Wongdhen House in Delhi

January 4th:
...surprisingly quiet and cool, except for the occasional cry of the various vendors who passed through the lanes. The Tibetan Colony is a collection of concrete apartment blocks built on the banks of the Yamuna River by the government about 40 years ago to help resettle refugees -- many opened guest houses and restaurants there. We enjoyed the view of the river -- quite low during this dry season, but with crops grown in the floodplain area.
Jeff enjoyed chatting with a French family, just arrived for the start of their 8-month journey through Asia, with three boys. We then hired 2 pedicabs for a ride to the metro station (the new subway system in Delhi is marvelous), and thence to Connaught Place and a special lunch at Subway's! Tuna or Turkey sub sandwiches were quite a treat.
We walked on down Parliament Street toward the YWCA, right into the path of a big parade in honor of Sikh Guru Nanak's birthday! [photo TK]
Then we picked up two bags left in storage at the Y, and walked back to the metro, this time encountering Big Crowds at the ticket booths. Security in the metro is heavy -- every traveler passes through a metal detector and a bag-search by gun-toting soldiers -- but all moved efficiently, and the crowds are merely self-centered, not vicious. It stands to reason that this densely-populated country would have a much narrower sense of personal space than in Europe or America. Brushing against other people is not cause for apology, nor is squeezing up together in a queue -- but it's not, strictly speaking, pushy or violent, nor particularly competitive. I think of this attitude as: "me first; but if you get there before me, then I'll be content with second, it's our karma". There are plenty of road accidents, but no apparent "road rage" or action directed at beating another. Thus, in queues like the metro ticket booth, we have learned to simply press forward into any available space, and accept the press of the queue.
We returned to Wongdhen House, asked the very hospitable owner to arrange for a taxi to Nizamuddin Station. Because we knew that station is a mess, and we now had 10 bags to carry, we arranged for a porter to carry 6 of them onto our reserved train, for an expensive (unbargained) 120rupees. We settled easily into the 8-person compartment, and the boys claimed the top bunks immediately. Only one of our traveling companions was at all talkative -- a Revlon sales rep from Bombay. The other single gentleman said almost nothing the entire trip; another mother-daughter couple got on later, but also remained quiet. The train car was "A/C", thus climate-controlled, with a nice constant temperature throughout. The only bother was a loud precocious 2-year-old in the neighboring compartment! Attendants came along regularly with goodies, like bottled water, our linens and blankets, appetizer tray, dinner tray, yogurt, ice cream, breakfast ("veg? or non-veg?" is the only choice in meals). The scheduled 18-hour trip took 20 hours, but we were in no hurry...all went uneventfully.