Hieronder wat impressies van India (9 - 19 maart 2006). Henriette was al in India (vanaf eind januari, zij heeft me afgehaald
van Delhi airport, samen met Teun de reisbegeleider). Het is in het
Engels zodat ik het ook kan delen met de mensen hier in de VS.
India felt good from the start, with the crazy drive in the traditional
black Ambassador taxi through the bundel of traffic from Delhi airport
to the guesthouse where we were staying. The guesthouse is run by a
very nice family (3rd generation), very relaxed, very open. They share
their enormous white bungalo with the guests. The bungalo was built in
the 1930-ies and typical of this part of New Delhi, the area where
ministers and other important government representatives live, behind
walled gardens, guarded by military, wide lanes, lots of trees.
Situated close to Lodi Gardens, where you find a couple of beautiful
Mogol tombs and a romantic restaurant. New Delhi was
desinged/planned by the British architect Lutyens (in 1911). The
guesthouse carries his name ('Lutyens Guesthouse' - they have a
website) I had a small room with a view onto the enormous
garden (with wonderful old trees, lots of tropical birds, a.o. green
parrots, fruit trees and vegetables/herbs, swimming pool). We had
breakfast in the garden every morning (if the flies would let us! - the
lady of the house used doop-sticks (incense) to scare them away). At
night we would sit in the garden with our nightcap. The bed- and
bathrooms were in the original style when the house was built (simple,
but extremely clean (much much better than the hotels) and cosy). The
guesthouse was our homebase while staying in India. We travelled by
train from Dehli to Agra (south) and back and to Chandigarh (north - on
the foothills to the Himalayas) and back. Wonderful to come '
home' to the peace and joy of the guesthouse.
We visited Old Delhi by Rikshaw. Very practical because the narrow
streets are very crowded. Unfortunately we did not have time to visit
the inside of the grand mosque and the red fort. They both look
impressive. I'm sure it will be worthwhile to visit them both. On the
way from New to Old Delhi (quite a distance!), in the hussle and bussle
of the street we saw a group of young men, carrying on their shoulders
a body of a dead person, wrapped in red fabric. They manouvered very
handy. It was not clear to us where they were heading. The river
perhaps, to burn the body in accordance with Hindu tradition?
We travelled to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and stayed overnight, to be
able to be at the Taj before the sunrise. I went for a coffee and
pancakes first ( 05.45 AM) in the small city, before entering the Taj.
The walk through the narrow alleys, in the early hours of the morning,
was very special. I heared the ticking of metal. I wondered what it
was. Teun explained to me that it was the waking of the gods in the
hindu temple. For me this was a very special moment! We had breakfast
at Joni's. A very small shop, extremely simple, but Joni has his own
website, has highspeed internet, and receives guests from all over the
world. That is one of the very fascinating aspects of India. These
contrasts, nobody seems to worry about. It just is. Different
dimensions of time exist next to one another. Enabling richer and
poorer to survive, each on his own terms. Fascinating. Very dynamic.
The Taj Mahal we did not really SEE very well. It was more or less
hidden in a thick fog. We EXPERIENCED its beauty in this mysterious
setting. Beautiful, but very bad for taking pictures!
In Chandigarh, the main destination of our trip, we experienced the
Holi festival. Everybody has coloured powder that they put on your face
and your clothes. Youngsters drive on motorbikes, scooters etc
screeming "Happy Holi" and really like it if you are colored too. I was
colored by and older rikshaw rider, who did it very respectfully: he
put some on my forehead, touched my lower leg to put some color there
too (sign of respect - touching the feet) and folded his hands in front
of his chest, to say thank you. I was moved by this sign of respect of
this poor man. How different from the jolly abundance of the young
people.
We had the opportunity to meet with an 80 year old architect who worked
in the 1950'ies with le Corbusier and his team when planning and
building the city. We also visited the Chief Architect (a very
sympathetic lady) in her huge office (all original furniture of the
1950'ies, but all modern office equipment you could imagine!). We made
various walks through the main sectors of the city to get a good idea
of the design of the sectors and the houses. We visited the
Architecture Institute and some other buildings of the university.
The only thing we could not do, was a cycling tour around the city,
through the villages with a Sikh environmental conservationist, because
that morning the rain came pouring down in enormous quantities.
Especially my friend (who turned 79 in India!!) was very disappointed.
She would have had the privilege to sit on the back of the scooter of
the Sikh environmentalist. She missed out on that! Much to her regret
(and ours).
