After three and a half solid months of eating bites of rice, dal and subzi (vegetables) squeezed in slabs of chapati, the palate rejoices with a McChicken burger and a pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut. While I don’t usually frequent these restaurants in the US, the impossibility of me eating there in Varanasi was what spurred my longing for these American classics. I’ve also eaten at Subway (where they are more sandwich constructionists than sandwich artists).
I haven’t seen much of Delhi’s cultural or historical offerings during my three days here so far. I have been based in the shopping center of Connaught Place, a large wheel-shaped area south of Old Delhi. Delhi is, above all things, a complete opposite from Varanasi. People drive fast here, if not civilly, on well-paved roads with lines painted on them. Women wear jeans and some don’t even bother with a scarf covering the shoulders. English is the lingua franca in Delhi, while back home in Varanasi, Hindi is used nearly exclusively. I had thought about consulting some Hindi schools in Delhi for later reference, but I think now that it would be quite difficult to study Hindi here, where sometimes the language is considered inappropriate. I noticed a bank sign written in Hindi, then was surprised to see that it was the ONLY one in Hindi on the whole block! Visiting the US and Swedish Embassies was quite interesting. Not my choice for seeing the sights in Delhi, I still enjoyed looking around the well-maintained Chanakyapuri neighborhood. The reason for my visit was the replacement of both of my passports, which were lost/stolen in November. I have paid dearly in labor, time and money to get them replaced. I was the only visitor to the Swedish Embassy, where I sat on nice wooden IKEA furniture. While I was filling out my forms, I remembered today was the 13th– St. Lucia Day! At the US Embassy, I was shuttled past a LOOOOOONG line of people waiting for visa applications (most were quite well-dressed, and many fancy cars were parked waiting along the curb), both outside and inside the compound. In both embassies, the clerks who worked with me were quite knowledgeable and polite. In my first visit to Delhi last August, I visited the Jama Masjid in Old Delhi. The largest mosque in India, it is absolutely beautiful. It was built by Shah Jahan, the builder of another of India’s famous buildings, which I will see tomorrow in Agra. It is consistently mentioned to me by Indians as “the ONE thing you can’t miss while you’re in India!” and “indescribable”. Hopefully it won’t be indescribably, otherwise my next post may be quite short…