Extravagance..........Elephants

The weather has changed in Delhi....there is a bit of a nip in the air, much like the weather change that is taking place in Texas right now so I am told.

After being here for over a month and a half, it was time for a haircut.....when I arrived in Delhi on October 1st, I got my first haircut at the ITC Maurya Hotel where I was staying. It didn't occur to me until today what an extravagance my haircut at the Maurya seemed to my driver Ramesh.

I remember Linda asking me how much my haircut cost when I spoke to her that October morning, and told her it was about the same in the states, $10.00......or 500 rupees....When Ramesh asked me how much my haircut cost.....I paused before I said the price....and made the statement " Too much....500 rupees" to which he replied....yes alot of money.

I had seen a very nice Barber Shop at Khan Market, but they were closed on Sunday, but I have the feeling that my haircut today would have only been about one-fifth($2)the price of what I paid today.

After leaving the Maurya, I asked Ramesh to take me to Old Delhi, which is unbelievably crowded at the Chandni Chowk...the market area near Red Fort.

Red Fort was built in 1638 by Shah Jahan, who erected the fort to defend the capital city, which was called,Shahjahanabad. Pretty creative oh him naming the city after himself! The fort took only 10 years to build, and the walls are some 110 ft tall....eleven stories.....the picture that has the bus in it will give a good perspective. Like any ruler, there was opulence built into the palace, one such example was a pavilion that was used for special occasions and meetings of the high court which had a ceiling of pure silver inlaid with gold. I believe that, like my haircut, this is a bit extravagant also! This ceiling, so I have read, was replaced with one of painted wood. The fort was invaded by the Sikh's in 1783, seven years after our Revolutionary War where we gained independence from the British. Then, in 1857, the British took over command of the Fort, this was during our Civil War in the United States, and occupied it until 1947 when India gained it's Independence from Britain, and the US had just ended WWII. Interesting parallels.....but the big question is.....who plundered the silver and gold from the ceiling; was it the Sikh's, the British or the Indian Government? I couldn't find the information in anything I read.

Isn't it a shame that after so many examples in history of unrest and war, that we would have all learned our lessons by now.

Red Fort was once the home of some 3000 people, today it attracts 3 times as many people each year. The Indian Army turned the Fort over to the Tourism Commission in 2003, and they have a nightly laser light show which I have yet to see (I'm saving the tourist stuff for when the gang arrives).

While making our way back, I finally had my camera ready and had the chance to take some pictures of an elephant walking on the opposite side of the road. Ramesh turned the car around and we caught up with them and I was able to take a much better picture.

It was a relaxing day here in Delhi......extravagant by the perspective of many here in India.....I'm saving my elephant ride for this summer when we are all together as a family!

Enjoy!

" ......of course I'm married!"

For those of you following the blog, I left you with a cliff hanger at the conclusion of the entry before last. So it is only fair that I share with you, my latest cultural faux pas!

I have lost count, or I would have numbered this one........but be that as it may.....there will be too many to keep track of over the next couple of years.

As I mentioned, the Puja took place just before my appointment with Rahul, the real estate broker I am working with in selecting a place to live. I promised you a picture of Rahul; in the picture above, Rahul is the gentleman sitting on the far right.

Our appointment was for 11:00am, and he was on time, which is uncommon by Indian standards......so he had to participate in the Puja. As you can see from the picture, at the conclusion of the Puja, I was given a flower necklace, (I am not sure if the refer to them as lei's). It was very nice, but hardly something I wanted to wear while I was out looking at apartments. Not knowing what to do with it, I took it from around my neck and placed the "garland" over the head of the lady wearing the sari...(she is the lady sitting on the floor on the left side of the picture next to the priest)

I may be becoming an expert at Puja's, however,one thing I am having difficulty with is names.......pronouncing them, and remembering them...unless I write them down. This lady had been working with us for about a week, and I had been traveling, so I really didn't have the chance to study her name.

Rahul, was in the room where the garland exchange took place. I simply didn't want it to go unused, and thought that it would be a nice gesture to share it with someone who would appreciate it and would get use of it for the remainder of the day.

Nothing was said, Rahul and I left and we began driving to see the first apartment on our list. Rahul and I were speaking about several things; the puja, his views on Hinduism, the commercialization of religion and comparing Hinduism to others.....great conversation; I could only listen, as I admitted that I had not studied other religions and was not familiar with all of them.......he is a very interesting guy to have conversations with.....and he has a wonderful sense of humor.

Out of the blue, Rahul asks me if I am married......which took me by surprise, as he and I have had several discussions about Linda, and have referred to her as my wife several times......so I had no idea why he would ask me such a thing.

Rahul, then kindly explained that my act of placing the flowers around the girls neck not the correct thing to do......this is an act that is performed only during the marriage ceremony and that it is saved only for a groom and bride.

My mouth dropped open.......I stated that I had no idea that this was the case........there was uncomfortable silence....

Sensing no harm was done, and understanding Rahul's sense of humor, I asked how difficult it was to get a divorce in India......to which he replied.....very difficult, you should have had a Pre Nup!

So there you have it...........I inadvertently married a girl(sort of) and I don't even know her name.

No worries Linda.......you are the only one for me......I assure you!

Doubletree by Hilton Vizag.....someday...and another cultural experience!

For those of you wondering how our first hotel in India is coming......Slooooooooowly! For those of you who saw the first set of pictures I took in August on my inaugural trip, not much has changed...besides having to go there to assess the status of the hotel, a huge part of my job is establishing relationships with the owners. Many of you will recall my telling you that the owner, Sarat Kumar Reddy, wanted to open the hotel on the date of his father's birthday, October 15th...I had promised him back in August that I would be in Vizag for his father's celebration....no matter what. Opening the hotel on his father's birthday was Sarat's dream, but it was clear to me back in August that we would not open the hotel.....but I was going to be there for him. There was a ceremony scheduled that day, but it didn't involve a ribbon cutting...it involved another "Puja". Now this was my second puja and there were many familiar aspects ....remember ...no shoes.....and a priest....alot of chanting, flowers, incense, candles, gods, more flowers.......and something unfamiliar....sitting on the table were two clear containers with two different liquids in them...and one of those little spoons! Now keep in mind that I am standing in this room, watching intently at everything happening, which is easy to do when you don't know what is being said....I don't know if he was singing the Hindi version of "How Great Thou Art" or what, so all I can do is observe.....when the priest picked up the container with the "milky, cloudy, liquid" and then saw Sarat form his hands into a cup......I admit I was having second thoughts, but I couldn't back out at this point.....OK..."second thoughts" is being nice...I was thinking "Oh Shit, what am I about to drink"? I watched Sarat drink the liquid from his hand, then he rubbed the remaining liquid in the palm of his hand through his hair. I say to myself.."OK, I got this down....cup hands.....drink liquid (I was worried about making a slurping sound, and then rub the remaining through my hair...I can do this", but I am still a little nervous. Well obviously I am still around to write my blog; so I didn't die or get deathly ill, but my story can't stop there.....Brace yourselves....I executed the task at hand flawlessly, but did not take into account that rubbing liquid through my hair would have different results than Sarat, who has a thick hair.....yes.....the liquid as it turned out was coconut juice with something sprinkled in it.....but it did not stay in my hair......it ran down my forehead! Yes.....another "cultural" experience for Lloyd in India.....I am guessing that Gandhi has the same problem.....so I wore the coconut droplet that reached my left eyebrow with pride....and I had to do so because the ceremony was not over....Have any of you stopped laughing yet?? So then we were given something to eat, which was sweet.....I think it was called "ghee"....Indian clarified butter with sugar.....it tasted better than it looked....almost like a praline flavor without the pecans. Well...when the ceremony was over , I excused myself and wiped the droplet inconspicuously from my brow...but i had strands of hair and flower petals plastered to my head....because coconut juice is sticky....and I had to walk around like this all day long! Well here are a couple of pictures of the hotel.....like I said, not much has changed and I estimate that the hotel will open sometime at the beginning of March. The last picture is of "Sonny", at least that is what I think I heard them call him.....he sleeps just outside the door to the temporary office at the project site. I miss you Murphy!