DAY 13, APRIL 3, ON TO DELHI

ON TO DELHI
At Himalayan peaks
We were treated to a peek
Er Katmandu
We passed on through
And on to Delhi streaked.

DELHI
Hinduism is no wise simple.
We got an intro at the temple.
Delhi has some residences
That are extremely expensive.
Som showed us some examples.

HINDUISM
The number of gods is near infinity.
There is a Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva trinity.
There is a great universal soul.
Merging into it is the goal.
Of all the gods, there is unity.

Hinduism has no founder.
How old it is we can only wonder.
Its priests are of the Brahmin caste.
From father to son their job is passed.
No hierarchy are they under.

I got out early and jogged about 3-1/2 miles alone on the straight, flat, country, gravel road in front of our hotel, The Village Hotel near Paro.

At 8;15 AM we left for the airport to fly to Delhi.

I was very fortunate to have a window seat on the right=hand side. So I had a front-row seat for viewing and photographing the snow-covered mountains as they rose above the clouds.

Our flight made a half-hour stop in Katmandu, during which we had to stay in the plane. My impressions based on nothing more than the view from the plane are that Katmandu is much larger than Thimphu (Bhutan's largest city) and Katmandu's buildings are less exotic and more western-looking than Bhutan's (except, I suppose, in the old section, which we did not see).

We were met at the airport by our Indian guide, Som Bose. Dorji was easier to understand than our Kolkata guide, and Som is easier for me to understand than Dorji. Som speaks slowly and has a deep voice, as did Dorji.

As we drove from the airport, Som told us that Inida is in the midst of a multi-day Hindu celebration.

Outside city the highway was four-lane each direction and the traffic flowing nicely and looking not so much different than at home except that there were quite a few motorcycles. But when we got into town, traffic bogged us down and we saw the expected crowds of people and the numerous little three-wheeled taxi vehicles and a few bicycle rickshaws.

We settled into the swank Crown Plaza Hotel and had a couple hours to rest. Helen washed clothes, and I worked on this blog.

At 5:30 we met Som in the lobby, and he led us on a walk in the neighborhood. There were bicycle rickshaws. Immediately after leaving the gated hotel compound and crossing the street, we walked through a park with grass, trees, and a circular walkway of about 250 meters. On the other side of the park, Som showed us nice, very large, very expensive houses. The areas are sometimes fenced and gated and the individual houses fenced, but not with electric wire or razor wire. The buildings being large, we thought they might be divided into apartments. But they are single family homes. But a family in India is an extended family – grandparents (on the ground floor), sons' families, grandchildren. The daughters marry and become part of someone else's extended family.

Som took us to the temple, and it was our first time in a Hindu temple. It had more worshippers than usual, he said, because of the holiday. But it wasn't extremely crowded. An evening service was in progress with energetic singing and clapping to a lively rhythm supported by a drummer. There were several booths having the statue of a god or three gods together. There were priests attending these idols. A priest is a Brahmin by caste, and this is his job/profession, and his earnings are the donations given him by worshippers, and the profession is passed down and taught father-to-son through the generations as are other professions in India. Only a priest, not a lay person, may go into a booth with the idols. Gifts for offerings to the gods are purchased downstairs next to where we left our shoes with the attendant of the shoe storage room. There are different kinds of gifts to offer, depending on whether it's a male or female god and, indeed, each god or goddess has its own likes in gifts. As we always knew, Hindus worship many gods, but Som told us they believe in the oneness of their gods. All the gods are different manifestations of the universal divine force. The three most important gods are Lord Rama, the creator; Lord Vishnu, the protector; and Lord Sheeva, the procreator. I was happily surprised that we were allowed to take photos, even flash photos, in the temple.

We were approached by what turned out to be beggars right inside the temple, mainly children. Even Som was surprised that a certain lady turned out to be a beggar; she was well dressed and carrying a child in her arms. Helen admired the child and the lady asked for money. Som had told us that you don't say “no” to beggars because “no” isn't always “no” Inda. You just ignore them, don't look at them, pretend you don't see them.

At the entrance to the temple were uniformed guards, one holding an automatic rifle. Some held long place wooden poles, which got my attention. Som said later in the evening there would be large crowds and people respect those sticks.

On the walk back to the hotel, we selected a restaurant and had dinner. Som wanted us to choose the restaurant, and we rejected the first one, a bar-like place, as too noisy with its music. We ate in the restaurant Nathu's Sweets. Som explained the foods on the menu. With difficulty, we made our choices. The foods were very cheap. Helen and I shared a meal for about $3.20, including my glass of Pepsi for about fifty cents. We had a variety of foods, and every one of them was too spicy for me. Even the pancake-like bread, by itself, was hot. Likewise the yogurt. I think eating will be difficult for me in India; I knew the foods would be spicy; it's something to endure; maybe it will keep my weight down. Well, I'll load up at breakfasts and sneak a few breakfast items back to the hotel room. We're very careful not to eat salads or unpeeled fruits.

Back in the hotel, lying on the bed with the TV on, we fell asleep early. We didn't have TV in Bhutan, nor newspapers with world news. So we were in a news blackout. Here we get some of the worlds' news from TV and, on the plane and in the hotel room, the newspaper Hindustan Times, which also has a few strange stories that could become poem fodder.

It's possible to get on the Internet in the hotel room, but it is very expensive -- ~$18 for 24 hours or ~$9 for one hour.

Sadly, Helen has lost her little digital camera -- Eric's old one that he gave. So she has resorted to carrying one of the disposable cameras that we brought.

We're VERY CAREFUL of our valuables here. I carry about $25-worth of rupees loose in my pocket. Everything else is locked in the safe in our room – my travel wallet with passports and cash, Helen's purse, my billfold with credit card.


Som says Indians tend to eat their evening meals very late – like 9 pm or 10 pm.

Bernie :-)