Singh Sons, Karl Bagh

Early Sunday morning, I’ve had my breakfast, the birds are chirping outside my window. Today is up in the air, I am either staying in Delhi for the next few days or I am going to the airport for a flight to Jodhpur in a few hours. I have mixed feeling about leaving Delhi, on the one hand I am starting to get oriented, the internet is working, and there are a few things I would like to see here; on the other hand, the Jodhpur Lions Club has invited me to dinner tonight and I would hate to miss it. If I do not go tonight I will go to Jodhpur after the all India Meeting.

The last two days have been very busy, Friday was a national holiday, Republic Day, so most things were closed. I attempted to go to Connaught Place to find the American Express Bank – I didn’t think it would be opened; I just wanted to find it to see if I could find it. I took the Metro, and got off at the wrong stop. It turned out to be Pahargani – known for it budget hotels, seedy characters, and drugs. I found backpackers, old hippies, slums, and a maze of alleys and markets and people.

By the way, I have finally uploaded some photos to my Yahoo Photo site, I also uploaded a couple of video clips to my YouTube space. The following are the links:

Yahoo photo album Delhi:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/billshiellds/album?.dir=3a07scd&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/billshiellds/my_photos

You Tube video sites:

Rickshaw Ride:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYK2WDkqOc4

Karol Bagh Market
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIjHAiPXhFg

I spent about an hour walking around and taking photos. I met a woman from Alberta, we chatted for a few minutes over a coke. She told me that she was a writer and that she was visiting India after a twenty year absence. She was planning on spending two months here, writing and visiting old friends. As she left she I noticed that her hands were shaking – for some reason it occurred to me that she had a drug problem; I’m not sure why, maybe the setting – it was a small stand, in a back alley that woven between the building, it couldn’t have been more than three feet wide.

The crazy morning continues I am now at the Domestic Airport in Delhi awaiting a Jet Airlines flight to Jodhpur. Joshi called this morning; he said that he could not get me a flight. I called the Hotel to tell them that I was staying for a couple more days. They called back in a few minutes to say that the Hotel was booked for the night. I called the tourist office; they said they would get me a Hotel. Joshi called back in a few minutes to say that he had a flight and that I should go to the airport immediately, my reservation would be waiting; it would be in the name of Bill Shields. He said to call after I got the ticket. I checked out of the Hotel and got a cab to the airport – the ride was about 30 minutes.

At the airport they did not have the reservation but they did have a seat. I got an aisle seat. Apparently I get access to the lounge although I don’t know why – it is an economy flight. My bags are checked, I’ve tipped everyone and there brother, although the amounts were very small. The latest porter took me to the lounge – he actually deserved a tip. No phone here I’ll have a coke then go down about 20 minutes before boarding to go through personal security. I will also look for an Indian SIM card for my cell phone, and call Joshi so that he will have someone meet my flight.

My throat is beginning to feel the effects of the smog. I’d had better pack up.

Memory Notes:

Hair feels strange and dirty after shower, I first thought that I didn’t rinse the soap out of my hair, but after the second shower, I knew it was the rinse, next guess the soap, changed to American soap: I have concluded it’s the water.
After shower today the hair feels better, I think I have to rinse longer here, harder water or something like that.

Photos in Metro, don’t take them – it’s a 500 rupee fine.

Rickshaw: They get commissions from everyone; they will try and take you to stores, Hotels. Be very careful about cost, negotiate up front I wanted to take one from the Karol Bagh Metro Station to my Hotel – he asked 200 rupees, the reasonable price was 10. They get tourist all the time, 200 rupees is about $4.

Air France Paris to Delhi – Bug Stray
Before take-off from Paris the passenger cabin was sprayed with an insecticide, it was mildly nauseating, never saw that before I should research.
Caste System: Deepak Agrawal – the father explained some of the caste system to me yesterday in the car, while we waited for Vipin to make religious pay-offs to the workers at the metal fabricating factory.

Hotel Singh Sons, Karol Bagh, Delhi

Well, I’m sated, I just finished dinner, a scotch before dinner, a few beers with dinner, chicken marsala, egg birani, parantha makhani, with Billy Joel on the travel stereo – life is good, or at least it is for those of us that are so fortunate. I’m having the time of my life, yet, for most of the world life is cruel. I don’t want to get into an Irish alcohol rant, so let’s move on. I few years ago I read a column by Tom Freidman whom said that he had the greatest job on earth – he wrote for the New York Times, he could write about anything, he could go anywhere – and they would pay for it. If he wanted to take three or four months off to write a book he could. That’s the way I feel, granted I do not work for the New York Times, I do not write anything that has an audience, and if I do travel I’m expected to stay in cheap hotels and walk whenever possible, but who gives a damn I can write about anything I want. I’m 55, read Lonely Plant travel books, and seeing the world one developing country at a time; I’m lucky pure and simple. I didn’t do anything to justify this gift.

Ok, on to my day. This is my first entry since departure. The first leg of the trip was great, in fact, I’m thinking of writing a short piece tentative titled ‘To Be Served by a Woman with a French Accent.’ Maybe I don’t have to write anything but the title. Paris was interesting, but only because I was there more than thirty years ago. It brought back memories, a few of them of me being a jackass. My first encounter with Paris was at nineteen. I had taken Icelandic Air from New York to Luxembourg - $168 one way trip. From Luxembourg it was a long train ride to Madrid with a train and station change in Paris. A few hours, a cab driver that could have ripped me of for about 50 dollars and didn’t.

My second visit was a trip to Paris and Zurich at the ripe age of twenty- I was on the trail of a Swiss girl, Claudia, unsuccessfully as was my habit at the time. I met a woman on the train to Paris, we were both alone, we decided to join forces – what a disaster. She was young, excited and looking for a friendly familiar American company; I was tired jaded and boorish. She ran like a bat out of hell when I suggested that it would be ok with me if we shared a bed given the room situation in Paris before Easter. I never had the time for ‘platonic’ to pass my lips before she was gone.

So as you can imagine I have strong emotional attachments to Paris. I flew an Air France charter on my way back, but can’t remember a thing.

After a pleasant first leg on my journey, we landed in at some remote corner of Charles de Gaulle. It was six in the morning, de Gaulle was under what seemed like massive construction – it was empty, dark and torn up. The ride seemed like it would never end. We were dropped off at the lobby of terminal A – it reminded me of a holding cell – you know the look yellow ceramic titles, fluorescent lights, and worn floor tile. The clerk only had to let loose with the accent to be charming and friendly.

Finally the gates opened for the morning, a few braved the stairs with their carry-on. I opted for the escalator. I made it to the top immediately encountering a security screening area. Picture this people taking their shoes off, no way out, computers being pulled out of their bags; and the escalator keeps rolling on. Only one person ended up on the ground before someone reached the emergency stop button. As luck would have it I was strip searched, no, really the only thing striped searched was my backpack. I had meticulously prepared – I knew what was in every pocket, and every pocket had an exquisite logic; all destroyed by an agent of the French government.

Speaking of French government, how many of you have heard of the French complaining of how we uncultured Americans are corrupting the purity of the French language, that may be so, at least in the sense of Coke-a-Coca or McDonalds, but the Americans did not ask the French to paint ‘stop’ signs on the tarmac, or request that airport security have; POLICE” on the back of their uniforms – am I sounding a bit Bill O’Reillyish?

Charles de Gaulle is pretty much of a mess. I was not able to find a plug to keep my laptop charged but I was able to get an internet connect – it cost $10 euros for two hours. I needed to get my email – I was expecting an email with my Hotel arrangements in Delhi. I was due to arrive in Delhi around 11 pm and I’m concerned about a Hotel. I was able to handle some work email. I tried to make reservations for a Hotel using Skypes (internet telephone), no luck everything booked. The 26th is Republic Day in India – commemorates the founding of the India Republic in 1950.

Between the bus ride, the delay in opening parts of the airport, the search, and arrangement of the internet connection the 3 plus hour delay over the time disappeared before I knew it. We board the plane as snow began to fall.