Marie and I arrive in Delhi a little before midnight on-board a Jet Lite airplane as our original flight with Kingfisher Airlines from Bangalore was suddenly canceled. In fact, according to the electronically posted flight schedule at the airport, it looked like half of all scheduled flights had been canceled. Kingfisher's help desk said it was due to technical difficulties but I couldn't help but think it was due to Diwali. Speaking of Diwali, as the flight closed in on the airport, bright flashes of light could be seen dotting the Delhi sky. The city looked like a festive Christmas tree with flashing strands of mini lights. It didn't stop for a second. As we got closer the details got clearer so you could see class B display fireworks being set off all over Delhi. I was told that fireworks were perfectly legal all over India with the unfortunate fact that it results in a lot of yearly accidents.
As Marie and I were driven to our hotel by our hired car, it was evident that Delhi had already been subjected to 3 consecutive nights of fireworks and will be for another 2 nights. The surrounding air was thick with smoke generated from the fireworks combined with the smog from excessive pollution. At some points on the road, visibility was only 50 ft. The acrid air smelled of burnt paper and gunpowder. The incessant bang of the fireworks permeated Delhi. The smell and sound even penetrated into the confines of our hotel room and the smoke hung thickly. Marie had a difficult time sleeping that night with the smoke hanging in the room and the nonstop crackle of fireworks all over Delhi.
Waking up to depart for our tour of Delhi, we quickly grabbed a typical North Indian breakfast of Puri Bhaji. The meal consists of a wheat flour that enlarges into a poofy ball when fried. It's served with boiled potatoes simmered in spices, chutney and raw cucumbers and onions.
Sanjay, our drivers takes us to see Jama Masjid, the Red Fort, Bahai's Temple (Lotus Temple), the India Gate, and the President's House. We spent a fair amount of time visiting each location. The most interesting experience of the day had to have been the Lotus temple. A recent architectural marvel of the Bahai faith, the temple was built to replicate the beauty of a half open Lotus flower with 27 freestanding petals made of marble. While queuing in line to store our shoes at the "full service shoe dungeon", I truly learned the extent to which people here disregard other people's personal space. It wasn't a matter of inches or centimeters between people, there was no spacing of any kind between people in line. The person behind me was literally molded to my backside. I could smell this man's body odor and taste through his breathe what he had for his last meal. I tried to maintain my distance with the man in front of me but due to the sheer amount of people this provide futile. I was soon molded to the backside of the man in front of me. This same thing played out again when I lined up to retrieve our shoes. It's truly laughable really. I chalked it up to personal experience and took it as something to learn from.
That night Marie and I enjoyed a tasty meal of Veg Biryani, Chicken Masala, Naan and a couple of beers to wash it all down.
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