Our Final Two Weeks in Delhi (Sob!)

We will move out of our luxurious Delhi apartment with our friendly staff of 6 or so houseboys on May 1. The extremely high heat will keep us from being too nostalgic about leaving, but we will miss this very happy life we've begun to lead here. Then we'll have four weeks of travel in the Himalayas--cool weather, few people, majestic mountains. We definitely won't be in Delhi anymore!
Because of the time crunch to get everything done, here are a few photos that I haven't posted yet. There's no story line to these photos, though each was a memorable moment.

Two Weeks with Family and Friends

We've had a wonderful two weeks with the Thomas family and Liz Hardy. Bill Thomas returned to Amman after one week, leaving Leslie, Gray, and Natalie to explore more of India...and explore they did! Leslie boldly made plans to travel to Goa, a beach area south of Bombay. They flew there, went to a resort, played in the sand and surf, ate seafood, and visited a spice plantation. We were so happy to see them return last evening, delivered to us by the ever-reliable Mr. Singh. I have been paid the highest possible compliment by Natalie and Gray: they've begun calling me Aunt Fran! Gray has shown incredibly polished manners and helpfulness around the house, and Natalie is always sweet and sunny.

Liz and our family travelled to Jaipur while Leslie and crew were in Goa. We stopped at the Neemrana Fort Palace en route at the suggestion of one of Liz's friends. What a wonderful tip! It is a 15th century fort that was converted to a five star hotel during the 1990s. We decided after stopping there for a tour and drink that we would return on the way home from Jaipur. We did so, and it turned out to be one of the most pleasant, luxurious, relaxing, and interesting days of Liz's visit.

In Jaipur, Liz fell victim to Delhi Belly and had to miss the tour of the City Palace and Amber Fort. Our family went on the day-long tour with a most excellent private tour guide, Sandeep. I have his business card and will HIGHLY recommend him to any visiting this jewel among India's cities. The Amber Fort boasts the most beautiful mirrored chamber that I've ever seen. As striking and dramatic as the fort is today, it's impossible to imagine how sumptuous it must've been when every floor was lined with vast Oriental rugs, the walls were painted with frescoes and decorated with tiles, and candlelight and music filled the air.

Touring the City Palace was like stepping into the Raj era and glimpsing how the Maharajas of Jaipur had lived. There were Oriental rugs measuring 50 feet by 20 feet, thrones, red velvet and gold sedan chairs, two famous silver urns--five feet tall--which once carried Ganges water to London for a Maharaja to drink, and more luxuries than one can describe! We have purchased A Princess Remembers at the suggestion of our guide and have begun reading this memoir of a Maharani born in 1919.

Our return trip to the Neemrana Fort including an impromptu walking tour of Neemrana village with two young shopkeepers as our guides. Apparently the number of tourists is low this time of year, so they were willing to walk for 45 minutes with us--giving very interesting commentary--in order to oblige us to visit their shops. After making our purchases, one shopkeeper told us we were his first customers in 3 days!

Now we're all back together in Delhi and looking forward to a wonderful buffet lunch this afternoon. Both Liz and Leslie & Co. will depart Monday morning, so our exciting two weeks with guests is coming to an end.

Blog Entry for Rick Omlor!!!

Visitors from the U.S. of A.

It's been a wonderful week for us with our visiting cousins from the U.S.A, via Amman, Jordan. Bill, Leslie, Gray, and Natalie Thomas arrived on March 29 and will be with us for two weeks. They're in the middle of Bill's stint as a Peace Corps administrator in Amman.

Unfortunately, the weather decided to turn beastly hot on the very day that they arrived. We've been at 95 degrees and up to 100 degrees every day since. We had already planned in a four day trip to the foothills of the Himalayas, so that was a welcome reprieve from the heat.

Here in Delhi we've taken them to see some of our favorite sights including the Qtub Minar, Humayun's Tomb, the National Museum, as well as shopping at Dilli Haat and strolling in Haus Khaz Park. Bill and Leslie have something nice to say about everywhere we go and interesting parallels to draw with their experience after more than a year in Amman.

It is a challenge to find cuisine for their two young ones that is not too unfamiliar or too spicy. We've had some hits--sweet lassi beverages--and some misses--minced mutton and chicken kebabs that were too spicy. Thank goodness ice cream tastes the same no matter where you are in the world!

We had a fun rooftop party on the second night the Thomases were here. The building staff really rallied around and prepared the terrace for our event. The caterer arrived rather later than planned but then moved in an entire kitchen on our fourth floor terrace--a grill and a tandoori oven, no less. Our guests were various colleagues of mine, my 5 M.Phil. students, some Fulbright students with their friends and girlfriends, and an Embassy family. The appetizers circulated around by the waiters for well over an hour, by which time the tandoori oven was hot and the chef began to bake the naan bread. All the dishes turned out to be exceptionally good, both by our taste and in the opinion of our Indian guests. We finished the evening with watermelon slices and fresh pineapple.

The Thomases have now ridden off with a driver for a three day trip to Jaipur and Agra. The most important part of their plan is the fact that both their hotels feature a swimming pool. I predict multiple dips into the water while the temperatures play around 100 degrees.

It's wonderful to have family members among us and to show them what has become, in just three short months, "our" town.

Banares Hindu University

Through a lucky exchange of business cards, I was invited to speak to the Center for Peace Research at Banares Hindu University in Varanasi. John and Adelaide had been to Varanasi but I hadn't yet. I was eager to see this city that is especially holy for Hindus. I flew there on a Sunday afternoon, arriving in time for a walking tour of the Assi Ghat [wide stairs along the riverbank] and ghats north of it along the Ganges River. I was accompanied by a young history professor at BHU, Thanu, who seemed very eager to be a tourist in her own backyard. One of the ghats is famously known for its cremation of the dead and the committing of their ashes to the Ganges. We saw two cremations in progress.
















Thanu also took me to see the large temple on the BHU campus, where, barefooted, we approached the Shiva statue and were offered a small necklace of flowers by the priest.



















The BHU campus consists of 2000 heavily shaded acres with unusually designed buildings all painted in a creamy yellow and red color scheme. The are long avenues of towering Victorian academic buildings, student hostels, faculty housing, a medical college, and athletic fields all spread under the wide branches of tall old trees.












The most charming sight at BHU is the steady stream of bicycle rickshaws ferrying students and faculty around the campus. They are gaily painted metal rickshaws with a high seat and a low back, causing the ladies in their sarees to sit up especially straight while be conveyed along the lanes. The rickshaws look so like carriages that you feel you are transported back 100 years in time.












I gave a lecture on Monday to a group of students and faculty in the social sciences in the un-air conditioned auditorium. Except for the beads of perspiration trickling down my back as I spoke, the lecture went extremely well. The most difficult part of my address was thanking my host, Prinankar Upadhyaya, by name and not stumbling over it! I hope to have a few photos of the event to add to the blog. The faculty in the Peace Research center are focusing non-traditional, 21st century threats to human security and peace such as environmental degradation and poverty. We had several wide ranging conversations on this topic.

On my second morning in Varanasi, another nice young history faculty member and his friend drove me to the downtown area to view a controversial mosque/temple sight. Because of rising religion-based disputes, the site is heavily guarded by the military. I found the winding narrow streets of the city center fascinating. I would have found them intimidating had we been there later in the day, but we purposefully went early when few shops are open and the streets are relatively empty.

I left with a rather sad feeling about the ghats--they seem so poorly treated by those who come to give reverence to the Ganges--and a wistful feeling about the blissful life enjoyed by the faculty and students at Banares Hindu University. I also feel gratified that it is so possible to make connections and new friends with like-minded people,