Chennai to Delhi

January 26, 2012

Out early (4:30AM) into the pre-dawn darkness. The always patient Mr. Mohan delivers us to the airport for a flight to Delhi. The neon scrolling sign at security reminds travelers that items such as axes, crow bars, dynamite, hand grenades, bow and arrow, kitchen utensils, etc. should not be packed in your carry-on. Well, okay.

 We fly JetAir.

Delhi airport is modern, clean and a pleasant surprise, as is what we see of the city as we drive to our hotel. There are wide boulevards lined with trees, parks and colonial buildings. Today is Republic of India Day so many streets are blockaded in anticipation of a parade. We see people in uniform carrying musical instruments and contingents of school children in their own special uniform mingling with Indian citizens out for the festivities. We drive by the president’s house, (more than a mansion, more like a palace). It sits alone at one end of a green beltway. The India Gate sits blocks away on the other. Reminiscent of L’Arc de Triomphe on the Champs.

It's chilly up north in Delhi, maybe 55 degrees. We've come from tropical Chennai, so we pull our jackets out and are glad to have them.  Indian people are wearing sweaters, but are still in sandals. We are too. The temperatures warm into the 70's as the day progresses.

Our hotel, Le Meridien, is five-star. Mod-European décor, lots of chrome and glitz. The rooms are large and comfortable with many thoughtful amenities: hair “wash” to slippers to loofa. We lunch at the hotel coffee shop. I have creamy chicken garlic soup. The chicken is diced into tiny bits. The flavor is good but not Italian garlicky. The soup is served with sliced sandwich bread, toasted but no longer warm and a small round dish of butter covered with a piece of waxed paper cut to fit. 

We meet our guide, whose name I cannot remember, and our driver Sanjay (who picked us up at the airport) in front of the hotel. Because of the Republic Day road closures our options are limited but we manage to fill the afternoon. First stop is Qutb Minar. The red sandstone and marble tapered minar at 239 feet is a monument to Islam erected circa 1190. Rounded sections are built around a hollow stone core in the shape of an unfurled telescope, set lens down. An unfinished minar stands in another part of the complex. It looks like rubble cemented together. The exterior of the finished minar belies the rubble construction underneath. It’s smoothed into ripples and complexly decorated. Inside are 379 stairs, but they are closed to the public, (drat!) The top of the tower holds the crescent moon symbol of Islam. The minar, (main tower), decorated with inscriptions from the Koran dominates the complex which includes the columns and open courtyards of the Quwwat-al-Islam mosque. The mosque is built from the ruins of 27 Hindu temples.  Ancient carvings of animals have been obliterated because Islam forbids the depiction of living creatures.

Minar Detail

Qutb Minar

Qutb Minar

Ancient Carvings

Carved Columns

Of interest is a black iron (99.6% pure iron) pillar standing in the compound. No one knows how it came to be there, or how it has existed for 1600 years without a single tad of rust. One theory: it came from outer space…maybe so…why not?

We discover at this very first stop that Claire draws a crowd. She’s like a magnet, drawing people in. They want to know how old she is: boy or girl? And they want to touch her and they all want to take her picture and have their picture taken with her. Claire is oblivious, dispensing smiles but no promises or commitments. Holding court without a scepter. I call it “the Claire Effect”.

Next, we are driven to Lotus Temple. It is a meditation center for members of the Ba’hai faith. There is a queue of people waiting to get inside that runs for blocks. We settle for standing outside the wrought iron fence and taking photos of the lotus flower shaped building. A man-made white flower in a field of green.

Lotus Temple

Our last monument for today is Humayun’s Tomb, otherwise known as Delhi’s Taj. This is the first tomb among many that we’ll visit and it’s an impressive start. The Mughal emperor Humayun is buried here along with 100 or so others who’ve somehow earned the privilege. Humayun is the father of Akbar whom we will get to know quite well along the way.

The tomb is filigreed red sandstone and white marble inlaid with floral designs which were once embellished with precious gems, but they were removed by the British and other vandals. Symmetrical gardens, (now mostly grass and trees, but then supposedly sumptuous), surround the huge building. Water channels come from all four corners and a fountain stands in the center.

We enter through a huge (many stories tall) arched “gate”. The tomb is all domes and arches and latticed screens. We climb stairs to a flat rooftop above the main floor for a view along the garden walk back towards the imposing gate.

Through the Gate

Humayun's Tomb

Our guide asks our permission to take us to a rug emporium…a government sanctioned emporium, of course. The only purpose of which is to support the impoverished Kashmiri people who are struggling amid the conflict between India and Pakistan for control of the part of India they inhabit. My sensibilities are heightened because I do love the Kashmiris and feel deeply for their trials. Nasir greets us and offers cinnamon tea, which we accept as we settle into the banquette to watch one beautiful silk or wool rug after another spread out for our inspection and appreciation, approval and amusement. There is no end to rug unfurling.  It would be so wonderful to support this fine cause, but I have many rugs already. Suddenly it occurs to me that Jake and Lesley can support it, and they do need at least one rug as a keepsake of their time in India. And so, they buy 2 and have them shipped home. In the car we wonder what was steeping in that-there tea?

Rug Shopping

We learn from our guide that Indians have a great respect for teachers, (especially when they use their influence in the purchase of rugs). They kiss the feet of teachers because teachers lead them to God. He also tells us about different tea preparations used for different ailments. Tea brewed with black pepper and honey sounds like it might really drive away a cold.

I have dinner in the room with Claire, (a chicken burger topped with artichoke hearts and cucumbers) while Lesley and Jake have a “moment”, their first in 5 months, and enjoy dinner in the hotel restaurant. Both the room service and the housekeeping fellows are smitten with the Claire Effect. They salute her with a “Hi Baby” as they go in and out.