Delhi at Eid.....

Delhi fast facts. Population 13 million (seems more!). Area 1500 sq. km. Federal capital of Republic of India.

Help....someone call the hydro man!

              Restless night: my first bout of stomach problems (aka Delhi belly). It's going to hit ----a popular tourist circuit comment is that one looks at everything one puts in ones mouth and wonders if that is the item that will strike.

       Anyway in the spirit of the inveterate traveller, I set out to do my pilgrimage to the largest mosque in the city--the Jama Masjid. Naturally, situated in a heavily Moslem part of the city, the Mosque is said to be able to hold a massive 25,000 people for prayers. Checked my sandals at the entrance, modestly secured an obligatory shawl to cover my legs and commenced my trek around the central prayer square, soon discovering that the marble floor was hot enough to fry eggs. Needless to explain the reason, yours faithfully flitted fast, from one shaded area to the next. The mosque indicates signs of being highly used and urgently needs some washing and paint projects invested upon it.

                 

An interesting time to visit the extensive Moslem bazaars, especially as it’s Eid, when the population celebrates the end of  Ramadan fasting. It is the time to make sacrifices –the sacrifice of preference being the goat. For the last few days, boys have leading strings of very healthy, well fed goats around the streets.To offer a goat in poor condition would be viewed as sacriligious. Today was mass slaughter day with the gutters running red and piles of skins ready for pick up and manufacture. Apparently, the religious rules are that the sacrificial goat has to be shared one third for consumption & two thirds to be offered to the poor.

              Had to do something today that I had promised myself that I would not----My auto rickshaw driver dumped me at the wrong side of the massive Delhi railway station complex and I was unable to figure the best route to foot it back to my hotel. With afore mentioned stomach problem, the issue was of some urgency to return rapidly. The pedicab man seemed very knowledgeable & helpful. Is using a pedicab exploitative, or is it to be seen as assisting a very poor man to feed his family??

           There are interestingly two Delhis. Old Delhi and New Delhi. The colonial British administration determined that to most effectively administer its “Jewel in the Crown” they had to design and construct a new city and appointing architect Edward Lutyens to accomplish the task. Wide roads, parks, lakes and ministerial edifices were grandly constructed and remain today the centre for the Indian government.