So, I have been to Dehli - felt very surreal! It is on the other side of the planet ... how did petite moi end up here??!
The simple answer is ... the driver took me ... which is surreal in itself. Sitting alone in the back of a seven-seater, wearing sunglasses being driven to ... where ever. I think that I have not yet really landed in India, there is just soooo much to take in. The other day I met someone who said something really obvious, I just had not though of it that way. "In India all your senses are constantly being assaulted." A logical explanation to why I am here only in theory still, sort of watching a movie of life in India.
The cucumber sandwiches, you know, the ones posh people eat in English TV series (do they??), were, however, very real at the Eros Hotel, the five star hotel near Nehru Place in New Delhi where the Delhi Network meets every Tuesday. It was a happy group of people from all over the world that I met for the first time today. Delhi Network is a place for expats to connect, make friends, find inspiration, join different groups, do business, or just ... have a laugh every now and then. I found out about the book club, golfing (finally!!), events, different charities that the group supports where there is a possibility to work as a volunteer, and lots more.
The driver for the day, Samsher from Rajastan, but has been a taxi driver in Delhi NCR (National Capital Region) for 15 years, asked me if I wanted to explore some more while I was there anyway. I still had 2,5 hours before I had to be back at the hotel to receive Maia from the school bus. Well, sure! What do you suggest?
Right around the corner was a temple, the Baha'i House of Worship. With more than 70 million visitors since it opened in 1986 it is one of the most visited edifices in the world. Samsher drops me off and I get out without being at all prepared.
The architecture is indeed spectacular - in the form of a Lotus flower surrounded by 9 pools of water to reflect different shapes, and also help cool the building down, it is a very impressive sight.
If you want to know more about this place, go to this page. It is worth it!
Half way through the surrounding park I have to leave my shoes together with all the other probably 1000 people who were there at the same time as I. We walk down a few steps to the side of the path and there, sort of in the underground with only a narrow oblong opening in the wall - I have to crouch down to reach in there - some people are working in a sort of wardrobe for shoes. I reluctantly hand in my sandals and get only a worn, wooden token with a number on it in return. As I see him walk away with my shoes, but without labelling them with the same number, I have a creepy feeling that I would never walk in those shoes again ... Well, they do this for a living, right? And should, after having practiced over 140 million times, be pretty good at it, so why worry.
The walk back up the steps and to the path is very quick indeed - the paving is so hot, it burns my feet! From here on all the way to the entrance to the temple they had put down a sort of matt to cover the hot slabs. So, here I am in a long line of barefoot people waiting in the hot sun to go in to an almost empty place of worship. Surreality strikes again! The young woman right in front of me keeps turning her head and looks shyly at me. Suddenly she tells me that she is looking because I am so beautiful. Ahhh, ok, thanks! Even more surreal now. I am walking next to myself, seeing me being pushed and shoved, in a friendly Indian sort of way mind, with the crowd.
We all come to a halt in front of one of the two entrances and are divided up in three queues per entrance, each in opposite directions. I have no idea why, because when they open the door, we all just walk in in a very disorderly manner. Inside it is completely silent. I see some put their hands together in front of them with eyes closed, some are standing while others sit down on the ... marble benches!! They do feel rather nice and cool and not at all as hard as one might imagine. I am still not there ... although I try to concentrate on the feel of the place, the "vibrations". To no avail, and with a feeling of being pressed for time I leave fairly quickly. Unfortuntelly, the matt layers have missed to cover the bit from the exit doors back to the path, a distance of a good 20 metres I would guess, and my feet are burning again. I take short, quick steps trying to look like I am walking, but am in fact almost jogging in an attempt to avoid touching the ground but without people noticing (must have looked really silly!). I MISS MY SHOES!
I reach the underground wardrobe for foot wear and get in line with my token clutched in my hand. There is a little strip of shade right by the wall where the slabs are not so hot, but to stay on that strip I have to press up against the wall ... in my white leggings. Finally, it is my turn to give the little man in the hole my chip. He grabs it and hands me a pair of shoes. NOT MINE. The look he gives me seems to say "please, Ma'am, take them and don't fuss. I have a million more to hand out today." I stand my ground and shake my head. He resigns pretty quickly and goes on a hunt. During the next few minutes he shows me 5 or 6 different pairs of shoes, some of them don't even match, and none of them are mine. In my head Freddy Mercury is singing "I'm going slightly mad ..." and I start to smile and will soon start laughing out aloud (seem to remember from uni that that is not necessarily a good sign). Then he suddenly stumbles on something on the floor, bends down to pick it up - it is indeed my sandals! Hurrah! Well done.
Suddenly I am back in reality - well, as much as possible for the moment - and glide down the path leading to the exit and I notice how beautiful the trees and bushes are around me.
I think I will have to come back here one day and bring all of me.
The simple answer is ... the driver took me ... which is surreal in itself. Sitting alone in the back of a seven-seater, wearing sunglasses being driven to ... where ever. I think that I have not yet really landed in India, there is just soooo much to take in. The other day I met someone who said something really obvious, I just had not though of it that way. "In India all your senses are constantly being assaulted." A logical explanation to why I am here only in theory still, sort of watching a movie of life in India.
The cucumber sandwiches, you know, the ones posh people eat in English TV series (do they??), were, however, very real at the Eros Hotel, the five star hotel near Nehru Place in New Delhi where the Delhi Network meets every Tuesday. It was a happy group of people from all over the world that I met for the first time today. Delhi Network is a place for expats to connect, make friends, find inspiration, join different groups, do business, or just ... have a laugh every now and then. I found out about the book club, golfing (finally!!), events, different charities that the group supports where there is a possibility to work as a volunteer, and lots more.
The driver for the day, Samsher from Rajastan, but has been a taxi driver in Delhi NCR (National Capital Region) for 15 years, asked me if I wanted to explore some more while I was there anyway. I still had 2,5 hours before I had to be back at the hotel to receive Maia from the school bus. Well, sure! What do you suggest?
Right around the corner was a temple, the Baha'i House of Worship. With more than 70 million visitors since it opened in 1986 it is one of the most visited edifices in the world. Samsher drops me off and I get out without being at all prepared.
The architecture is indeed spectacular - in the form of a Lotus flower surrounded by 9 pools of water to reflect different shapes, and also help cool the building down, it is a very impressive sight.
Half way through the surrounding park I have to leave my shoes together with all the other probably 1000 people who were there at the same time as I. We walk down a few steps to the side of the path and there, sort of in the underground with only a narrow oblong opening in the wall - I have to crouch down to reach in there - some people are working in a sort of wardrobe for shoes. I reluctantly hand in my sandals and get only a worn, wooden token with a number on it in return. As I see him walk away with my shoes, but without labelling them with the same number, I have a creepy feeling that I would never walk in those shoes again ... Well, they do this for a living, right? And should, after having practiced over 140 million times, be pretty good at it, so why worry.
The walk back up the steps and to the path is very quick indeed - the paving is so hot, it burns my feet! From here on all the way to the entrance to the temple they had put down a sort of matt to cover the hot slabs. So, here I am in a long line of barefoot people waiting in the hot sun to go in to an almost empty place of worship. Surreality strikes again! The young woman right in front of me keeps turning her head and looks shyly at me. Suddenly she tells me that she is looking because I am so beautiful. Ahhh, ok, thanks! Even more surreal now. I am walking next to myself, seeing me being pushed and shoved, in a friendly Indian sort of way mind, with the crowd.
We all come to a halt in front of one of the two entrances and are divided up in three queues per entrance, each in opposite directions. I have no idea why, because when they open the door, we all just walk in in a very disorderly manner. Inside it is completely silent. I see some put their hands together in front of them with eyes closed, some are standing while others sit down on the ... marble benches!! They do feel rather nice and cool and not at all as hard as one might imagine. I am still not there ... although I try to concentrate on the feel of the place, the "vibrations". To no avail, and with a feeling of being pressed for time I leave fairly quickly. Unfortuntelly, the matt layers have missed to cover the bit from the exit doors back to the path, a distance of a good 20 metres I would guess, and my feet are burning again. I take short, quick steps trying to look like I am walking, but am in fact almost jogging in an attempt to avoid touching the ground but without people noticing (must have looked really silly!). I MISS MY SHOES!
I reach the underground wardrobe for foot wear and get in line with my token clutched in my hand. There is a little strip of shade right by the wall where the slabs are not so hot, but to stay on that strip I have to press up against the wall ... in my white leggings. Finally, it is my turn to give the little man in the hole my chip. He grabs it and hands me a pair of shoes. NOT MINE. The look he gives me seems to say "please, Ma'am, take them and don't fuss. I have a million more to hand out today." I stand my ground and shake my head. He resigns pretty quickly and goes on a hunt. During the next few minutes he shows me 5 or 6 different pairs of shoes, some of them don't even match, and none of them are mine. In my head Freddy Mercury is singing "I'm going slightly mad ..." and I start to smile and will soon start laughing out aloud (seem to remember from uni that that is not necessarily a good sign). Then he suddenly stumbles on something on the floor, bends down to pick it up - it is indeed my sandals! Hurrah! Well done.
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