Delhi: Ruins, Cows, and a Tea Stall

Despite some the discontinuity, I decided to post some pictures of my last month in Delhi, India. The pictures of the Taj Mahal were just crying out to me.

Recently, I've liked to snap pictures when I enter a new place.

I arrived a few days before Mother's Day and on that night, I heard some really loud music playing outside. It brought me back to the religious festival in Taiwan. India is primarily Hindu (~80%) and while Christians only make up 2% of the populations, but I encountered quite a few while in Delhi. This group was from a church just up the road from my hotel. 

Here's some trash around my neighborhood. Waste collection is a serious problem in India. One of Mr. Modi's campaign promises was to clean up the Ganges River. It will be no small feat. A cow is munchin' on some garbage in the background.

I made some friends while in Delhi and they took me around quite a few places. It was cool to learn about their life.

This is the famous tea stall at the University of Delhi- North Campus. I thought it was really neat to see parallels across cultures. All college students have their own favorite stops. Cool to see that one of "the spots" for college students in Delhi was this tea stall. The tea was pretty good too.

Raj Ghat - Gandhi's memorial. After learning more about the history of India, I saw Gandhi in a slightly different light. He isn't quite the legend he is revered to be in the west. He was a man with his own faults and quirks. Not all India's see him in a positive light and many people disagreed with his non-violent stance during independence. That said he is still well respected in India. 

Being in India has helped me better understand what it means to be a western foreigner. Listening to this Sinca podcast helped me understand why Indians and even some Chinese people want to take pictures with me. They equate me to Hollywood movies. I am the embodiment of western culture when I am in India. It's kind of like being a celebrity. I was asked to take a picture with this girl at the Raj Ghat. In all honesty, she looks so much cooler than I do.

The start of the ruins. These are at Hauz Khas, which means.. Royal Lake I think. They are next to a big ancient reservoir used in Delhi to provide water during the dry season. Cool to see humans using rain catchment during the 1300's. 

I love the light coming through the window. I think I'm in a tomb of some sort.

 

I felt like tomb raider in the Hauz Khas ruins. Sadly, I was wearing dress shoes, so i couldn't climb on things and have adveture time. So disappointed. 

Jantar Mantar was astronomical instruments from the 1700's made by perhaps the last or second-to-last Mughal emperor. It was cool to see the faded notches and dials on the instruments. The barriers to entry into astronomy have gone down dramatically in the last 300 years.

Mo' Jantar Mantar. Sadly much of it was restricted and policed by whistle blowing guards, so I couldn't climb on everything. What I did learn was that the red color does come off on khaki pants...

Ox cart.

Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. Gurdwaras are Sikh temples. I met a few Sikh's and learned about Sikh history. Sikhism is a branch of Hinduism that started as simply a group of Hindu's following a particular guru (a Hindu priest). This particular group was persecuted by a Mughal emperor and in response the guru and followers become more militant. They broke from Hinduism in response to form their own special dress and beliefs. I stole this description from wikipedia because it explains it better than I could.

The 5 Ks are the things Sikhs wear at all times. They are:

1. Having unshorn/cut hair. This is called a Kesh. Whether male or female, a person is required to keep their Kesh covered. People usually cover their Kesh with a turban, bandana, or a scarf (Chunni).
2. A wooden comb in their hair. This is called a Kanga. This symbolizes cleanliness which is an important part of Sikhism.
3. A steel bracelet. This is for protection and physical reminder that a one is bound to the Guru. This is called a Kara.
4. Cotton underwear that does not always have to be used as underwear. This is called a Kachera. It is a reminder to stay away from lust and attachment.
5. A small sword. This is worn to defend one's faith and protect the weak. This is called Kirpan. It is only to be used in self-defense. Many of these are now welded shut.

I made some roti, Indian bread, at another Gurdwara. They provide free food for anyone and everyone. Sikhs and Hindu's volunteer their time to pay for and make the food. You need to cover your head while in a Gurdwara. I'm wearing a muslim scarf, but they didn't say thing... I'm just a foreigner : )

Mo' roti makers.

Big pots of dal (lentil gravy) to be served to the people at the Gurdwara.

This is the Red Fort in Delhi. It was the military stronghold of the Mughal emperors.

It was super cool to see a cattle heard that was moving from Rajasthan, a desert state northwest of Delhi.

These Brahma cows are very drought resistant and are often cross bred with western cows like herefords or charlolais. The sheep station that I visited in Australia had such crosses called "Drought Master". They have the drought resistance of Brahma, but can produce milk and gain weight like a hereford or charlolais. 

I can't help but show some pictures of power... This is a huge 1.5 GW natural gas power station that was built in anticipation of the huge gas reserves found off the coast of India. The investors were a bit too eager as the gas reserves never panned out, likely due to inability to extract the resource. So this likely multi-billion dollar gas station is just sitting there doing nothing. 

Another gas plant. I think this one works though... I hope.

A 10 kW system on the top of the Delhi Technical University. Kind of funny to think that these panels are producing more energy than that idle 1.5 GW gas plant. It's a lot easier to get sunshine than to get natural gas from under the ocean.

A much bigger system on the top of the World Health Organization building. Purely by coincidence, I met an electrician that installed this system. He came up to me and asked to take a picture with him. Later I met him and visited his home.

Some ruins outside the of Qutb Minar.

The Qutb Minar was built in 1200 by one of the early Delhi Sultans. After it's construction, there was to be a second Minar built that would be twice as wide and twice as tall. This one was never finished and what was constructed is shown in the foreground. 

I love the inscriptions and stone work around islamic buildings.

The minar is 237 ft tall. It's amazing that this thing has been standing for over 800 years, granted it has been repaired after various lighting strikes and earthquakes.

After a visit to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, I was walking down the stairs, but was stopped so that I didn't walk into the monkeys. I'm really not sure how four monkeys made it up to the fourth floor of a government ministry building with plenty of armed guards at the entrance.

A butcher shop in Delhi.

A baoli is an old step well used to access groundwater during the dry season. I was told that during the 1960's the water table was above the first level. Now it is far below the bottom. 

The front gate of the Taj Mahal. 

A side shot of the front gate.

Despite seeing countless pictures of the Taj Mahal, it really was an exceedingly beautiful building. I kind of expected to be underwhelmed given all the hype, but I was not.

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum for the wife of a Mughal emperor. She died at 38 giving birth to their 14th child. They probably should have just called it good at 10.  The emperor built the Taj Mahal to construct a heaven on earth to remember his wife.

The guest house to the right of the Taj and opposite the mosque, which is a symmetrically identical to the guest house.

A shot of the front gate.

There is a myth of a black Taj Mahal that was to be built across the river as the mausoleum of the emperor himself. The emperor was never able to realize this plan (if it existed) because his son usurped his thrown. The emperor who built the Taj actually died under house arrest by his son. 

The emperor's son Aurangzeb was a pious man and had much distaste of the perceived excess of his father. He saw the Taj Mahal as a waste and there is much truth to this. Soon after the Taj was build the capital of the Mughal empire had to be shifted from Agra to Delhi because Agra was so depleted of resources. Like many great anxiety buildings, they put a huge strain on resources. 

Despite the excess, it is one of the most beautiful things I have seen and is perhaps more beautiful because it is conflicting. It was born out of a human desire of morning and strove to create perfection amongst the imperfect human world. In the process the emperor drained the empire of resources and eventually landed himself under house arrest. It all seems very human.

And this is a model micro-grid for a village.