Our Indian (mis-)adventure began today with the arrival of our Fellows to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
A big orange bus brought us to our lovely hotel in Delhi’s Connaught Place area. Checking in almost 20 people (luggage! passports! wifi passwords!) took a bit longer than we had anticipated, so we had only a few minutes to freshmen up before heading out again for a trip to Dilli Haat, an open marketplace showcasing handicrafts and food from all over India.
Most members of our group fell into one of three general categories:
- The brave souls who tried their hand at bargaining, Indian bazaar style;
- The happy-to-wander-and-window-shop without delving into matters of price;
- The too-hungry-and-jet-lagged-to-care about shopping at all.
Bargaining in India (especially at touristy places like Dilli Haat) is something of an art-form…and our little group of rag-tag shoppers were certainly not artists! But we had a good time anyway, picked up a few deals, and powered through the jet lag. We capped off our evening by sampling yummy thaalis and subjis and warming up with some masala chai.
Of course it wouldn’t be Delhi without adventures on the metro– battling token turnstiles that only sometimes work, an introduction to the concept of “ladies only” cars, unintentionally cheating a pay-toilet out of 5 rupees — and zipping back to the hotel in a bunch of auto-rickshaws. Even the most jet-lagged and exhausted among us couldn’t have possibly slept through such an educational journey. We learned that in New Delhi horns are more important than mirrors, lanes are more suggestion than law, and that sharp-reflexes and a lot of faith make for a winning combination.
All in all, if a crash-course in New Delhi doesn’t make want one to get the heck out the city and dive into some yoga, nothing will.
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