Incredible India!

Finally got around to uploading our photos from India (March 8^th–17^th).

We had a great trip. Marc was there for about 8 days prior to my arrival to get some field work going in Lucknow (in Uttar Pradesh).  Then we met up in Delhi, spending about a day there exploring Lodi Gardens, wondering about the hip but also historic Hauz Khas area, and did our part to help the Indian economy at Dilli Haat.

We then flew to Udaipur, Rajasthan and spent about 5 days there for work (Marc) and leisure (both of us, but mostly Shuwen). We spent our first day in the old section of the city visiting the City Palace, the Jagdish Temple, the Monsoon Palace, and tried to get ourselves oriented around the 3 main lakes in town. We had a last minute visit to a nearby craft village as well and made a few purchases there. It was Shiva’s birthday, and also learned about the tradition of consuming blessed bhang (known as marijuana/weed in this part of the world).

The next day, we made a day-trip to see Kumbhalgarh and its fort, stopping for a leisurely chai break (the best gingery masala chai I’ve ever had) on the way. Kumbhalgarh was quite an impressive sight with its 36 kilometer red sandstone fort that delineates it, and the large palace on top of the mountain.

There was also an incredible number of local (Indian) visitors, which I found heartwarming. On the way back to Udaipur, we made a detour to marvel at a magnificent white marble Jain temple in Ranakpur. The intricate carvings on practically every inch of the temple was breathtaking – it reputedly has 1,444 pillars of which none have identical carvings. All temples require the removal of shoes, and somehow walking barefoot on the cool marble brought about an even greater sense of tranquility (which was promptly cut short upon stepping out to the hot steps outside!) Along the way to these sights and back, we drove along hilly, windy roads and enjoyed beautiful countryside views of wheat (on the verge of turning golden yellow for harvest), sugarcane (an odd crop given the aridness of the region), and corn.

During the two days when Marc had meetings, I spent one morning exploring the local market (for a full experience of the colors, smells, erratic traffic, and people), discovered Bhang Street, and then explore the “Hero” museum, which actually provided me with a lot more historical context of the various characters in Rajasthani’s history. I also took a 5-hour long cooking class one day, and I learned how to make pakora, lots of different masalas curries, pulao, briyani, naan, chapattis, and various kinds of parathas – all for US$12 (and I got to eat the food too!) Otherwise, I caught up on some reading by the rooftop pool.

 On our last full day in Udaipur, we drove out to a village about 2 hours away for a community meeting set up by a local NGO, Seva Mandir, whom Marc might be starting up a cookstove (chula in Hindi) related project with soon. We were surprised and amazed by the turnout. There were easily 700 people from various nearby villages who showed up for the meeting under the shade of a huge Banyan tree. The colorful saris, the mix of children, women and men sitting patiently under this tree was quite a sight. It took a while for the meeting to get started as we waited for representatives from a German NGO that has been funding Seva Mandir to arrive, but the locals were incredibly patient and orderly. We heard some feedback about the various cookstoves some members of these villages had been testing out and learned about Seva Mandir’s work in this community (since the last 70s!) That last evening in Udaipur, we caught a traditional puppet and folk dancing performance (parts of which was truly remarkable! – see the pictures to guess which one!), followed by a romantic lake-side dinner under the stars (the only thing that made it less fun were the mosquitos).

Back in Delhi, we were able to meet up with a fellow Chapel Hillian & good friend (Harsha) who was also doing some work in India for a lovely meal (and Marc got a good run in with him the next morning). And of course, we managed to make it out to Agra to see the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal on our very last day in India. Lots of people had warned us about how aggressive the local guides could be, but we did not think it was too bad. Still, we simply opted for an audio guide instead, which was really good when the device worked. There were a few technical issues from time to time, but it provided some really  great details and I would recommend this option. The Taj was definitely opulent, especially for a mausoleum. Probably the one thing that I will remember most about the Taj is the number of people who were there! How Mumtaz Mahal (‘chosen one of the palace’) and Shah Jahan (eventhough he should be the one to blame) ever get any peace in their grave is beyond me. We made it back to Delhi around 10pm, had a late but yummy Goa-inspired dinner at Gunpowder, had quick showers back in our B&B and headed to the airport for our 3:40am flight (which ended up being delayed until 6am – we were exhausted by the time we boarded that plane!) We have a funny (potentially bhang-related) story about the taxi-ride to the Delhi airport, but I’ll save that for another day.

Enjoy the pictures!