Today Parna took me to see the Red Fort, which was built by Shah Jahan in the mid 1600's. It is named the Red Fort, because, well, it is a fort and the stone used for the exterior walls and main public buildings are red. It is known as "Lal Quila" to the Indians.
There is alot of history to the Red Fort that I won't go into here. It was in use until the mid 1800's when the British used it for a Military base. In 2007 it was classed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
I thought I would be bored because it would all be red and fort-like. But it wasn't like that inside. The private buildings, for the most part, where all white, dotted amongst vast grounds with pools. Because the stone is so old and porous, they don't fill the pools with water and run the fountains anymore, but Parna said when she was younger, maybe as recently as 20 years ago, she visited with school and all the pools were filled and the fountains running. She remembers monkeys all over the place, too. Sadly, no water and no monkeys now.
Originally, the ceilings of the small buildings, especially the private quarters of the queens, were ornately decorated, sometimes with jewels. The carvings and tile work that remains is still beautiful - I can only imagine what it must have looked like "back in the day".
It was hot today, 28c, and by this point, I was running on three hours sleep. So I wasn't up to my usual perky self.
The drive into Old Delhi was slow. We did not see any cattle, camels or elephants. The difference between New and Old Delhi was apparent almost immediately. The streets of Old Delhi are what you'd expect from a city developed over 500 years ago: tiny. To exacerbate the already crowded roads, today was market day, so part of the road was filled with people selling stuff and pedestrians walking all over. The stray dogs, of course, added to the general mayhem. In all, it took us over 2 hours to drive the 30 kilometers from the hotel to the Red Fort, in traffic that at some points was mostly stopped. Which only gave the beggars who saw me more time to stand in the road and pound on the car window. We arrived at the Fort early, though, and once through security (full pat down by female guards and thorough purse inspections), the grounds were calm and quiet - and I needed it by then.
Observation day 2: I described Delhi as a "jumbled city" in yesterday's post. Today, I'd describe it more as a city constantly under construction, re-construction and destruction. Seriously. We were driving down one road, before we got into the old city, and there were all these large building that were clearly being deconstructed. I remarked that there seemed to be alot of building going on. Parna told me that there had been a period of illegal building going on by land owners. The particular stretch of road we were on was once the hub of Haute Couture - many of the major fashion designers had once had illegal shops and workrooms in those buildings, and because of the way the buildings were built, and where, they weren't paying taxes and were taking the free water and electricity that was meant for the small farmers right across the road. So the gov't kicked them out and started - but never competed - the process of tearing the buildings down so they couldn't be used any further. It gives the landscape a horrid look, though - as if there was a major war just recently and the buildings had all been hit by shrapnel.
I used to work with a gal on one of my projects who moved to Hyderabad - much further south - to train call center staff on North American standards of handling customers. She met and married an Indian man and now lives there full time with their 2 year old daughter. She warned me that I was in for a shock, and she was right - but I'm not sure there is any way to be prepared for the reality of it all. It was crowded when I lived in London, but this.....is a whole new crazy.
As type that last line, I realize I may be sounding negative about my experiences so far. I'm not. I am so thankful that I've had this opportunity and extremely thankful for Parna's hospitality.
Well, jet lag has hit me hard. As I mentioned earlier, I had looked forward to a full night's sleep last night - but woke up at 3 a.m. and tossed and turned after that. So I finally got up and showered, had a leisurely breakfast and read a bit. That means by now - at almost 10.pm., I am exhausted, and that includes a 3 hour nap. So, a late dinner and off to bed for me....there is not likely to be any more site seeing stuff, as it is work, work, work for the rest of the week, and then a 28 hour day of traveling back home...no business class to look to this time 'round. :(
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