monkey monkey monkey monkey

28 May, 2013

Update #10 - Agra

The air conditioning did work, but only reached the first half of the bus. This previous passengers had destroyed the overhead console, removing the speakers and air vents so that all the cold air was spent on the first few rows. We were sitting in the very last row, and almost no cold air could be felt from the vents. The windows could not be opened, and the starboard window had been broken and replaced with a large piece of plywood. Fragments of glass could still be found on the ground near the seat anchors. Swathi and I were port side, she had the window seat, and the father of the Muslim family sat next to me as he and his wife tried to keep their sons from getting out of hand.

The eldest son was obviously not very happy about not having his own seat in the bus. The moment we were placed in our seats and about to leave Delhi, he stood in the aisle, looked wistfully at his dad and asked in Hindi, "Maiṁ kahāṁ baiṭhoon?" ("Where do I sit?"). He would repeat this over and over, and eventually turned it into a song by varying its tone and continuing the chant. After making several suggestions which were largely ignored, the exasperated dad said "Mērē ser par baiṭhō "  ("You can sit on my head.")

two seats for a family of four
This shirt is perfect for him 
As the trip progressed, we became more comfortable with the idea of being with this group. All of the passengers were headed to Agra, as we had hoped, and we made friends with the young family.

The uncomfortable ride finally came to a halt at our first destination, Agra Fort. A man, presumed to be part of the tour company, asks us for money to pay for entry into the fort. Swathi's entrance fee was ₹20 and because I am a foreigner, mine was ₹300. We give him a ₹1,000 inr note to pay for the ₹300 inr ticket. I asked him for change and he said that he would give it to me, then walked away. The other passengers began to stand up and get off the bus. We followed their lead, down the steep stairs of the bus and into the blinding light of the sun. We were parked on the side of the road, street vendors and pedestrians on our left, cars whizzing by on our right. I could not see the man who took our money.

Our water reserves were already depleted from the bus ride, so we got more from the street vendors, then followed the group across the street. We could not tell who was part of the group because everyone was so spread out. It looked to me like everyone was there on their own accord. Swathi spotted our friends from the bus and they led us back to the group.

The fort was massive, its red, multi-leveled walls were guarded by stout towers and a moat. It wrapped around the entire complex and would have been intimidating for anyone wishing to capture it.




After a gender-segregated security check and haphazard ticket counting, the man, who was now clearly the tour guide for our group, gave me the promised ₹700 change. Beyond the great red walls, a long ramp with horizontal grooves (to give the horses traction) rises up to the courtyard. A marble plaque at the top of the ramp gives some information about history of the fort. I have copied its words here:
"Agra fort is the most important fort in India. The great Mughals: Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jehan, and Aurangzeb lived here, and country was governed from here. It contained the largest state treasury and mint. It was visited by foreign ambassadors, travellers and the highest dignitaries who participated in the making of medieval history of India. No other Fort of India had this honour.

"Agra fort stands on an ancient site just by the river Yamuna. It was brick fort and Chauhan Rajputs held it. It is mentioned for the first time in 1080 AD when a Ghazvanid force captured it. Sikandar lodhi (1487-1517) was the first sultan of Delhi who shifted to Agra and lived in the fort. He governed the country from here and Agra assumed the prominence of the second capital. He died in the fort in 1517 and his son Ibrahim lodhi held it for 9 years until he was defeated and killed at Panipat in 1526. Several places, Wells and a Mosque were built in the fort during the lodhi period.

"After Panipat, Mughal captured the Agra fort and a vast treasure –which included the diamond later named “Koh-i-noor” was seized. Babur stayed in the fort in the palace of Ibrahim. He built a baori (step-well) in it. Humayun was coronated here in 1530, after the defeat at Chausa in 1539, he returned to Agra. Nizam water carrier (Saqqa) who had saved Humayun from drowning was crowned here for half a day and he issued a menial currency. Humayun was defeated at Bilgram in 1540. Sher Shah held it for 5 years. The Mughal defeated the Afghans finally at Panipat in 1556.

"Realizing the importance of the central situation, Akbar (1556-1605) decided to make Agra his capital. He arrived here in 1558. His historian Abul Fazl recorded that this was a brick fort, known as ‘Badalgarh’. It was in ruined condition and Akbar ordered it to be rebuilt with Red Sandstones. Foundations were laid by expert architects and it was massively built with bricks in inner core and stones at external surfaces. Some 4000 builders daily worked on it and it was completed in 8 years (1565-1573).

"The fort has a semi-circular plan, its chord lying parallel to the river. Its walls are 70 feet high. Double ramparts have massive circular bastions at regular intervals, battlements, embrasures, machicolations and string courses. Four gates were provided on its Four sides. one " Khizri Gate' opening on the river, where series of ghats (quays) was also built.

"Abul fazl recorded that 500 buildings in the beautiful designs of Bengal and Gujarat were built in it. Some of these were demolished by shah jahan to make room for his white marble palaces. But they were mostly destroyed by the British between 1803 to 1862 for raising barracks. Hardly 30 mughal buildings have survived on the south-eastern side, facing the river. Of these, the delhi-gate and akbar-gate and one palace: 'bengali-mahal', are representative akbari buildings. The delhi- gate faces the city. A draw-bridge and crooked entrance made it impregnable. Two life-size stone elephants, with their riders were placed on its inner gate which was called "hathi-pol" delhi-gate was monumentally built as the king's formal gate. 'Akbar Gate' was renamed 'Amar Singh Gate' by the british. This gate is similar to the Delhi-Gate. Both are built of red stone. The Bengali-Mahal is also built of red stone and is now split into 'Akbari-Mahal' and 'Jahangiri-Mahal'.

"Akbar died and Jahangir was coronated in the fort in 1605. The latter mostly resided at Lahore and Kashmir, though he visited Agra regularly and lived in the fort. Agra continued to be the capital of the Mughal Empire. Shah Jahan was also crowned in the fort in 1628. He was a great builder and its white marble palaces belong to him. He built three white marble mosques in it: Moti-Masjid, Nagina-Masjid and Mina-Masjid.

"After the battle of Samogarh in 1658, Aurangzeb besieged the fort and stopped its water supply from the river. Shah Jahan could not drink the well water and surrendered. Aurangzeb imprisoned him , his own father, in the fort where he lived as a prisoner for 8 years. He died in 1666 and was buried in the Taj Mahal. The barbicans around the two gates and on the river-side were built by Aurangzeb to strengthen its defences.

"Though Shah Jahan had transferred his capital to Delhi, formally in 1638, he continued to live here. But after his death, Agra lots its grandeur, Aurangzeb remained busy in the Deccan conflict. Yet, time and again, he lived here and held the Durbar. Shivaji came to Agra in 1666 and met Aurangzeb in Diwan-i-Khas. He was betrayed and imprisoned, though the wily Martha ultimately escaped. Aurangzeb's death in 1707 threw the affairs of the Mughal empire to Chaos. The 18th century history of Agra Fort is a saga of sieges and plunder. It was held by Jats and Marthas. The British captured it from the Marathas in 1803. They garrisoned it and converted it into an arsenal.

"The Mughal palaces have remained in a small, south-eastern portion of the fort and only this area is protected and conserved by the Archaeological Survey of India. Agra Fort is a Unesco World Heritage Site."
The interior buildings contrast the smooth, reinforced appearance of the exterior walls, being finely crafted from red sandstone and marble with amazing amounts of detail. The scale of the buildings put to shame modern architecture. We have so many tools and technologies available to us, but what we construct in our vast cities are ugly and frail in comparison.

Swathi was keeping me company and occasionally filled me in on small tidbits of information the guide was giving out in Hindi. Of course, I couldn't understand a word he said, so I just tried to keep out of everyone's way and take pictures.

Gateway to Jahangir Mahal
Jahangir Mahal
The location of Akbar's harem
When we got in front of the harem complex, the guide approached me and asked for my camera. I am fairly defensive of my camera, so I asked him why he wanted it. He just insisted, with his hand outstretched, "give me camera." I reluctantly handed it over. At once, I understood that he meant to take our picture when he gestured to have us stand in front of the harem.


Taj Mahal in the background
our guide

The fort is beautiful, strong, and old. How many times this place has been sacked and rebuilt, or what debauchery took place within these walls is beyond even the historians.

The tour of the fort ended, the bus was reloaded, then drove away. We stopped at the Agra Marble Emporium and saw the fascinating things made of marble they they were trying to have us buy. They also sold camel leather and silk articles.

After the shop, we went for lunch at this fairly dirty Indian restaurant. It is very common for restaurants in India to have a unisex wash area that is apart from the main toilet area. The washroom floor was covered in water that was seeping out from under the bathroom stall doors, and there was no soap. I went braced myself and went into full-Indian mode, rinsed my hands, shook the water off, and then dived into my food, fingers first. Swathi was amazed at the gusto at which I consumed the spicy food. I didn't care, I was hungry and the food tasted good enough for me. Swathi was more hesitant in her approach and a small voice in my head echoed my mother's words of warning about the dangers of eating at dirty restaurants. I ignored it and continued to indulge myself on naan, curry, and rice. I don't know about Swathi, but my hunger was sated.

We waddled back over to the bus and sat down. It was a bit of a drive to the Taj Mahal, our next destination, so I had plenty of time to appreciate the inner warmth of digestion.

Getting off the bus, we were prompted again by the guide for money for the entrance fee for the Taj Mahal. This time, it was a hefty ₹800. We were warned about various articles which we could not take in, so we left Swathi's Swiss Army knife and our snacks at her seat on the bus, then boarded the electric carts which took us to the security screening area. Again, there were two lines, one for gents, one for ladies.

The tour guide signaled for me to follow him (alone) and he walked with me to the front of the line to get screened. I was a little baffled by this continued singling out and wished I could just blend in like the rest of the Indians. I made it through security and waited for Swathi while the tour guide wandered off into the monument. After about 5 minutes of standing by the metal detectors, I saw her come through, then taken aside by the guards for something in her backpack. It was the tripod and flashlight. We were not warned about these items, and I had hoped to use the tripod to take some self-portraits of ourselves in front of the Taj Mahal. She was asked to leave and found a nearby shop keeper at another marble shop who was willing to hang onto the items while we were inside the complex. After going through security again, she was allowed to enter.

The path leading away from security led us to an open area housed the attendants. To our right, a high wall and gate stood. The heavily reinforced gate house, adorned with arabic calligraphy inscriptions, was both a welcome and a warning against disturbing the eternal sleep of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's beloved wife. It reads: "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you."

The Great Gate
As we walked up the steps and into the entranceway of the Great Gate, the Taj Mahal became visible, filling the arched doorways. It stood there, distant and massive. It was obvious that the designers had planned the layout of the Great Gate and the positioning of the mausoleum so that viewers were stunned at first sight. The effect worked and did not fade. I was not expecting much out  of the visit here. I had expected that it might be big, but nothing like this. It was difficult to fathom how many hands and lives toiled to construct this, a monument to love lost.
Seeing how we were now without a tripod, we tried to figure out how to take the stereotypical tourist photo. There were photographers standing around, asking people if they could take their picture in exchange for money. I felt duped. I suspected that the photographers had conspired with the security team in order to prevent people from using tripods for self-photos. It was crowded near the gate, so we walked until we found a square platform positioned in the middle between the Great Gate and the Taj. there, we found another photographer who asked to take our photo, this time for ₹50. He was wearing a Nikon D5000 fitted with the cheap 18-55mm kit lens. I asked him if he could take our picture, but use my camera. We haggled back and forth for some time until he finally agreed.
Massive. Note the scale of the people standing on the platform.

Once we had our picture, we went exploring, but needed to either remove our shoes or put on some thin shoe covers before we could explore any further.  Most temples and mosques have such a requirement. I'm not sure if this requirement was out of respect or for preservation, but the white marble and grounds look pristine and I appreciate their efforts to keep it that way.


We followed the line of people to a stairway which let us up onto the marble platform. I felt dwarfed by the size. I tried to capture just how big it was using my camera, but I was still a little stunned by the appearance and momentarily forgot how to use the zoom on my lens. I was using a Canon 17-40mm F/4L lens which was just barely wide enough to fill the frame when standing by the minarets. When we had walked halfway around the structure, I remembered that I could zoom out and finally got some usable pictures.



Photos are not allowed inside the mausoleum, which is unfortunate. The interior was peaceful, only hushed voices and light footsteps could be heard. The silence was occasionally broken by a guard yelling at a tourist for trying to take pictures. Light filtered in from the delicately carved marble screens.

The sun began to set and we were running out of time. The tour company allotted 90 minutes to explore and that was just about gone. We went down the stairs, back onto the lower level where we could remove the shoe covers. Red waste bins were placed there to receive the spent covers, but in typical Indian fashion, the waste didn't quite make it inside the bin.

The rest of the time was used up exploring the other buildings and the garden. We made it back just in time to retrieve Swathi's tripod from the marble merchant and catch a ride on the electric carts back to the bus.
view from east
Just before we stepped on the bus, the tour guide approached Swathi and asked for a tip. Swathi gave him ₹200. I felt that was excessive, given the chaos and general disorder at Agra Fort, him not helping when Swathi had trouble getting through security at the Taj, and the lack of working A/C on the bus, but I digress.

Back on the bus, we waited for the other passengers to get on, and the bus pulled away. After a short time, it stopped in front of a hotel and some of the passengers got off to stay the night there and explore other sights around Agra. Swathi and I were done and wanted to go back to Delhi, so we stayed on the bus.

It was nearly 7:00 and twilight was quickly becoming night as the bus started away from the hotel. Remembering the promise from the travel agents that we would be back in Delhi by 11:00, and knowing that it takes roughly 4 hours to drive back, I thought we would be going straight there. I was wrong. Still on the sightseeing agenda were Mathura and Vrindavan, the birthplace and hometown of Sri Krishna, respectively.

The ancient temple was constructed at the site of Sri Krishna's birthplace, originally an underground prison. This massive temple was the focus of our visit to Mathura, and, being a temple, cameras are not allowed inside, and I did not want to leave it on the bus, so I deposited it, along with Swathi's daypack, at the temple's cloakroom. The temple was a large complex that had several high buildings with very elaborate colors and statues inside.

Just inside the entrance, past the male and female security checkpoints, sinks were placed for the washing of hands. Some of the buildings were at the top of long flights of stairs. Before we could climb the stairs or enter into the temple, we had to remove our shoes and check them into the shoe guardian.

As we were leaving, Swathi saw vendors were selling "Mathura ka peda", an unusual food made with milk and cardamom which was only served at the temple. She purchased some for me to taste. It came in a box and appeared to be glistening brown balls, about an inch and a half in diameter. It was moist, soft, and strangely sweet.

We claimed our belongings from the cloakroom and started walking down the hill to where the bus was waiting. A wedding procession was moving slowly down the street, the groom was riding a white horse and a marching band lead the way. Fireworks started going off as we got into the bus.
Note the band on the left, room on the right, and the guests preparing fireworks in the foreground.
A few kilometers down the road, the bus stopped again, this time in the middle of some ancient and narrow streets. This was an old part of the city Vrindavan, where Sri Krishna grew up.

After walking through some winding streets, we came upon a small temple, which was once the location of Sri Krishna's childhood home. Again, photography and shoes were not allowed inside. I was able to keep my camera with me, but the shoes had to be left unattended near the entrance. Being wary of thieves, we stowed our shoes behind an overturned bench in the corner. There were murals inside and out of various life events of Sri Krishna as a child, him stealing the clothes of women, or the theft of a neighbor's butter, and punishment for the theft by his mother.

The overriding theme of the place was surrounding the importance of family and the respect of parents. The floor and walls were covered in tablets etched with dedications to parents, donated by visitors. Inside the temple, we sat on the floor as a man spoke about the significance of the location in Hindi. I was getting bored and very tired of the long incomprehensible discourse, so Swathi and I separated ourselves from the group and waited outside when they started asking for donations and conducting religious ceremonies.

Entrance to a temple which was once the home of Sri Krishna
Swathi in front of a mural depicting Sri Krishna stealing the clothes
Slowly, the rest of the group started exiting the temple and we made our way back to the bus. The ride back to Delhi was considerably more comfortable than the one to Agra, now that the sun was down, and we were able to doze off for a bit. The bus dropped us off at our hotel at 3:00 a.m., four hours later than we were promised, exhausted and hungry.

Update #9- Day 2 in Delhi, getting to Agra

Late last night we decided we would try to see the Taj Mahal in Agra. Swathi and I asked the clerk at the hotel reception how we might get to Agra to see Taj Mahal. He said that we should rent a car or hire a taxi, though some people go the cheap route and take the bus, but he did not recommend it, saying that the touring was very rushed and that the bus seats are usually crowded and hot. Renting a car would be ₹7,000, and hiring a taxi would be even more. Knowing his bias against buses, we decided to explore on our own what the buses were like, so we looked at Lonely Planet and saw that "Deluxe A/C" government buses go frequently between Delhi and Agra. However, we read the blurb wrong and thought that the Idgah bus station was in Delhi, additionally, Google Maps led us to believe the bus station was just a few blocks away from our hotel, when it's actually in Agra. We couldn't find any information online about the government bus stations because many Indian websites either have very little relevant information or are difficult to navigate.

Knowing there were buses, and thinking that the bus station was close by, with a bus departing at 7:30 am, we woke up at 6 am with the intention of walking or taking an auto to the station in time to purchase a ticket and board the bus. We managed to wake up early, despite going to bed at 12:30am, and got out the door by 6:30 am. We were well-packed with two 1L bottles of water, my 800mL Kleen Kanteen, my camera, a tripod, sunscreen, and various other knickknacks all crammed into Swathi's 20L daypack. As we were walking in the direction that Google Maps pointed, we were accosted by auto rickshaw drivers, asking if they could take us to our destination. We tried to tell them where we were going but got nothing but confused looked when we told them "Idgah bus station" or "government bus station." We even tried showing them on Swathi's phone where it was on the map, but they still didn't understand. I couldn't believe it; we never had this sort of trouble communicating our destination before. The drivers eventually discovered that we were trying to go to Agra. Our acknowledgement to their discovery sent us stumbling into the rabbit hole where we would spend the next 20 hours.

One of the drivers said he could take us to a bus which could take us to Agra, and after some hesitation, we got into the auto and he drove off. We were heading in the opposite direction that we thought the nonexistent government bus station was, and we were quickly several streets over, looking at buses from various private travel companies parallel parked on the side of the road. There were no obvious signs of this being a bus station, this was just some strange street and some strange buses.

The driver got out of the auto and approached the first bus. After a few minutes, he came back and said the bus was full. We went to the next bus in line and it was the same story. We were annoyed, we had asked the driver to take us to the government bus station and he was taking us hostage on the off-chance he might get a commission for getting us to buy some private tickets. The driver started up the auto again and sped off, this time in the direction of the phantom bus station, and I felt some relief, thinking that he was finally taking us to the government bus depot, like we had asked in the first place. He stopped in front of a hotel and we got out. We were near the marker that Google Maps was showing, but there was no bus station. The driver went into the hotel lobby and asked the clerk about busses to Agra. There was much back and forth in Hindi, and the clerk who also seemed like the owner of the hotel, made a few phone calls.

It was now 7:10 am and hope of getting to Agra on the 7:30 bus was fading. The phone calls ended and we were presented with an offer: ₹1,500 each for a round-trip ride in an "A/C bus" to Agra, with 60 minutes at Agra Fort and 90 minutes at the Taj Mahal, then through Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna. We would be dropped back at our hotel at 11 pm. We talked it over and agreed that getting to Agra today (as opposed to tomorrow or some other day) would be nice, and that ₹3,000 is less than the ₹7,000 we would have spent on a rental car that we would have to drive ourselves. We accepted their offer, but had to go to an ATM first, since ₹3,000 was all we were carrying and we wanted to have some money for food and emergency in Agra. The auto driver, who was still tagging along, took us to an ATM and then back to the hotel where the tour company was. We paid the clerk who then said the bus had boarded all the passengers and was waiting for us at a different location. He rode with us in the auto to a white SUV which was parked on the side of the road, then got out and said that it would take us to the bus. Despite our doubts, we paid the driver and got in.

After several blocks, my mind started to digest the situation. Swathi and I were alone in a strange, unmarked car being driven by a strange man. We had trusted the honesty of an auto rickshaw driver and bought into a tour package that we knew close to nothing about from a tour company that was unknown to us and were now being taken to some unknown destination where who knows what would happen to us. In that moment of lucidity, I again felt the sensation that we might die. I felt like insisting upon going no further until some validation of the driver's company and identity could be satisfied. I took a picture of the driver and held my tongue.
Swathi was equally afraid, making mental notes of the places we were passing based on sign boards and trying her best to listen into the phone conversation the driver was having. After some kilometers, the car stopped behind a bus by the side of the road. A man, his pregnant wife and their two children, ages 4 and 2, were there, waiting to get into the SUV with us. Swathi sighed, relieved that these people had at least enough faith in this man to place the security of their children in his hands.

My fears dissolved when we parked behind another tour bus and were allowed to get out of the car and onto the bus. There were only four seats available in the very back, one for myself, one for Swathi, and two for the young Muslim family that joined us in the SUV. We sat down and I started to breathe easier.
It would be a three and a half hour journey in the bus and although I was still anxious about the tour company we chose, I was glad to be sitting down, comfortable, and on the way to Agra.

27 May, 2013

Update #8 - Day 4 in Hyderabad, Day 1 in Delhi

Today we flew to Delhi through SpiceJet airlines, as planned, and are staying at Hotel Amax Inn for the next 5 nights. Our travels to Delhi were nearly as exciting as our first few hours exploring Delhi.

Our morning started off with the final tidbits of packing, keeping in mind the limitations placed on airline luggage, followed by going downstairs to say goodbye to Swathi's grandparents.

fully loaded
Swathi and "Dada"
Swathi and "Ammama"

Mohan and Shoba were kind enough to take us to the airport, so we loaded the car and pulled away from the house. We were going in a Ford Ikon, the same car which Mohan used to picked us up when we arrived in Hyderabad. Driving to the airport had the usual excitement as we worked our way through the chaotic streets, past the Buddha Statue, and onto the airport flyover (for the Americans: "long, direct overpass"). The traffic and roads here are so different from what is in the U.S. or even in Bangalore or Delhi. It seems the further north we travel, the more sane is the traffic. It seems like people will pack onto or into whatever means of transportation available to them, regardless of how many open seats are there. Likewise, traffic seems to flow like water, rushing into open spaces with little regard for oncoming traffic.

5 on a bike!
how many people are riding in this truck?
bloop, bloop!

At the airport, Swathi's parents escorted us to the entrance and we said our goodbyes. After getting our boarding passes and going through separate security lanes (one for gents, one for ladies), we discovered we were hungry, with plenty of time to spare before we had to load onto the plane. We found a food place and ate idli (white fluffy rice thing) sambar (brown curry) vada (brown fried thing, like an unsweet doughnut) and coconut chutney (white curry). Once we had eaten our fill of Idli, we boarded the plane.

Two hours later, we arrived in Delhi and found a government prepaid taxi service to take us to the hotel. The difference in the roads to those of Hyderabad was immediately evident. The roads were wide and smooth, only fitting for the capital of India. There was hardly any traffic most of the way, and drivers actually stayed in their own lanes! The taxi we got was a black, narrow mini van without A/C. It was a fairly long drive from the airport, and when we reached the road the hotel was on, the driver did not know where our hotel was. We drove slowly and finally found a sign pointing down an alley where another sign was hanging which said "Hotel Amax Inn, recommended by Lonely Planet".

At the hotel, the staff had us sign a registry book, took photocopies of our identification, then gave us the key to room 107. The room was fantastically clean, the staff were on call 24 hours a day for room service, and the air conditioning worked well enough. The not-so-gentle hum of the fan and clanking noises of the compressor switching on were barely noticeable. The only thing we didn't particularly like was how the WiFi only worked in the lobby, where there was no air conditioning.

We quickly lost interest in looking at the walls and checked Google Maps to see what was nearby. There's a subway station less than a kilometer away, so we off-loaded our gear and went out, intending to see what it cost and how it worked. We didn't have anywhere in particular to go, and we were too tired to do any real touring, so we thought that doing some shopping would be a good start. Shopping for what, you ask? We didn't know yet.

The path we took led us down a couple of roads, then over a long bridge which had a precarious walkway on the north side which at one time might have been wide enough for two people to walk abreast but was now suitable only for single-file travel. The upturned flagstones and missing sections of railing made it difficult for bi-directional travel, and we were often blocked by pedestrians coming from the opposite direction. This didn't stop me from snapping a few pictures along the way.

These boys were on Arakashan Rd; I stopped to take their picture and they were more than happy to pose. When I was finished, they said "that will be 20 rupees, please."
view of Chelmsford Rd from the bridge
New Delhi Rail Station, as seen from the DB Gupta Road bridge

When we made it over the bridge and across the road, we began looking for the entrance to the metro station. I knew it would be underground, but all we could see were dozens of bicycle rickshaw drivers and street vendors. Behind this mob, there was a shady-looking alleyway where a lot of people were entering and exiting. "That's it!" I said, and led Swathi into the darkness, down a staircase, and into the New Delhi metro station!

After studying the map, we purchased two tokens, a total of ₹22, which would cover our fare to the Rajiv Chowk station, where there is an underground shopping mall. Before we could go to the platform, we had to submit to additional security screening. Swathi stood in the line for ladies and was behind only one other woman when she entered the line, passing through without difficulty. I stood in the line for gents with about 30 other men, keeping one hand on the pocket holding my wallet, and one hand on my camera. This was another typical Indian queue and I got through with only some difficulty.

Once cleared, we touched the tokens on the sensor and the gate let us pass through to the lower level where the platform is. Coming down the escalator, I was astonished at the male to female ratio on the platform; there were easily 200 men and only about 5 women. This is the tangible result of the femicide practiced here over the last 50 years. With such odds against the male population when it comes to finding a partner, it was very easy to see the source of desperation which leads to the frequent sexual assaults and rape in this city. It made me feel sick. With my left hand, I held Swathi's hand tighter, and with my right, I more firmly gripped my camera. If it came down to it, my Canon 5D would be hefty enough to be an adequate bludgeoning device. I would do anything to protect her.

Among the crowd of men, we were faced with two platforms, each set to board trains running on parallel tracks. The signs were confusing so we took a guess and boarded a train. We guessed right. One stop later, we disembarked at Rajiv Chowk station. The layout of the station was different than the New Delhi station, and was much larger because it was an interchange between different subway lines. Eventually we found the exit, put our tokens in the receptacle and were allowed to leave. Coming back to the surface, I felt like a prairie dog poking his head above ground and blinking at the forgotten natural light of the sun. The air was fresh and clean, we were in a strange place, and suddenly a whiff of the scent of urine brought me back to my senses and I remembered where I was. Welcome to Rajiv Chowk.

Looking around, there were more food vendors on the sidewalk surrounding us and short buildings formed an uneven wall around a large mound of grass in the center, which rose above our heads like an unholy stupa. At the top of the mound there was a small entranceway to Palika Bazaar, the network of subterranean shops we heard of. The entranceway had a guard and his metal detector waiting to greet us. He told me that photography inside the complex was forbidden, though I was tempted to disobey.

The shops were set along the edges of concentric circles, the inner circle about 100 meters in diameter. Passageways connected the different circles together, and there were multiple levels.

There were small stores selling mostly electronics and clothing. Everywhere we walked, shopkeepers were trying to get our attention, waving belts or sunglasses in our faces, telling us about the amazing deals they supposedly had. By this time, Swathi decided that she wanted to purchase a small flashlight that we could carry and use while we were in Delhi.

We were on a mission and started asking the electronics dealers to show us what flashlights they carried in stock. Most of the items we saw were very cheaply made and probably would have broken after the first few uses. After seeing these identical items at three different stores, I was getting skeptical that we would succeed. Finally, we found a shop which carried a small black aluminum flashlight with a rechargeable battery and LED bulb. This was what we were looking for, but the price was wrong. The shopkeeper was asking ₹1150 for something which we thought was worth less than half that amount. We balked and went to walk out of the store when the shopkeeper lowered his price, "for you, I will sell it for ₹1000." At this, I turned and offered ₹500. He looked at me scornfully and said that was much too low. He went on to show us the merits of owning such a marvelous piece of technology. "Look how bright this is! Look, it has a blink function! I cannot possibly go lower than ₹1000, and only for you." I counter-offered with ₹650 and his face softened, but only slightly. I took Swathi by the hand and started to walk away when he accepted my offer of ₹650. We are the proud new owners of a hard-haggled flashlight.

When we had enough of the shops, we went back above ground and saw that it was now night. We found the entrance to the metro station and went down to stand in the queue for the information desk where we could buy the tokens we needed to get back to the New Delhi station. The lines were long and surprisingly orderly, for an Indian queue, but were moving very slowly. I was approached by a person who works for the station and she gave me some information regarding a "Smart Card" which was a rechargeable and refundable pass loaded to ₹100. We could skip the queue, and since we were now planning on using the metro regularly, it was a good idea to pick one up. Swathi and I each got our cards and were quickly on our way back to the hotel.

Emerging from the New Delhi station, we tried getting an auto which would take us back to the hotel, but none would take us there for less than ₹150, which was by far a ripoff. Had the drivers gone by the flag drop rate, even with the 25% extra night fee, it should not have been more than ₹30. We decided to walk.

The road leading up to the Hotel Amax Inn contains almost nothing but hotels. There is the occasional shop or pharmacy, but I never noticed just how many hotels there were until we came back at night and all the signs were illuminated.

We tried out the room service and each had the vegetable thali for dinner, which was utterly delicious.

26 May, 2013

Update #7 - Day 3 in Hyderabad

Today we stayed home and rested, recovering from yesterday's exhaustingly hot visit to Ramoji Film City. It was nice to relax and explore the house that Swathi grew up in.

I spent a little time trying to diagnose the problem we had last night with the TomTom. We connected it to Mohan's desktop computer and tried to update the map data. The software provided with the device and online was not very clear about whether a map update was available or if the version on the device was the latest. If the TomTom engineers are listening, hear this: "make it easier to update/verify the software on your devices."

Later in the evening, Swathi and I went up to the terrace to look around and enjoy the sunset. The concept of a terrace is foreign to me. Our roofs in The States were usually slanted and tiled with shingles. The roof is not usually a place to be unless you're decorating the house with Christmas lights. Here, the terrace is as much a part of the house as the entranceway or living room.

Looking around at the neighboring plots, I saw this strange blue moustached face being displayed at the edge of the property, I thought about the stone gargoyle set on the corner at Swathi's place. Swathi said that this was also a kind of gargoyle, thought to ward off evil. Styles of gargoyles and wards differ from region to region. In Bangalore, the southern style of a stone figure is popular, and in Hyderabad, the northern style of a painting is common. There are no gargoyles at the Lal residence.

a blue gargoyle to ward off evil
note the Aerosmith shirt
a stroll on the terrace, photo by Swathi

For dinner, we ate a Hyderabad specialty: Chicken Biryani. It was spiced heaven on a plate. There are dozens of varieties of biryani, but ours was rice, half a roasted chicken, hard boiled egg, and enough spices to make your hair curl. If ever you're in Hyderabad, try the biryani!

25 May, 2013

Update #6 - Day 2 in Hyderabad, Ramoji Film City

Today, we visited the Universal City of Bollywood, Ramoji Film City. Being one of the highlights of Hyderabad, Swathi came here with Melony via a bus tour just a week ago and wanted to show it to me. We had to get an early start because of the long drive to the film city. Our breakfast was appam and potato stew which was delicious.

Appam and potato stew

We were taking the Nano again, Swathi's mom and dad sat in the front and we sat in the back. Mohan loaded the car with a 5 liter container of water and we left to go fill the fuel tank with petrol. I took a minute to photograph the service station workers who were more than happy to pose.

Mohan and his Nano

Once we were loaded and had set off in the general direction, Swathi checked the GPS on her phone and discovered we were heading in the wrong direction. This was the beginning of another adventure, courtesy of the shortest route directions provided by Google Maps on Android.

Cows!!
A clay Ganesha statue on the side of the road which will be painted and used in an upcoming festival

It quickly became clear to us that this was not the route commonly taken to go to Ramoji Film City. We had wandered onto seldom-traveled roads which connected rural villages on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The roads were in extreme disrepair and we had to travel at speeds less than 50 kph for most of the way to avoid the potholes, people and cattle which were everywhere.

Following motorcyclists

To make matters worse, the battery charge on Swathi's cell phone dwindled quickly under the draining load of the constant GPS use. We were in the middle of nowhere, following turn after turn on the instructions of a device which would soon abandon us with no knowledge of the way back or forward. On the positive side, I was able to see what the outskirts and villages of Hyderabad look like. The roads had no name or distance markers. There were no standardized directional signposts, no service stations or shops. It was mostly huts, rice fields, the occasional Hindu temple, and people who worked hard to do whatever it is they do to survive.

If we had stopped and asked someone for directions, it was unlikely that they would be able to help us. People out here use feet, either their own or an animal's, to get around. Traveling great distances was as alien to them as navigating these streets was to us. It was an interesting sensation to realize the benefits and disadvantages of using technology. There was a brief moment of wondering if I would die out here.

I put my camera down and helped Swathi find a pen and paper so that we could write down the rest of the directions (for roads which had no name) while we still had charge. Just as we finished, the phone died. Using our low-tech directions, we managed to get back on to the main highway and found our way to Ramoji Film City.

We made it!
Swathi and her mom
Swathi en-queued

We found a parking spot, purchased tickets and entered the complex. Charlie Chaplin, Batman, Spiderman, and the Terminator, and a few others were all there in painted fiberglass renditions to greet us as we entered the main gate. Dancers were dancing in Bollywood fashion under a tent. We walked to the nearest attraction and stood in a queue.

Once in, we were placed in front of a green screen and our picture was taken, we were then loaded into an open-roof train for a tour of the world, not unlike the "It's a Small World" ride at Disney Land. We saw figurines waving at us and representations of famous landmarks from different countries. America is represented with New York's shopping and Oklahoma's tornadoes. When it was done, we looked at the resulting image of the green screen photo and Mohan purchased a copy which I will scan and upload.

Next up was the "Movie Magic" attraction where we would observe the creation of a scene. We waited in the first quadrant of a four-chambered, circular building and waited while a volunteer was chosen from the crowd to be be the star talent and we entered the second quadrant of the quadruplex. As we waited for the volunteer talent to come onto the stage, we watched an introductory video of Mr. Ramoji himself as he explained the origins of his love of film and what we could expect to see. We were recreating a famous Bollywood scene of a horse-drawn carriage being chased by men on horses. The talent, now dressed in costume, came out onto the stage and sat down on the rig, which was in front of a green screen, and tried following the instructions she was given on how to move to make it look more like she was driving. The effect might have been more convincing if she could stop grinning and focus more on whipping the imaginary horse.

our talent

After the camera had recorded a sample of the action, we moved to the next quadrant to observe the process for creating sound effects. The sound stage had various instruments used to make noises like wind, rain, thunder, horse hooves, and jingling harnesses. Once the audio samples were taken, we moved to the last chamber to watch the final rendition of the scene which mixed together the audio, video, and other scenes to make it look like our volunteer really was trying to evade the horsemen.

making sound effects

It was time for lunch, so we ate in the only restaurant in the complex which had air conditioning. It was a Hollywood themed cafe which served a buffet of Indian food. I put whatever I could recognize on my plate and happily munched away, enjoying the respite from the heat and delicious food. For dessert, we were served weird spongy milk balls, submerged in a sugary syrup called "rasmalai",  yellow sweet twisty "jalebi", and ice cream.

Apparently, the Hollywood sign is in Hyderabad. Who knew?

Once fed, we wanted to watch a stunt show in the western-themed area, but had just missed the last performance, so we went to a "Spirit of India" dance which was just starting, and saw a performer lay on her back while she tried to maneuver a series of pole-mounted platforms using her legs in order to get a ball to a basket at the top. She dropped the ball a few times (both literally and figuratively), but eventually succeeded, with the reward of applause. After the ball lady, we watched a dance which stayed true to the Bollywood spirit in being flashy and elaborate. The costumes were in the colors of the Indian flag: orange, white, and green.

stupid human tricks
dancing!

We then took a bus tour of the various sets which had been used in films. There was little expense spared in creating the various settings. It was all here: a fake airport, the streets of London, fake government building, fake train station, leg garden. The complex was vast and the number and kinds of sets created were astounding. I wondered how many or which movies used these items. Judging by the sheer number of buildings, it seemed possible that they might construct a whole building or town for the sake of a single scene in a film.

One of the many elaborate fountains
photo by Swathi
a replica of a government building
another fountain
Leg Garden
on the tour bus, photo by Swathi

It was 45º C (113º F) outside, so we cooled off with sprite and water before going back to the car. The journey home was almost as adventurous as the one which took us to Film City. We decided to try using the TomTom which was in the trunk of the car. After we had set the destination, it led us through more sparsely populated stretches of land and bad roads. In choosing the path, Swathi and I both thought that we had selected the one which the tour buses usually take, but it was difficult to tell on the screen which roads were the highways and which were the rural routes. It turned out fine in the end, and we were able to see some beautiful scenery.

sunset in rural Hyderabad
a river we crossed
Water Buffalo on the road

After some time, the TomTom took us at an empty plot on the wrong side of Hyderabad and announced that we have arrived at our destination. "You have reached your destination" must mean something different for the people at TomTom than what is commonly understood. After asking for directions, we finally did reach our destination. Once settled, we feasted on a starter that was made by Jyothi which was breaded fried egg with onion rings over a bed of cilantro salad, the remaining leftover pizza that Swathi and I could not finish previously, and some delicious chapatis made by Swathi's mom.

Jyothi's fried egg and onion ring starter

Having been thoroughly entertained and stuffed with food, I will fall asleep tonight with ease and dream of my own Bollywood movie, complete with a float of dancers among streets lined with freshly-constructed houses and shops.