On Saturday night, Mike and I headed out in search of a club. The Lonely Planet isn’t helpful, with a “it changes from week to week” entry under what’s hot for dancing. So we tried a few different places: one was a bar called Shalom in a southern suburb, the next called DV8 in Connaught Place. We asked the maitre’d at DV8 where a good dance club was, and they were helpful. We arrived at the Park Hotel and went to “Agni”, or ‘fire’, a hopping club/bar. They played mostly Indian pop, but a little Bhangra too and even one or two Western songs. It was great fun!
I visited the Swedish Embassy to pick up my replacement passport, and enjoyed strolling down the wide shady streets of Chanakyapuri.
I had the unpleasant experience of having to scream my lungs out at a rickshaw driver who tried to rip me off. We had agreed on 70 rupees, which is of course overpriced since I’m a foreigner, but I reconcile myself to that. But then he tried to short change me, and I yelled and yelled. I started with the most formal form, ‘aap,’ of “Give me my money”, but at the end I was using the most informal form, the ‘tum’ form. I created a scene, it was not fun. I mean, I tip well when people deserve it. I want to support people trying to make a living. But when they are rude and try to rip me off, I don’t want to leave even a few rupees with them! Ugh.
I met a really interesting man, Yuksel, who’s Turkish and doing research here in Delhi. He’s settled in Seattle and is doing a phd on comparative personal law systems in Egypt, Israel and India. He thinks Jewish women in Israel have it the worst, since their access to divorce is so limited. It was fascinating to hear a bit about his work, and it infused me with a new sense of excitement about my own research. In a way, even after writing my 60 page first draft, I feel like I know nothing about my subject. Emigration, the economic reforms, unemployment, foreign investments… there’s so much to learn about! I bought a new book today, about geopolitics and globalization. It seems to have lots of relevant chapters for me.
Mike and I head back to Benares tomorrow evening on the night train, to arrive hopefully just before my Hindi class starts on Wednesday morning. It’s been a lovely break from little town Varanasi. I’m quite exhausted, but happy and content with my mini-break to Delhi.