One nice thing about staying in a guesthouse is that you meet travelers that are similar to you. We met a nice couple named Toby and Barbara who are in a similar position to us, being first timers to India and trying to navigate booking trains and getting mobiles. It is nice to have people to relate to and we will be excited to meet up with them again on our journey and exchange tips and ideas about the best parts and worst parts of India.
First on our list of sights was the infamous Humayun's Tomb which in my opinion was the best Delhi has to offer. It is a spectacular in appearance with red sandstone and white marble creating a Persian-like contrast of colors never seen in Delhi before. It was created by a Mughal emperor's wife as a tomb to her beloved late husband in 1633. It is also surrounded by gardens which are supposed to be "Qur'anic" and were so relaxing to stroll through. The excavation of the site is really important to the government and what is really special is they have created a project to support all the neighboring communities with clean toilets, fresh water, and sanitation efforts. Definitely a must see- even the Obamas were brought there when they were in Delhi!
Our stomachs were rumbling so we headed to Khan market for some lunch and shopping. It is sometimes difficult to be out and about and hungry; although the street food looks delicious we are way too nervous to try it and finding an adequate place can be a challenge depending on where you are. Everyone we talked to who has been to India before promises that the one moment of weakness you will have will be the one time you get sick. For example, we would never have eaten in Old Delhi so we actually had to auto rickshaw to another part of the city to eat, and then back again to continue sight seeing. I am sure our time will come at some point but I will try tirelessly to prevent it!
After lunch we had so much fun going to FabIndia! This is a store I read about online and it is particularly good for westerners that would like to buy some traditional Indian clothing because it is very user friendly and they have excellent staff. I wanted to buy a couple of kurtas which are fairly long shirts (almost like a short dress but with a slit up the side) typically worn over Indian style leggings. I was successful with the kurtas, buying two beautifully handmade and home-spun ones (made by women in rural communities as an outreach project-bonus!) but I could not go as far as to buy the leggings and I was told they look nice over trousers or jeans too. Wearing one is such a nice way to look modest in India but not feel like such a sloppy backpacker. Josh had even better luck than me if you can believe it! He was in linen heaven and bought a couple of nice shirts. While shopping you can just tell that India is famous for their fabrics...linen, silk, cotton galore and I am sure many others. I think we may have to consider shipping again (even though it was a pain in Turkey!).
Afterwards we went to a famous Baha'i temple which is quite iconic in its appearance. It is in the shape of a lotus flower and it pure white and surrounded by pools of crystal blue water. Interestingly enough, it was designed by an Iranian-Canadian architect and its design to create peace and a meditative state does not fail. Josh and I never miss a chance to learn more about a religion for interests sake and we listened to a volunteer give her spiel which only proved the generic quality of it and how religions always tend to borrow from each other. This one in particular started in 1844 when a man claimed he was the Manifestos of God and that through him and his teachings, the people could come to know God. Another man claimed the same thing in the 1860s so thus far, they have two Manifestos and two books of teachings. They consider the men mortal (why always men, hm?) but they follow their doctrine so that their eternal soul can meet God eventually. The only thing that was unique is that they welcome all people of all faiths to come and meditate and pray in their temple and they don't have as many structured ceremonies as other religions. India is very interesting with its religious diversity and I hope that we can explore every aspect of it before we leave.
The day was long and busy and we returned home exhausted. Part of the problem was that we auto rickshawed absolutely everywhere and by the time we needed to go home, we were dreading it. It's not really the craziness that bothers me but how filthy you tend to feel afterwards, especially in Delhi. They aren't kidding about the smog! The air is so dense with pollution that by the end of the day your mouth tastes awful and you can feel it in the back of your throat. Your eyes are dry and irritated and your clothes have a smell you can't quite place. Even after a thorough shower your skin can feel parched for moisture and I am slightly glad to be out of Delhi for that reason because I think it will be better elsewhere (and maybe we should take less auto rickshaws!).
We enjoyed a dinner with our hosts and our new friends. Let me just say, Indian food is amazing and I enjoyed learning from our hosts the proper way to enjoy a meal. The nann bread they have is tasty by itself and is a great vehicle to scoop up the food (it's hard not to use your fork and even harder to only use your right hand!) and it is so fun to try multiple dishes at every meal. In between dishes they have cucumber slices that you are meant to take a bite out of to cleanse the palate and you are also not permitted to drink too much water or it will "dilute the tummy juices." Another nice thing is that there is a lot of variety in restaurants especially serving Asian food and Indonesian food and I can really appreciate this since by the end of our time in Turkey, we were not even enjoying the Turkish food anymore!
I felt like we really had a genuine experience staying in our guesthouse in regards to the caste system in India. Although it was difficult for us to witness, the way the "servants" were treated was very authentic. Even the word, "servant" makes me cringe and the lady of the house refers to herself as "master" which is not something I have ever heard of before! The woman made several crass comments about the "servants" being like animals, being untrustworthy, and being argumentative and this husband and wife couple have worked for them for eight years! I would have thought they would feel like family but that shows how little I understand about the classes.
The caste system has four classes and to simplify: educated, service providers, commercial activity, and unskilled. Traditionally based in the Hindu religion and originally supposed to place people in a class based on personality, it became warped according to birthright and family. Our hosts would be considered upper class since the man has knights in his background and is lighter skinned (very important in India) because of an English ancestor and the woman's family has been living in Delhi for four generations (it is important not to be from a village in recent ancestry) and has four generations of education. Their life is privileged and removed from the other classes by joining exclusive clubs and using their driver to transport them absolutely everywhere. The woman was very defensive about being considered Indian and always wanted to make distinctions between herself and the "animals on the street." As of 1950 it is illegal to discriminate based on class and Ghandi was the first leader to speak out again the system stating that it was holding India back. Nevertheless, it obviously still permeates their culture today despite measures to overcome it.
The harshest reality in India is that although the caste system is archaic and things are being done to overcome it (ie: good jobs being put aside for lower class people) it is still very significant and social mobility is rare if you are lower class. I read a documentary before we arrived that explained that even if you are a class that is not allowed to sort garbage and you try to do so to make a living, you will be bullied, threatened and condemned until you stop. You are meant to do whatever the class you were born into permits you to do. I find this a difficult concept to grasp because it is so unjust and unfair and I like to believe that if someone has the right opportunities and the work ethic, they should be allowed to succeed. I am sure that not all so-called upper class Indians treat their help with such a disregard and although it made me uncomfortable, I am sure that I understand the caste system better having witnessed it first hand than by reading my documentary.
Bedtime came early since we caught an early train to Agra and had to be up at 5am. India in general is not an easy place to navigate and with the fog of sleep deprivation impeding me, I have found the day to be a little difficult. I was really annoyed when I realized what train a travel agent booked us on (thank goodness we booked the rest ourselves!) since it was a general class where everyone sort of crams in and the open windows waft lovely smells of garbage and dung in your face the whole time. The worst part is even though we literally asked our hostess six times if we would be served breakfast (we were skeptical) she kept insisting that we would be and offered the statement "all of India isn't primitive you know." Very helpful knowledge considering we were not in fact served anything and were not able to eat anything until noon. All you can do is try to enjoy the experience that you find yourself in and we made friends with a beautiful young girl with the biggest brown eyes I have ever seen, chatted with the curious people around us, and graciously smiled for photos. The people were very friendly (maybe a little too friendly when they grabbed Josh's iPod away out of curiosity!) and when scammers tried to target us before the last stop, they defended us with a lot of yelling and hand gestures to scare them off. Although we were aware of the scam it was a really nice gesture of respect that people we had only met three hours ago would look out for us. There may be the odd scammer but an overwhelming amount of people have been friendly, helpful, and genuine with us and I think the most beautiful part of India is her people.
Arriving in Agra on a Friday is unusual because the Taj Mahal is closed but we wanted a day to relax and thought we could get up early to see it on Saturday morning (we have booked an auto rickshaw for 6:30am to pick us up; I know, very unusual for me!). There was quite a lot of pressure from our hotel to go out sight seeing to Agra's Fort and the "baby Taj" but we were honestly so tired I think we would just be going through the motions and not enjoy it. I think in India in particular you need to know your limits otherwise you will find yourself exhausted, in the middle of a busy street with every sort of vehicle zooming by and honking, unable to create a coherent thought about what to do next and that's not fun. I am so excited to see the Taj Mahal tomorrow and I am curious whether it will live up to all the hype!
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