Sunday

Sunday was another day for sightseeing. You'd think I would take the time to sleep in and relax before starting another week, but I decided that my weekends in Delhi and in India were limited and that I needed to make the most of them. I wonder if I will feel that way after a few more weeks here or if I will be too tired.

I met Louise and Melanie in the lobby to go out. They needed to return some things at FabIndia (where we went with professor Krishnan on the first weekend). I hadn't eaten, so while they were there I went across the street to have lunch.

It was good that I went to eat so I didn't have to watch the returning and shopping that would ensue (no cash back but only exchanges are allowed there). By the time I was finished eating, they still hadn't finished yet...so I waited for them to finish (they were almost done, so that was good at least).

Afterwards, we went to a large Sikh temple. It was called the Gurdawa Rakab Ganj Sahib. Next to the temple there was a large pool of water where people could ritually bathe. It kind of resembled the pool of water in Urfa around the mosque there. It was pretty to look at. In some places people were bathing, but in others someone in charge was telling people to stay out of the water. I am not sure why. I did notice that there were fish in the water that looked like catfish or coy (it was hard to tell from where we were standing).

We also went inside the temple. It looked similar to the one we saw last night. Louise stayed in line to get blessed and give a donation. I just stepped to the side and observed the inside of the temple and of course snapped photos. I am not sure when it was built or anything, but it was both beautiful and fascinating.

Afterwards, we took a rickshaw to a metro station so we could go to Chadni Chowk. I was hoping to get another shot to go into the mosque and the red fort. Melanie and Louise also wanted to go see the book bazaar (on Sundays there is this big bazaar where you can find books of all kinds).

We took the cycle rickshaw and the girls sat in the front while I sat in the back. This was a horrible rickshaw for us to take. The back had the seat bent forward slightly so that the space was smaller for me than it should have been. Additionally, there was some piece of metal or some sharp object on my butt. Every time we went over a bump, it was quite painful for me. Unfortunately, the road quality is not good in India...so there were a lot of bumps. First the rickshaw went the wrong way. Then, he went to another wrong place...finally after going twice as far as he needed to, we ended up where we were supposed to be. I was suffering immensely. (At least I had a thumbs up-an Indian soft drink resembling coke) along the way. Still, I felt that I would not be able to sit for days.

We walked around the bazaar and they had every book imagineable. Everything from Mein Kampf to Clinton's memoir to engineering books. They even had classics like Dickens and Jane Austin. The price was also less than half the price in the U.S. If you ever wanted a book, this was the place to get it.

I was only mildly interested in the books. I didn't really want to spend as long there as Louise and Melanie did. Finally around 4:30pm, we decided to go to the mosque. By the time we walked there and climbed through the same neighborhood I described yesterday it was almost 5:00pm. They required us to pay 200 rupees to take our bags inside even though we tried to explain that only one of us would take pictures (they have a fee of 200 rupees per camera). After a considerable amount of arguing, we all three had to pay and were allowed inside.

I was ticked about the fine and so I was taking many pictures to get my money's worth. Then, people started coming up to us asking to have our picture taken. It was mostly Melanie and Louise that got asked. I was still asked by a couple of people. They even made Melanie and Louise hold their babies! It was like they were movie stars!

In all the commotion, we were delayed from going inside the main portion of the mosque. All of a sudden an imam came up to us and said excuse them. I am not sure if he was talking to us or to the people trying to take our pictures. I say this because the guard told us we had to leave and started ushering us out. On our way out, the call to prayer started. I was dragging my feet and still taking pictures on the way out, which displeased them immensely.

The whole ordeal actually really pissed me off. Not only did they take 200 rupees from each of us just to get inside with our bags, but then they ushered us out before we could even see the inside. I understand that it closes when prayers start, and I am more than happy to respect customs, but the way they did it was rude and left a bad taste in my mouth. Furthermore, it was like we had a personal escort on the way out. How does this guy know I wasn't a Muslim who was a tourist in India who had also come to pray. Maybe I wanted to stay and experience the mosque as a real Muslim. No one else was forced out like this. If I try to go back, I am sure they will try to make me pay the 200 rupees again, which is just ridiculous. I actually kept my receipt (which did not have a date) and upon them trying to make me pay, I will be very argumentative and show them the receipt and claim that I have already paid. Hopefully, it will work. I really want to see that damn mosque. I think what's crazy is that in Turkey, as a non-Muslim, I was never ever treated like that. It was absolutely terrible.

After that experience, we went to McDonalds to get a coke and break some more change (I go there and usually get either a coke or fry and just break the bills when I can). Anyways, we also took the opportunity to sit and plan our next move. We were going to go to the India gate. We decided to get off at Central Secretariat and walk down the lawn from the parliament to the India gate.

Delhi took its city planning ideas from a number of cities, one of which being Washington DC. Between the parliament building and the India gate, there is a large mall just like the national mall in the US. We decided to walk it and enjoy the evening. Furthermore, I was told that the best time to see the India gate is right around sunset...so the plan was to walk the mall as the sun was going down so we'd get to see it lit up at night and in the evening before the sun set.

The weather was hot, but the gate was beautiful. One thing that was neat was that many Indian families go to the mall area and have picnics and enjoy the weather in the evenings. It was nice to see people enjoying the outdoors with their family. We even saw a couple of pickup cricket games in action.

The gate was built to commemorate the lives lost in India in World War I. There is an eternal flame that burns under it and there are gates with guards to prevent you from getting too close to the actual gate. It seemed a bit like the tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington. Perhaps that is the atmosphere that they wanted to portray.

Around the corner from the India gate there was a fountain with tons of kids playing in it. It looked really refreshing (bc it was so hot) but really dirty. It was almost like a makeshift Indian water park. If we had one of these back home, I'd certainly go play in it. After watching the kids for a bit, we took the rickshaw back and settled in for the evening.