Red Fort, Chodni Chawk, Jami Mosque, Sikh temple, Swagat (Day 4)

From here on out, I must apologize for mispellings or entirely incorrectly ascribed names. We have traveled so much, and had so much packed into our days, that things are getting lost in the shuffle. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Today, we began the day by taking a tour of Delhi's Red Fort with Navina Jafa, a recently inducted Sufi muslim, and also a recent Fulbright awardee. She was very intelligent, and told us a lot about the fort, which wasn't actually all that impressive (perhaps only comparatively).

We then headed out and across the street to Chodni Chowk. This area was teeming with life. Storefronts were everywhere. The hustle and bustle was as amazing as the heat. We went through the various storefront frenetically approaching a Jami mosque in the center of town. When we got there, we were ushered in under some sheets providing shade. We drank a bit of fresh lime soda (electrols!), then headed in to the prayer chamber itself. We then walked the perimeter of the area, and checked things out. After that, we left out through the Chowk once again. We were taken down a small alleyway, which then surprisingly opened to a pillared area surrounded by porches. We talked about urban Indian home life in the sweltering heat, then headed onward to a Sikh temple called Gurudwara. We circumambulated the area as "the book" was read. Sikh is based around the 10 gurus beginning with Guru Nanak, and after all ten had passed, the religion moved toward the teaching of the book. Sikh is very tolerant of all religious groups, and is more an ideology than a religion. I really enjoy the underlying philosophy, but don't have the time to detail it right now...=(

Upon our return, we were left with some free time. Maria, Christy, Lee and I went to shop at the South extension, which is a shopping center that caters more directly to locals. Lee ended up buying a really nice Giovanni suit! We were picked up and delivered there by the personal driver of Christy's boyfriend's relative. He waited for us, then took us to Puja's house. She and her daughter were SO cute. They took us to their neighborhood swimming pool, and we swam in crystal clear water. Maria was wearing a bikini, which is a big no-no in Indian culture. We had some good laughs as boys stared for an hour. Finally, we air-dried, and headed out.

That night, we headed to Swagath for dinner. We sat in the basement, and had some fabulous food. I was wearing a nice white korta with my new red shoes. We had SO much food, and, by Lee and my actions, SO much beer. We left in good spirits, and attended the adjacent bookstore. I ended up buying four books, then walking back to the guest house. Lee tried to ride a cow on the way home - it didn't go over as well as he might have hoped. Upon our return, Mary and I had an in-depth intellectual conversation, mostly politically oriented. Good times.