn’t too big of a deal for us. So we took the tour with a driver named Sanjeev.
So we got in the car and started off on the tour. The first stop was at an old Muslim temple called Jama Masjid. We got out of the car and walked up the stairs to the temple. However, they were going to charge us admission and make us take our shoes off so we just took pictures from the outside. We were still very wary of getting ripped off at this point, so we thought very carefully before doing anything. Plus, it was the first stop of our journey, so we didn’t know what was ahead of us. As we got back into the car to go to the next place, a very poor woman with a baby approached the car and asked us for money. We refused her repeated requests, but it was very hard to do. She gave us a very disgusted look as we drove off and I felt bad… Kristin consoled me and I got better.
Next we drove by the Red Fort, which is where the King of India used to live (I think). It’s a gigantic red fort… On the way to our next destination, we drove by a bus accident. As crazy as the driving is here, it’s amazing that there aren’t more accidents and people hit by cars. The driving reminds me of people walking down a crowded city street pushing by one another and weaving in and out. Add horns and cars to that same idea and you’ve got Indian driving.
We then drove to Raj Ghat, which is a beautiful garden and also the burial site of Mahatma Gandhi (sp?). We told our driver we were hungry and he shared his breakfast with us. It was very tasty even though, as Kristin whispered eloquently to me, it looked like a turd wrapped in bread. We thanked Sanjeev, told him we would buy him lunch later, and then entered the garden. An 8 year old boy named Jahle greeted and showed us around. He was obviously taught to work tourists because he immediately took to us and start dragging us around to places as a guide. We didn’t mind very much because he had tons of personality. He asked Kristin and I our names and told us that we were very lucky and beautiful together. I was stoked because I saw all sorts of new birds that I had never seen before. I used the skills that Sergei taught me and captured many great images. He showed us around the gardens and after a while, we got tired and wanted to move on. Jahle was very disappointed because he wanted to work us for longer. There’s sort of an unspoken rule that if a person comes up to you and gives information, that they have done a service and require compensation. I gave Jahle 20 rupees and he gave me a very disgusted look. He asked for 100 rupees. I refused. Then he demanded American money. I refused again and we walked off back to the car. At the car, I found out that we also had to pay parking for every place we went to. It’s usually only about ten rupees, though (a quarter) so not so bad. Basically, if someone sets up a cab ride or some other service for you, that’s not the price. That’s the starting price. Then you tip the driver later on depending on how well you like the service.
The next place we saw was Humayun’s Tomb. This place was great and we spent about an hour there. It’s basically a large palace with a few different tombs on the grounds. We paid admission, walked in, and started checking the place out. An old man, who claimed to be a retired history teacher walked with us and told us the history of Humayan’s Tomb. He went very fast and what I got out of it was this: Humayan was rule of India in the early 16th century, but he was a drunk and had too many concubines, so he lost power, so he left to Persia (modern day Iran), and after he died there many years later his body was moved back to Delhi and placed in the tomb. I hope that’s somewhat correct. We then moved on to different parts of the grounds where we saw that a large reconstruction and salvaging project was underway to protect the temples/tombs. We saw lots of peacocks, squirrels, parrots, farrel dogs, and crows. It started to get very hot as the sun came out. Also, the winds shifted and the terrible smell from a power plant engulfed Kristin and me. Yuck! So we left.
On a brief side note, it is very polluted here in Delhi. The test that Kristin and I have been using to see just how bad it is, is to pick our noses. Our boogers are black! That’s an indication that there is a lot of soot and other particulate matter in the air.
Next, we asked Sanjeev to take us to lunch. He said that he would take us to a very expensive restaurant and Kristin and I were a bit nervous about how much money we would spend. However, neither of us wanted to risk it on food so early in the trip (we still don’t know what is safe to eat), so we agreed. We offered lunch to Sanjeev to make good on our promise from earlier but he very frankly told us that he would prefer that we took that money and put it towards whatever tip we wished to give him at the end of the trip. We agreed and went to eat alone.
The place was called the Chicken Inn. The restaurant was comparable to an upscale Chinese restaurant in the US. Immediately, the staff noticed that tourists were on the way, so they put us at a giant table and gave us about five waiters. We were going to eat only Chinese food, but the owner looked disappointed that we weren’t eating Indian, so we let him choose a dish for us. We ate Garlic Naan, Navratan Curry, some veggie egg roles, and hot and sour soup. We paid 640 Rupees (16 bucks) for a very large, filling, fantastic meal. I usually spend way more for one meal at the market of choice or New Seasons! I definitely got the “itis.”
We left the Chicken Inn and started driving towards Safdarjang’s Tomb. On the way there, we saw a great disparity in living conditions. We drove by large mansions where politicians and rich people live and also saw people in shacks and tents on the side of the road. People survive here by just fitting in the cracks wherever they can. Very crowded cracks.
Safdarjang’s Tomb is Delhi’s Taj Mahal, or at least that’s what Sanjeev told us. He also told us that until young men and women are married, they are not allowed to be alone together, so they tell their parents that they are going to school or market and instead go to Safdarjang’s Tomb to “flirt.” Telling this story gave Sanjeev great pleasure. We went inside the grounds and as we made our way to the main building a man approached us was about to give us the history when we told him that we already knew it. This shocked him. We of course had no idea, but we were experimenting with ways to stop people from soliciting us for money. I told him that I had been to this place many times and had heard the story repeatedly and was disinterested in hearing it again. He said, “you heard this from me?!” I told him that I didn’t remember who told me. He insisted that he could tell it again better. We repeatedly insisted that we wanted no service from him and he was very, very disappointed. He gave me the famous Delhi face of disappointment. When we returned to the car from touring the grounds, Sanjeev had a grin on his face and asked if we had seen the kids flirting. We had! This again gave Sanjeev pleasure.
As the day went on, Sanjeev began to loosen up. He told us more stories and played Bollywood music to which he sang. He asked if Kristin and I were married. I said no. He gave us a strange look and quickly recovered. Then he asked us if we knew the meaning of Wife. We said no. Apparently it is “wonderful instrument for everything.” Kristin was unimpressed but laughed regardless. Apparently husband means smile-drunk. Hus – smile and band – drunk.
Next, we went to Qutb Minar which apparently is an old Muslim Temple. At this point it was about 4 PM and it was getting really hot. We went into the grounds of the historical place and found a nice shady place under some trees. There were a few families sitting over in this general area. A very cute, young kid walked over to us and looked at us funny. I took his picture. Then, a few minutes later, his entire family came over, consisting of 3 20’s – 30’s grown men, two wives, and 6 kids. They asked us where we were from and we chatted with them about our trip and what we were doing in India. They handed Kristin their baby for some reason and had her take pictures with it for some time. I was distracted talking to the men, but later Kristin told me that one of the daughters (12 yrs?) tried to get into her traveler’s purse while she was distracted. After Kristin noticed and stopped her, she said something to her parents in a different language and they asked Kristin if everything was alright and if they were bothering us. After that happened, the exchange became a bit different. The men asked me if they were bothering us as well. I assured them that they weren’t, but the mood of the interaction had changed. They left and told us to come find them if we had any questions. After Kristin and I exchanged stories, I checked my traveler’s purse and nothing was missing. We theorized that either that the little girl was acting alone or that the family as a whole was running a game of distract and conquer on us. Either way, Kristin and I are very protective of our traveler’s purses because they have our money and passports. It is possible that it could have been a misunderstanding, but after hearing Kristin’s account of the story, and just looking back on the strangeness of the whole interaction, it appears that they wanted some duckets!
We left the shade shortly after and took pictures of the large tour on the grounds. It is a very impressive piece of architecture!
After leaving Qutb Minar, we asked Sanjeev to take us to the Lotus Temple. We stood in line for about 15 minutes trying to get in. The temple was very beautiful inside, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures ☹. It is a house for all religions according to the girl who ushered us in. This trip was very quick and we then had Sanjeev take us home. Kristin’s eyes were glazed over on the entire trip back across Delhi as she got no sleep the night before. We decided to go back to Namaskar and put her to sleep.
When we got out of the car, we gave Sanjeev a $20 tip in American money. We were afraid that this wouldn’t be enough. We are still getting a hold of how much you tip someone without getting the disappointed face. I didn’t see, but Kristin said that Sanjeev took the money put it to his heart and said a silent prayer as we left the cab.
Sanjeev dropped us off about a mile from our hotel so our next job was navigating the busy market streets. All of the markets were open at this point and the streets were filled with people. It was much different than earlier in the day when we woke up. People tried to solicit us the whole way back to the hotel, but we were tired and on a mission so we didn’t stop at all. We thought that we would go out later and shop, but as soon as Kristin’s head hit the pillow she was out like a light. I read a chapter of Dr. Shiva’s book Biopiracy and then fell asleep as well. I dozed off at about 6 PM.
Kristin woke up at 4 AM and proceeded to stare at me and play with my arm until I woke up too. I was grumpy and made her leave me alone until 5 AM. We then got up and worked out and talked til about 8 AM, when we decided that it was time to go to Navdanya. We had the hotel get us a taxi and went on another 30 minute tour of Delhi on the way to Hauz Khaz where the office is located. Our driver was very fun and he showed us sights along the way. When we got to the office, I tipped him 100 Rupees and got the disappointed face. I think that Sanjeev told the hotel owner about our big tip the day before and our driver today probably expected a huge tip as well. So for now, we have a good tipping reputation with one person and everyone else thinks we are stingy!
We made it to Navdanya and the people acted like they had no idea who I was. They sat us down and asked us where we from like we had come on business. Priya, who Yaju said to find, was not at work yet. I had someone from the office call her and then they figured out who I was. When Priya got to the office, she told us that someone else had the key to the apartment. As we waited, someone brought us some fantastic tea. Yumm! Then someone handed our apartment key to Kristin. She made the mistake of handing it to me. The workers at Navdanya called a Tut-tut for us. Amazingly, all of our luggage fit into this tiny car thingy. We started following one of the Navdanya guys, who was on a motorcycle, to our new apartment. I noticed about a block into the trip that I had lost the key. I told our driver to stop the guy in front of us so we could go back, but he didn’t speak English. He got the idea that I wanted to stop though and started beeping wildly. Unfortunately honking the horn is so common that the guy didn’t get the idea, so I had the driver stop. After we reached our destination, I explained to my coworker that I left the key at Navdanya. He looked at me like I was a moron. He started speaking to the landlord in Hindi and they both laughed. Kristin thinks they were talking about how stupid the big dumb animal is. She is probably right. Either way, we got into our apartment and it is it pretty neat. We are here for the day and work starts tomorrow!
A few conclusions thus far:
All of our relationships in Delhi are based on money. I hope we can make some friendships soon. Apparently there are other young people working at Navdanya, but they are away at Dehra Dun for the week.
People here look at Kristin like she is a freak of nature. She is taller than 99% of the men in Delhi. It’s obvious that some of them are amazed and others are intrigued. I think that the women look at her with extreme jealousy. She thinks that they just think she’s a freak.
People here think that I am scary. I reshaved my head and yesterday I wore camouflage shorts. Multiple people made comments about the military and I am pretty sure that people are under the impression that I am a soldier. However, it’s not too far fetched from the way that I look right now. Plus I am taller than every single person we have seen so far, save one Spanish tourist who was about 6’8. I think the freakishness between Kristin and myself acts as a pretty good deterrent for people thinking about deceiving us or stealing things from us.
Upper middle class living in some parts of Delhi is similar to the poorest apartment housing in the states. We will definitely be more appreciative of how privileged we are when we get back to the states.
Ok, my back hurts… I’ve been typing way too long. Back to experiences!
On Sunday, we woke up really early (around 6 AM) did some sit ups/push ups and took a shower. Our hotel (Namaskar) was in a really slum-like neighborhood in Delhi down a dark, smelly alley. I think it was actually a market area, but we arrived at night so it was hard to tell. We woke up to loud rain. This was pretty surprising to us because the week before, the weather forecasts had the temperature at 120. So we saw the rain as a godsend.
We still didn’t have any direction on what to do in Delhi, so we just kind of left the hotel and started walking around. The streets were fairly empty early in the morning. As we left the alley, we were immediately stalked by tut-tut drivers who wanted to drive us all over. We told them that we were fine walking through the neighborhood, but one wouldn’t leave us alone for about ten blocks as we walked through the neighborhood. Our intentions were to find an ATM, get some food, and maybe buy a cell phone. We found an electronics “store” but decided we would wait to pick up the phone. As we continued walking down the street we came to a busy street where we could go no further without severely endangering ourselves. Another tut-tut driver had stalked us down the street and gave us a “told you so” look. We let him take us to what we though was the government tourism office. A person at our hotel later told us that there really wasn’t such a thing and that his tours were far cheaper.
Anyways, we had nothing to do, so we let the government tour guy book a day long car tour of Delhi for about 900 Rupees; the equivalent of around $22.50. This probably turned out to be a lot for the tour, but we didn’t know any better and being conned out of a few bucks isn’t too big of a deal for us. So we took the tour with a driver named Sanjeev.
So we got in the car and started off on the tour. The first stop was at an old Muslim temple called Jama Masjid. We got out of the car and walked up the stairs to the temple. However, they were going to charge us admission and make us take our shoes off so we just took pictures from the outside. We were still very wary of getting ripped off at this point, so we thought very carefully before doing anything. Plus, it was the first stop of our journey, so we didn’t know what was ahead of us. As we got back into the car to go to the next place, a very poor woman with a baby approached the car and asked us for money. We refused her repeated requests, but it was very hard to do. She gave us a very disgusted look as we drove off and I felt bad… Kristin consoled me and I got better.
Next we drove by the Red Fort, which is where the King of India used to live (I think). It’s a gigantic red fort… On the way to our next destination, we drove by a bus accident. As crazy as the driving is here, it’s amazing that there aren’t more accidents and people hit by cars. The driving reminds me of people walking down a crowded city street pushing by one another and weaving in and out. Add horns and cars to that same idea and you’ve got Indian driving.
We then drove to Raj Ghat, which is a beautiful garden and also the burial site of Mahatma Gandhi (sp?). We told our driver we were hungry and he shared his breakfast with us. It was very tasty even though, as Kristin whispered eloquently to me, it looked like a turd wrapped in bread. We thanked Sanjeev, told him we would buy him lunch later, and then entered the garden. An 8 year old boy named Jahle greeted and showed us around. He was obviously taught to work tourists because he immediately took to us and start dragging us around to places as a guide. We didn’t mind very much because he had tons of personality. He asked Kristin and I our names and told us that we were very lucky and beautiful together. I was stoked because I saw all sorts of new birds that I had never seen before. I used the skills that Sergei taught me and captured many great images. He showed us around the gardens and after a while, we got tired and wanted to move on. Jahle was very disappointed because he wanted to work us for longer. There’s sort of an unspoken rule that if a person comes up to you and gives information, that they have done a service and require compensation. I gave Jahle 20 rupees and he gave me a very disgusted look. He asked for 100 rupees. I refused. Then he demanded American money. I refused again and we walked off back to the car. At the car, I found out that we also had to pay parking for every place we went to. It’s usually only about ten rupees, though (a quarter) so not so bad. Basically, if someone sets up a cab ride or some other service for you, that’s not the price. That’s the starting price. Then you tip the driver later on depending on how well you like the service.
The next place we saw was Humayun’s Tomb. This place was great and we spent about an hour there. It’s basically a large palace with a few different tombs on the grounds. We paid admission, walked in, and started checking the place out. An old man, who claimed to be a retired history teacher walked with us and told us the history of Humayan’s Tomb. He went very fast and what I got out of it was this: Humayan was rule of India in the early 16th century, but he was a drunk and had too many concubines, so he lost power, so he left to Persia (modern day Iran), and after he died there many years later his body was moved back to Delhi and placed in the tomb. I hope that’s somewhat correct. We then moved on to different parts of the grounds where we saw that a large reconstruction and salvaging project was underway to protect the temples/tombs. We saw lots of peacocks, squirrels, parrots, farrel dogs, and crows. It started to get very hot as the sun came out. Also, the winds shifted and the terrible smell from a power plant engulfed Kristin and me. Yuck! So we left.
On a brief side note, it is very polluted here in Delhi. The test that Kristin and I have been using to see just how bad it is, is to pick our noses. Our boogers are black! That’s an indication that there is a lot of soot and other particulate matter in the air.
Next, we asked Sanjeev to take us to lunch. He said that he would take us to a very expensive restaurant and Kristin and I were a bit nervous about how much money we would spend. However, neither of us wanted to risk it on food so early in the trip (we still don’t know what is safe to eat), so we agreed. We offered lunch to Sanjeev to make good on our promise from earlier but he very frankly told us that he would prefer that we took that money and put it towards whatever tip we wished to give him at the end of the trip. We agreed and went to eat alone.
The place was called the Chicken Inn. The restaurant was comparable to an upscale Chinese restaurant in the US. Immediately, the staff noticed that tourists were on the way, so they put us at a giant table and gave us about five waiters. We were going to eat only Chinese food, but the owner looked disappointed that we weren’t eating Indian, so we let him choose a dish for us. We ate Garlic Naan, Navratan Curry, some veggie egg roles, and hot and sour soup. We paid 640 Rupees (16 bucks) for a very large, filling, fantastic meal. I usually spend way more for one meal at the market of choice or New Seasons! I definitely got the “itis.”
We left the Chicken Inn and started driving towards Safdarjang’s Tomb. On the way there, we saw a great disparity in living conditions. We drove by large mansions where politicians and rich people live and also saw people in shacks and tents on the side of the road. People survive here by just fitting in the cracks wherever they can. Very crowded cracks.
Safdarjang’s Tomb is Delhi’s Taj Mahal, or at least that’s what Sanjeev told us. He also told us that until young men and women are married, they are not allowed to be alone together, so they tell their parents that they are going to school or market and instead go to Safdarjang’s Tomb to “flirt.” Telling this story gave Sanjeev great pleasure. We went inside the grounds and as we made our way to the main building a man approached us was about to give us the history when we told him that we already knew it. This shocked him. We of course had no idea, but we were experimenting with ways to stop people from soliciting us for money. I told him that I had been to this place many times and had heard the story repeatedly and was disinterested in hearing it again. He said, “you heard this from me?!” I told him that I didn’t remember who told me. He insisted that he could tell it again better. We repeatedly insisted that we wanted no service from him and he was very, very disappointed. He gave me the famous Delhi face of disappointment. When we returned to the car from touring the grounds, Sanjeev had a grin on his face and asked if we had seen the kids flirting. We had! This again gave Sanjeev pleasure.
As the day went on, Sanjeev began to loosen up. He told us more stories and played Bollywood music to which he sang. He asked if Kristin and I were married. I said no. He gave us a strange look and quickly recovered. Then he asked us if we knew the meaning of Wife. We said no. Apparently it is “wonderful instrument for everything.” Kristin was unimpressed but laughed regardless. Apparently husband means smile-drunk. Hus – smile and band – drunk.
Next, we went to Qutb Minar which apparently is an old Muslim Temple. At this point it was about 4 PM and it was getting really hot. We went into the grounds of the historical place and found a nice shady place under some trees. There were a few families sitting over in this general area. A very cute, young kid walked over to us and looked at us funny. I took his picture. Then, a few minutes later, his entire family came over, consisting of 3 20’s – 30’s grown men, two wives, and 6 kids. They asked us where we were from and we chatted with them about our trip and what we were doing in India. They handed Kristin their baby for some reason and had her take pictures with it for some time. I was distracted talking to the men, but later Kristin told me that one of the daughters (12 yrs?) tried to get into her traveler’s purse while she was distracted. After Kristin noticed and stopped her, she said something to her parents in a different language and they asked Kristin if everything was alright and if they were bothering us. After that happened, the exchange became a bit different. The men asked me if they were bothering us as well. I assured them that they weren’t, but the mood of the interaction had changed. They left and told us to come find them if we had any questions. After Kristin and I exchanged stories, I checked my traveler’s purse and nothing was missing. We theorized that either that the little girl was acting alone or that the family as a whole was running a game of distract and conquer on us. Either way, Kristin and I are very protective of our traveler’s purses because they have our money and passports. It is possible that it could have been a misunderstanding, but after hearing Kristin’s account of the story, and just looking back on the strangeness of the whole interaction, it appears that they wanted some duckets!
We left the shade shortly after and took pictures of the large tour on the grounds. It is a very impressive piece of architecture!
After leaving Qutb Minar, we asked Sanjeev to take us to the Lotus Temple. We stood in line for about 15 minutes trying to get in. The temple was very beautiful inside, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures ☹. It is a house for all religions according to the girl who ushered us in. This trip was very quick and we then had Sanjeev take us home. Kristin’s eyes were glazed over on the entire trip back across Delhi as she got no sleep the night before. We decided to go back to Namaskar and put her to sleep.
When we got out of the car, we gave Sanjeev a $20 tip in American money. We were afraid that this wouldn’t be enough. We are still getting a hold of how much you tip someone without getting the disappointed face. I didn’t see, but Kristin said that Sanjeev took the money put it to his heart and said a silent prayer as we left the cab.
Sanjeev dropped us off about a mile from our hotel so our next job was navigating the busy market streets. All of the markets were open at this point and the streets were filled with people. It was much different than earlier in the day when we woke up. People tried to solicit us the whole way back to the hotel, but we were tired and on a mission so we didn’t stop at all. We thought that we would go out later and shop, but as soon as Kristin’s head hit the pillow she was out like a light. I read a chapter of Dr. Shiva’s book Biopiracy and then fell asleep as well. I dozed off at about 6 PM.
Kristin woke up at 4 AM and proceeded to stare at me and play with my arm until I woke up too. I was grumpy and made her leave me alone until 5 AM. We then got up and worked out and talked til about 8 AM, when we decided that it was time to go to Navdanya. We had the hotel get us a taxi and went on another 30 minute tour of Delhi on the way to Hauz Khaz where the office is located. Our driver was very fun and he showed us sights along the way. When we got to the office, I tipped him 100 Rupees and got the disappointed face. I think that Sanjeev told the hotel owner about our big tip the day before and our driver today probably expected a huge tip as well. So for now, we have a good tipping reputation with one person and everyone else thinks we are stingy!
We made it to Navdanya and the people acted like they had no idea who I was. They sat us down and asked us where we from like we had come on business. Priya, who Yaju said to find, was not at work yet. I had someone from the office call her and then they figured out who I was. When Priya got to the office, she told us that someone else had the key to the apartment. As we waited, someone brought us some fantastic tea. Yumm! Then someone handed our apartment key to Kristin. She made the mistake of handing it to me. The workers at Navdanya called a Tut-tut for us. Amazingly, all of our luggage fit into this tiny car thingy. We started following one of the Navdanya guys, who was on a motorcycle, to our new apartment. I noticed about a block into the trip that I had lost the key. I told our driver to stop the guy in front of us so we could go back, but he didn’t speak English. He got the idea that I wanted to stop though and started beeping wildly. Unfortunately honking the horn is so common that the guy didn’t get the idea, so I had the driver stop. After we reached our destination, I explained to my coworker that I left the key at Navdanya. He looked at me like I was a moron. He started speaking to the landlord in Hindi and they both laughed. Kristin thinks they were talking about how stupid the big dumb animal is. She is probably right. Either way, we got into our apartment and it is it pretty neat. We are here for the day and work starts tomorrow!
A few conclusions thus far:
All of our relationships in Delhi are based on money. I hope we can make some friendships soon. Apparently there are other young people working at Navdanya, but they are away at Dehra Dun for the week.
People here look at Kristin like she is a freak of nature. She is taller than 99% of the men in Delhi. It’s obvious that some of them are amazed and others are intrigued. I think that the women look at her with extreme jealousy. She thinks that they just think she’s a freak.
People here think that I am scary. I reshaved my head and yesterday I wore camouflage shorts. Multiple people made comments about the military and I am pretty sure that people are under the impression that I am a soldier. However, it’s not too far fetched from the way that I look right now. Plus I am taller than every single person we have seen so far, save one Spanish tourist who was about 6’8. I think the freakishness between Kristin and myself acts as a pretty good deterrent for people thinking about deceiving us or stealing things from us.
Upper middle class living in some parts of Delhi is similar to the poorest apartment housing in the states. We will definitely be more appreciative of how privileged we are when we get back to the states.
Ok, my back hurts… I’ve been typing way too long. Back to experiences!
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