Delhi

India is a very large country with major cities far apart. It was a long drive from Jaipur to Delhi, but Tarun, being from there, drove right to the YMCA Hostel where we had reservations for a week. The room was clean; breakfast and supper were included in the modest tariff. We'd chosen to share a bathroom, which turned out fine, since we hardly saw anyone else in the one shower, one sink and two stall common room. After we rested a while we went "exploring" as PC likes to do. I wanted posters of the Taj Mahal and PC wanted maps. We were told we could get them just a block that way and across the street. We managed the block that way just fine, but crossing the 4 lane/median/high curbs to the median had us looking this way and that for a while. A Seik came up to us and offered to take us across the street for 10Rs (which is pennies US) so we agreed. When we were on the auto rickshaw and rolling he told us he'd take us to his family's mall where the prices were lower. I said no, but he explained the mall I wanted to go to was no good. I reminded him of the deal we'd made. He kept talking about his family mall. I told him I was getting out and put my foot out of the rickshaw. He said Oh, no, no, no. I take you. All I had was a 50 R note,so I gave it to him and waited for my 40Rs change. He gave it to me reluctantly. I thanked him without much gratitude in my heart for him, but a lot for being across the street.
PC, who had been silent this whole time , told me that there was a sign at the Y that said if guests got their transportation for anyone except through the Y tourist guide that they weren't responsible for that guest. Oh, OK, from now on it's the tourist guide for me!!! We found the book store, got my posters and his map and started back. This time we crossed the street at a traffic light (What a concept - crossing the street at a traffic light). We got back in time for dinner, which was spicy hot for PC, but OK for me. We felt safe and full and slept well.

The next day we rested and met Grace (Mercy's sister) to plan out our week in Delhi. She went with us to the official tour guide and we planned the trip to the Golden temple in Amritsar, our Delhi tour and the Taj Mahal in Agra with rest days interspersed. She is such a blessing to have around, to speak the local language, bargain for us and just to visit with.

The Golden Temple is a Seik place of worship with 4 gates in the 4 cardinal directions (signifying the 4 major castes in India), but with only 1 entrance to the temple (signifying that wherever we came from, we all enter the temple together). I like that. PC had researched this part of the trip and was impressed that Seiks feed people at their temples as long as anyone wants to eat - for free. They take care of their own as well as others. Grace said she's never seen a Seik begging. I was impressed that all the people who work inside the 3 or 4 acre area are volunteers. They may be scrubbing the marble with a small brush in hard to get to places or singing inside the temple, they may be doctors of laborers, but all are equal there.

Inside, there is a wide walkway around the center where people sit and pray and/or read from a small book. In the center which is square there were 3 musicians, all 3 miked and piped out to the whole compound. One has a drum and 2 have a harmonium, which is an accordion-type key board played by one hand while the other opens and closes the back of the box-like instrument. There were 2 men sitting on either side of "the Book" which has writings of the gurus, even Muslim poetry. It's about 2'x4 or 5' when opened. it is covered with a white cloth. There is a man sitting on the 3rd side by himself with a raised alter-type rectangle in front of him. They all were sitting cross-legged on the floor and sang and played continually as long as we were there, and this place is open 24/7. And by the way, the complete building (3 stories) is covered with gold. We saw it in the early morning, and it was spectacular. We'd spent the night in a hotel that had been recommended to Grace. We got there rather late and left early the next morning, so we didn't really get to enjoy it much. The trip there and back was looooooong, but it was worth it!!!

After a day of rest it was time for our Agra / Taj Mahal trip. We left reasonably early, ate lunch on the way and arrived at the Taj in early afternoon. We had a good driver and an excellent guide. When we got to the entry gate I was surprised to find out that this Raj who was so in love with his wife that he used 20,000 workers over 20 years to build this magnificent tomb for her, also had 2 other wives for whom he built large mausoleums (by US standards) but dinky compared to the Taj. They are, of course, symmetrically places OUTSIDE the gate to the Taj. So, there we stood looking at a famous wonder of the world, the Taj Mahal. Yep, that was it, just like I've seen in pictures since grade school when I was fascinated by the story of such love of a man for his wife and the beautiful monument he built her. Then we passed through the gate and started walking slowly toward the white marble perfectly symmetrical "picture" and it grew larger and larger as we got closer. By the time we climbed the stairs to the raised platform the building and minarets rest on It seemed HUGE. Any picture I've ever seen was of course, small - in a book, a poster. One is awed by the size of the thing. Then one thinks of how they got these blocks of marble from many miles away, how they stacked them up. There are carvings and precious stone powder ground and used as paint. There are mosaics of Arabic writings in onix fitted perfectly into the marble, giving the contrast of matt white and shinny black which can be seen from 400 yds away. Yes, we were impressed!!! On the way back we sat on "the" bench everyone sits on that is directly in front of the Taj, near the entry gate and had our picture made. It still seems unreal to me.

This whole trip has been an unbelievable experience, one we'd never realized if Camile hadn't called me to be the prayer partner to a young Christian lady who came to our church with her Hindu husband. Mercy and Nikhil became part of our family and we theirs. Now their parents Dr. Ashwin & Sunita and "Dr." Earnest & Jainti are our family as well. They have been our guardians, our cooks, our travel guides, our advisers and our friends. Bakul (Nikhil's cousin in Pune) and Grace(Mercy's sister in Delhi) have taken such good care of us when others weren't around to do so. We are so grateful for these young women for the time they gave for us even in their busy processional lives. And we can't forget Sam and Immanuel (Mercy's brothers) whose company we enjoyed thoroughly.

Today we had lunch with Nikhil's grandfather and grandmother - such lovely people. They welcomed us to India, to Pune, and to their home when we were first here over 2 months ago and welcomed us again today. I had a long talk with Grandfather and find him progressive and thankful for all that has happened in India since Independence only 60 years ago. He remembers when the British were here and he had not one word of criticism of them, but highlighted the positives they left behind. Grandmother doesn't speak Eng so our conversation was a lot of gesturing and waiting for translation. She's a sweet lady.

Tomorrow we go for "Slumdog" with Bakul and maybe some last minute shopping. Monday we leave in the morning (that's Ashwin, Sunita, Bakul, PC and I) for Munbai. We're leaving early so we can see some of Mumbai, especially the terrorist's targets and how they're up and running now, and some other highlights. We leave after midnight (making it Tues here) and we'll be there Tue at 3pm. The Hemmingers will collect us at the airport and deposit us at home where I plan to sleep for a day or two.

It is a bitter-sweet time for us. We're anxious to get home, and we're just learning to get along by ourselves in India. It's been "Easy Street" for us here, with everyone cooking for us, washing our clothes, cleaning our room. I'm just wondering if someone is going to do that for us when we get home (JUST KIDDING). Some good old fashioned work will be good for us, just as this trip has been good for us.

I will finish up the rest of the Adventure when I get home. Bye for now. Love,mj