DAY 14 FEB 19 OLD DELIGHTFUL DEHLI

MORE DEHLI
A city of extremes....the very modern to the very old.
Inspirational antiquities every where you look, Old Delhi, the capital of Muslim India from 12th - 19th centuries.  Originally the Mughal capital of Shahjahanabad, built by Shah Jahan when he moved the imperial court from Agra to Delhi.  The city was surrounded by a wall pierced by 14 gates of which three- Delhi, Turkman and Ajmeri-survive.   The final blow to this city was caused when the British troops moved into the Red Fort after the Mutiny of 1857- we are talking military garrison.

Pleep figures since he is helping our driver he needs to get a turban...so now he has our driver on the hunt for a suitable Pleep Turban....let's swing by the Flea Market Pleepster and see if we can find you one....








SUNDAY FLEA MARKETS

Wow...snapped from the bus.  Thousands and thousands of people- mainly men- on the street selling and buying.


I am feeling the 1.2 billion people living here...latest number of which 50% are under 26 years old!  The average Indian is nearly 20 years younger than the average Japanese (26 vs 45).

60% live below the poverty line

% of World's Population:
1.  China- 19.4%
2.  India-  17.5%
3.  USA-  4.5%

There are 28 states in India with a growth rate of 17.64% over the past decade.  42% of the world's poor live in India.  There are 60 (the number varies) languages with 600 different dialects.  My favorite is Hinglish.

The literacy rate was  74.04 but dropped to 60ish.

Unemployment for 2010 was 10.8%

Half of the worlds outsourced IT svs comes from India creating a $47 Billion dollar industry.  Walmart alone outsources $1 Billion!

India is the second largest importer of arms- $50 Billion over the past decade.

Property prices in Mumbai and Delhi have more than doubled in the past 18 months- wow!

and there you have it.  No turban luck  for the Pleepmeister....







RED FORT

Red sandstone battlements give this imperial citadel its name-Red Fort.  Used to be white to look like marble back in the day...but worn off over time.  It was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1639.  It took years to build and was the seat of Mughal power until 1857 when the last emperor, Bahadur Shah, was dethroned and exiled.  And yes, they hung his 3 sons to make sure there would be no come back.

Samina, our lovely guide gives us the what fore about the Red Fort.  Who let the dogs out??  Love the Mughal Dog- strike a pose pooch!  They have free run of the city and look pretty pathetic.  Over 400 dog bites are treated by hospitals every day. People have you heard about dog rescue?  We had heard about a government sponsored sterilization program.  Amen.

The fort complex is in the walled city of Old Delhi and named a UNESCO site in 2007.

The Fort sits on 121 acres.  During the British period it was used as a cantonment even after independence and a significant part of the Fort remained under the control of the Indian Army until 2003.  It is now a very popular tourist attraction...ask Annie and  Bubs!

This is where the emperor gave daily audiences to all his subjects in this 60 pillared hall.  The intricately carved throne canopy stands on a platform, while the low marble bench was for the chief minister.  Bocahita liked this system and used it at Anro...let someone else be the messanger!

Those Mughals had that opulence down pat.  What happened to those jewel encrusted walls???

The Royal apartments were divided by the "Stream of Paradise". The emperors prayer room was flanked by his sleeping chamber and sitting room which overlooked the Yamuna and led to a balcony where he appeared before his subjects at sunrise.  Hoping most wouldn't show??  And again Bocahita liked his logic.

Hamams- the royal bath has three enclosures.  The first provided hot vapour baths, the second sprayed rose-scented water through the fountains and the third contained cold water.  Bubs mumbled something about our water bill being high enough for a Sultan's bathhouse....

Moti Masjid Mosque- named after the pearly sheen of its marble.  Lots of restoration going on.  Who is paying for the rehab?  Per Samina, there are many foundations that contribute to cultural affairs.
















RAJGHAT- GANDHI'S MEMORIAL

Raijghat, India's most revered symbol of nationalism, is the site of Mahatma Gandhi's cremation.  A somber black granite platform inscribed with his last words HE RAM! (OH GOD!) now stands here.  The only splash of color comes from the garlands of orange marigolds (like Mother Theresa's tomb) draped over it.  Devotees sing hajans and the steady beat of the dholak lends the scene a melancholy aura.  On Gandhi's birthday, Oct 2 and death anniversary, Jan 30, the nation's leaders gather here for prayer meetings.







Set in a park like setting.....many people flowed in to pay their respects.











This memorial to Gandhi is left open to the sky while an eternal flame burns perpetually- designed to reflect to simplicity of his life.  Bocahita is a devotee of all things Gandhi and is so happy to be able to pay homage to this great man.

Per Buddha Bubs "enough of that Gandhi - let's get over to the good stuff".  Yes Bubs, you are so partial to snakes....

Once an icon of Indian culture, snake charmers today are struggling for survival—a victim, they say, of stringent wildlife protection laws and the advent of cable television.

The exotic sight of these mystical men enticing snakes to dance to the soulful music of gourd flutes has long captured the imagination of people in the West. The dexterity with which the charmers handle deadly snakes such as cobras and vipers has added to the allure of the street-side performances.

But such sights are increasingly rare, as snake charmers become an endangered species.

Large numbers of snake charmers once could be seen walking the streets of cities and towns, their cloth-covered baskets hanging from bamboo poles slung across the shoulders.

The country's snake charmers say that besides wildlife protection laws, another factor is also helping to drive their occupation to oblivion: the growing market of nature-oriented television programs in India.

"After seeing so many wildlife shows on television, city folk are losing their fear and awe they used to have of snakes," said Pitam Nath, a traditional snake charmer from the village of Morband on the outskirts of Delhi. "At this rate," he said, sitting in the forecourt of a temple, "I will not let my own children take to snake charming."

The practice of snake charming—catching snakes, keeping them in captivity for extended periods, and training them to perform—has traditionally been passed from father to son. For generations, it has provided a critical means of support for many Indian families.

There's the Gate again...they were having a marathon race today making the mayhem and traffic extra special.

 Our guide was delightful and bit hungover this morning as she also attended a wedding last evening...not getting home till early morning in time to hop into her work Sari and meet us.  Samina, have you heard about hair of the dog?    A Hindu wedding ceremony at its core is essentially a Vedic Yajna (a fire-sacrifice) in which the Aryan deities are invoked in Indo-Aryan style.  The primary witness of a Hindu marriage is the fire- deity-Agni and by law and tradition, no Hindu marriage is deemed legal unless the presence of the sacred fire, seven increments have been made around it by the bride and groom together.  Sound a bit like the Serb go round!

Pleep got out on the cricket field causing a bit of a dust up.....introduced by the British, this game is now a national obsession.  Per wiki:       Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on a field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the runs scored by the batting team. A run is scored by the striking batsman hitting the ball with his bat, running to the opposite end of the pitch and touching the crease there without being dismissed. The teams switch between batting and fielding at the end of an innings.

WE WONDERED WHY ALL THE BIG TIME SECURITY HERE FRIDAY WHEN WE ARRIVED...


Vivek Oberoi.  Who?  A Bollywood hottie that sat next to us at Breakfast this morning with his oh so po'd wife.  What did the poor boy do?   He has been filming in Delhi for a week.  They were also here for Lifestyle India Fashion Week and a fund raiser for Youcanfree.us- the show against human trafficking.  I understand he is quite the philanthropist.  Not only a cutie but a good guy.  Hey Mrs Oberoi- give the boy a break!  And no relation to the hotel by the way.

Oh and by the way....guess who's got Delhi Belly tonight.....go Bubba go.