I came left Benares the night of the 28th and arrived in Delhi Friday morning.
It is too hot for touts this time of year. I walked all the way through the train station and no one spoke to me.
Nandan told me that I could walk to Connaught Place from the station and I did and it was easy and I immediately found the Delhi Metro. It is comparable to the London Tube in appearance, even though it is not completed. Right now it only has three lines but there are plans posted at various stations describing the future of the metro and the city’s intention to add several more lines.
Customer service is still in Indian style – meaning with a grudge. The only portable map that I could find was one on the back of a pamphlet titled, “A Ready Reckoner to Fines and Penalties on the Metro.” One of the offenses listed was riding on the roof, and the penalty is a maximum of $1 US and a month in jail. In another place it says that if a company commits a crime on Metro property, then all company employees present at the time of the offense will be held equally responsible.
On the 29th I saw the Baha’i Temple. I asked Nandan about that place before I left and he said he had been there, but did not know who the Baha’i were. He said that he thought it was a generic temple for people of any religion. I do not know how he could have missed the signage or prosetylizers, but then I suppose the experience is different for native Indians.
I went to the zoo but it is closed on Fridays. Near the zoo is the _Purana Qila_ or old fort. I saw it and it was another set of ruins in India…
I went to the Supreme Court Museum and was sad that no photography was allowed inside. There were brass posts with velvet rope separating the visitor from the exhibits, as so many places have, but the tag happy workers saw fit to label those as exhibits as well. “Brass post, ca 20th century”
I went to the Handloom Museum – actually a museum of all rural native art – and it was another collection of unlabeled treasure. A person who wants to study Indian style would do well to go here for overload. The museum had much more than I could appreciate and claimed to represent all major styles. Again, no photography was allowed.
I went to the Science Museum. I think it proports to be a children’s museum but some of the exhibits could be rough for children. It was rather large and in an impressive building, still under construction. The most notable exhibit was the dinosaur room, which was everything that a prehistoric display should be. The museum had spared no expense in buying speakers to generate roaring noises, and every animatronic creature was extremely angry and vocal about it. Some frequently under-represented prehistoric animals were present, such as the giant hampster, the giant purple chickadee, and the giant bigfoot.
I went to the India Gate because I was passing there and saw it surrounded by a crowd. Nothing was happening there, though. I guess families just go there to hang out at night. No one is allowed to walk through the gate, for some reason. The Modern Art Museum is nearby, but as I was there at night it was closed.
The next day I was sick. I ate nothing strange or different so I do not know why. I went to the zoo again but I did not give a thorough look about because I felt terrible. There is a sign in front of the zoo that says, “Free admission for retarded persons.” I think that this is a good practice but I am not sure that they should advertise the fact as if it were an attraction. My mind was not clear at the time and I did not photograph this, but anyway I am sure the reader will believe. I hired a riding tour and could scarcely exit the cart when it stopped for animal viewing. The tour was about forty-minutes and immediately after I took an autorickshaw back to Pahar Ganj, the scummy neighborhood near the train station with cheap rooming.
Normally I change room per day, but as I am sick I do not have the strength. As everywhere else, the hotels are extravagantly designed and then expected to last forever with only the looniest of maintenance and no customer service. Take my room, for example. Notice that someone must have spent a lot of money on this marble floor, which is of course filthy. Now look at this door. Someone stained it, but the worker did not remove the paper notice tacked to the door when he slopped the lacquer on. My phone does not work because it is visibly smashed. Presumably, this would prevent someone calling for room service. With the way hotels overcharge for meals, the price of one meal would cover the cost of a new phone. But this is beyond the comprehension of the Indian intellect at large.
Today I came to computer to see if I could. I had doubts. I still feel terrible and have no appetite, despite not eating for about 36 hours. Everyone I know in England and America are going to be upset when they see me because I know I look sick. I have lost weight. I am covered with some grime – Nandan calls it mal. It is white and seems to cover every part of my body, no matter whether clothed or open to the elements. My facial complexion – no, the complexion of the skin all over my body – is spotted.
I honestly want a hamburger. I have begun thinking about beef. Beef really is the best meat. This is the second time in my life that I have tried vegetarianism. It is not for me.
I expect my time in the west to begin with convalescence. I need to gain weight and some strength back. I get tired so easily because I have been trapped at home hiding from heat for so long. I am ready to leave India.
My flight is tomorrow, Monday July 2, at 1:30.