For the past two and a half weeks I have come to know and love New Delhi. There is such a richness of people and personality that can't really be described. However last Saturday and tonight I was able to spend time in Old Delhi. As the cycle rickshaw drivers will tell you, Old Delhi is the Real India. Saturday began with another visit to Chandni Chowk. We had cycle rickshaws for the day to navigate us through the streets of Chandni Chowk that we got lost in before. We started at the Digambar Jain Lal Temple, and had a brief visit with the jain saadhu before receiving a blessing. From there it was a visit to the spice market and a great view of the market's hustle. Men with carts carrying 10 heavy sacks of spices would weave among the pedestrians, cycles, autos, and cars to deftly park at the curb by the market. Then other men would carry a large sack on their backs up weaving again through a crush of people to take the spices to market. There were some amazing views from the top of one of the spice market buildings. You could see the rush of people on the street and the buzzing activity of the cars and rickshaws mingling with the people. Walking through the spice market was an exercise in trying to hold in your sneezing and coughing because the spices were so biting and pungent. Seeing the sacks and sacks of spices was a great illustration of how much flavor Indian food has. After the spice market we got back into the cycle rickshaws and had lunch at Karim's, a fifth generation Old Delhi institution. After our delicious lunch, we made a visit to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. Inside the courtyard of the mosque was a large pool of water with rivers leading into it. There were 100 men lounging about, and about 3 women. Our Old Delhi ended with our cycle rickshaws back to the Red Fort. Experiencing the crowds of people and the chaos of cars and people on the street is the very picture of the picture of Old Delhi and India. I'm amazed at the amount of people there are and am bracing myself for the larger crowds in Mumbai.
Also based in Old Delhi, we spent an evening on Thursday with Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan, an NGO that has set up homeless shelters and free health clinics across Delhi. AAA does such amazing work. Seeing the most marginalized, forgotten people who are often tossed aside or shunned receive health care and treatment was an eye-opening and touching experience. Two doctors were sitting on two folding chairs while the patients waited in a line on the floor for their turns to speak with the doctors. There is a table set up with all the medicines that are distributed for free to the patients by a pharmacist who also volunteers. The health clinic is open Mondays and Thursdays and helps people with mental illness and chemical dependencies. If patients need in-patient treatment, they receive more care at IHBAS (Institute of Human Behavior and Allied Sciences.) It's amazing to think that all is needed to set up a homeless health clinic is two folding chairs and folding table. They are able to treat 200 patients a night and have had many success stories of mentally ill homeless people who have received treatment and are now self-sustaining. The homeless shelters are free to women, children, and the elderly while it is 6 RS ($0.13) for men. Before going to the AAA session, I was debating staying at home and resting from an exhausting week. After, I was so glad I went. It was eye-opening to see an NGO on the ground and operating a true grassroots movement. It doesn't take much to provide free health care to the homeless and help make marginalized people make complete u-turns of their lives. I feel so inspired after seeing the changes that this organization is making and the complete generosity by spending their time and resources helping these people. In another vein, it makes all the amenities I "can't live without" seem so superfluous and my complaining a source of shame. Not only does my complaining marginalize these people even more, but the content of my conversations seems so superficial and insignificant. That may be extreme, but seeing the great work that AAA is truly awesome and inspiring. I'm hoping to use the experience to motivate me during my year of volunteering.
And finally, world cup cricket! Cricket is a HUGE deal in India, almost a religion. The world cup has been going on for a few weeks. Wednesday was a largely publicized semi-final between India and Pakistan. After about 9 hours of game time, we had a great fireworks show on the roof of our hostel. Fireworks were going off all over the city in celebration of the win against Pakistan. With their win, India was set to play Sri Lanka in the final on Saturday. Although the game started at 2:30pm, we knew it wouldn't be over until about 11pm. Close to 11pm, we made it out to India Gate in anticipation of the celebrating that would follow India's win. And what a celebration it was! I've always wanted to experience the absolute joy and pride that people feel when their country wins in the international match of their national sport. Indian cricket fans did not disappoint. The road around India was packed with people and soon packed with cars and motorbikes. I was interviewed by two news channels about cricket and the celebration and the celebrators would follow the cameras to demonstrate their joy by dancing and yelling. People were standing on moving cars, hanging out of windows, and I even saw a driver with the door open hanging out of his car while driving. By the time we left at 1am, the celebration was still going strong and the roads were completely jammed for miles. We had to walk back most of the way before we were able to find an auto that could drive on the roads back to our hostel. I think videos and pictures can better illustrate the craziness and chaos after India won the world cup.
Being interviewed for nnis.
People on cars! People everywhere!
Notice the cop's celebrating too!
Also based in Old Delhi, we spent an evening on Thursday with Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan, an NGO that has set up homeless shelters and free health clinics across Delhi. AAA does such amazing work. Seeing the most marginalized, forgotten people who are often tossed aside or shunned receive health care and treatment was an eye-opening and touching experience. Two doctors were sitting on two folding chairs while the patients waited in a line on the floor for their turns to speak with the doctors. There is a table set up with all the medicines that are distributed for free to the patients by a pharmacist who also volunteers. The health clinic is open Mondays and Thursdays and helps people with mental illness and chemical dependencies. If patients need in-patient treatment, they receive more care at IHBAS (Institute of Human Behavior and Allied Sciences.) It's amazing to think that all is needed to set up a homeless health clinic is two folding chairs and folding table. They are able to treat 200 patients a night and have had many success stories of mentally ill homeless people who have received treatment and are now self-sustaining. The homeless shelters are free to women, children, and the elderly while it is 6 RS ($0.13) for men. Before going to the AAA session, I was debating staying at home and resting from an exhausting week. After, I was so glad I went. It was eye-opening to see an NGO on the ground and operating a true grassroots movement. It doesn't take much to provide free health care to the homeless and help make marginalized people make complete u-turns of their lives. I feel so inspired after seeing the changes that this organization is making and the complete generosity by spending their time and resources helping these people. In another vein, it makes all the amenities I "can't live without" seem so superfluous and my complaining a source of shame. Not only does my complaining marginalize these people even more, but the content of my conversations seems so superficial and insignificant. That may be extreme, but seeing the great work that AAA is truly awesome and inspiring. I'm hoping to use the experience to motivate me during my year of volunteering.
And finally, world cup cricket! Cricket is a HUGE deal in India, almost a religion. The world cup has been going on for a few weeks. Wednesday was a largely publicized semi-final between India and Pakistan. After about 9 hours of game time, we had a great fireworks show on the roof of our hostel. Fireworks were going off all over the city in celebration of the win against Pakistan. With their win, India was set to play Sri Lanka in the final on Saturday. Although the game started at 2:30pm, we knew it wouldn't be over until about 11pm. Close to 11pm, we made it out to India Gate in anticipation of the celebrating that would follow India's win. And what a celebration it was! I've always wanted to experience the absolute joy and pride that people feel when their country wins in the international match of their national sport. Indian cricket fans did not disappoint. The road around India was packed with people and soon packed with cars and motorbikes. I was interviewed by two news channels about cricket and the celebration and the celebrators would follow the cameras to demonstrate their joy by dancing and yelling. People were standing on moving cars, hanging out of windows, and I even saw a driver with the door open hanging out of his car while driving. By the time we left at 1am, the celebration was still going strong and the roads were completely jammed for miles. We had to walk back most of the way before we were able to find an auto that could drive on the roads back to our hostel. I think videos and pictures can better illustrate the craziness and chaos after India won the world cup.
Being interviewed for nnis.
People on cars! People everywhere!
Notice the cop's celebrating too!
Oh man. Looks like a lot of crazy fun!
ReplyDeleteI agree, those videos are awesome.
ReplyDelete