81st - The Shift

I have finished 'shifting' to Alka's this morning. I thought I'd left my keys at her's the previous night when
I'd dropped off the first of my bags but after getting off at Moolchand and walking the kilometre or so in the blazing morning sun I discovered that it had been in my pocket the whole time. Pretty good joke.
Last night after Izzy left I stuck around in the hotel at Paharganj for a while and got my head together for the move. I took all the photos on the journey back from Paharganj to Govindpuri.

I left my sleeping bag outside the slum and then, being so very English, felt that I was being condescending. I looked this morning though and it has gone from where I left it so hopefully someone is making use of it.

I told the Sikhs I'd probably be back at some point before I leave. They didn't seem so sad to see me go. Probably just happy to get their bedroom back. Thy did take all my details and Raju asked me loads and loads about England as if he was planning to move there next week. We sat around in their bedroom playing games on the computer and listening to Simar snore in the room next door.

4 days of work left. Jesus. Still so much Kama Sutra stuff to write. Alka and I will be working all tomorrow on it at her house. It's Good Friday and another national holiday in the space of three days. We plan to walk around Lodi Gardens and she said she'd teach me the Sun Salutation. Cannot wait to see that.

I have just finished putting all the photos up from the Punjab and after. So worth it.

'Do what is done to you,
hit back if you are hit;
and, in the same way,
if you are kissed, kiss back'

- Vatsyayana advocating the exact opposite message that Gandhi delivered 1,500 years later to the same country

56th - photos

Sunday in photos

We met up with Michel at Nehru Place metro at walked to the Lotus temple. This is the first glimpse we had of it from the ground. I go past it everyday on the metro.

And out second glimpse of it. At this point I thought it was going to be a very peaceful experience.

We thought we were near the entrance here. We were way off. We walked around to the other side and an epic queue greeted us. It was quite disheartening, despite the fact that it appeared to be on the wrong side of the road. Luckily it was, and we finally joined the right queue and it entry was free.

Once inside I left Izzy and Michel in the queue to hand in the bag with our shoes in and read the pamphlet about the Baha'i faith. Though not convinced enough to sign up I agreed with most of their principles.

Once they'd joined me we queued up again to go inside. We were told that we should be silent and that the temple is a place for people of any religion to pray and meditate. It was very calm inside, like a church, but there was a lot more light and I couldn't stop admiring the internal architecture. All of the petals continued inside, it wasn't just a domed roof.

After we'd done our silent reverence we came out at the back of the temple. It was a lot less official here and we got to put our feet in the water and became celebrities just because we were white. It still feels odd.

A guy getting really into taking a picture of the flowers. This was in the fourth queue which was to get our shoes back on the way out.

When we left the Lotus temple we wanted to see what the massive queue was for. We walked past the biggest queue I have ever seen and got to (what seemed like) the smallest Hindu temple in Delhi. I filmed walking past just the part of the queue which was undercover and it lasted 5 minutes. The queue outside and behind that was at least twice as long.

Shoe wallah

My nightly grammar-correction session with Sidak.

The Punjabis that were visiting Raju. This is the only time he will accept that Izzy and I drink alcohol as all of his friends drink whiskey. I had a whiskey and soda with them and it wasn't half as bad as I suspected. So I had another.

Sidak had been bugging us all day about going to the park with him. When we got there it was the smallest, least green, urban park and I was very disappointed. We played cricket for what seemed like 10 minutes and then left. This photo was taken by Sidak after I'd made him, very carefully, put the strap round his neck. I hadn't changed it back to auto mode. He didn't seem to care.

50th

Three cheers to the Hindu parade at 5:30 this morning which managed to wake a man who is widely considered as the heaviest sleeper in the land (yours truly)! Your trumpets and firecrackers were a great touch and your slow pace which kept you within earshot for 20 minutes was inspired. However, the crowning jewel was the singing/ wailing through the megaphone by a man who seemed to have infinite lung capacity. I salute you sir!

This morning I had breakfast with two Punjabi friends of Raju's and they seemed to be amazed at my food capacity. This bodes well for when we visit. I completely agree with Raju that I will probably be a 36 inch waist by the time I go back to England. About time.

I (thought I) killed a massive cockroach in my toilet two days ago and in the morning it was gone. I don't know if Granny moved it or if they truly are invincible.

I found out yesterday that I got on to my Courtauld course. I believe it is due to my refusal to beg :)

I burnt my hand this morning at work while making tea. I poured the water then put the steamer pipe in to get it hot enough to brew. It boiled and spluttered and has left a trail on my hand where the water ran down it. I now have toothpaste on it and look like a fool.

The reason I haven't put any photos up in a little while is that I accidentally packed the cable I was using up with Alka's camera and it is now somewhere at her house. Since then I have used a card reader which is presently broken. My mission today is to get a new one in Nehru place market (a huge technology and gadget market near Govindpuri). I have some good shots that I need to share.

My mind
My hands
This page

This page
Your eyes
Your mind

48th/ 49th

Yesterday I spent a day that I should have been working at home, in way of apology to the family. Through miss-communication I almost got thrown out of my house. We went out street drinking and that probably wasn't a good idea! After I'd finished work I went to meet Mandy near here studio and the plan was to hook up with her friend. We spent an hour or so drinking a couple of beers and listening to techno near the Takea (I don't know how to spell it but it means booze take-out) and then the friend said he wouldn't be meeting us. We chilled and chatted for a little longer and then some street kids came and were a bit hyper on glue, so we left. They followed us up the street playing 'touch didi's ass' until Mandy threatened to beat them up. It is hard to know what will encourage and what will subdue in these circumstances. They followed us almost all the way to South Ex so Mandy's threat mustn't have done too well.
When we got back to the house I realised I wasn't going to be back at the house before 11 if I ate. There was no chance of me not eating as I know Mandy's cook is amazing. I text the family to say that I would be later than 11 and if this was not okay I could sleep where I was. They rang and asked if I'd been drinking, and I said I had but that didn't matter, I just wanted to know if I should stay or not. We reached the language barrier of their understanding of English and so I passed the phone to Mandy. Unfortunately I hadn't told her about the 'if it's too late I'll stay here' clause. She spoke to half the family (it seemed) about my 'freedom' etc. (as far as I can surmise) and it ended in Raju phoning me again and saying "tomorrow, you pick up your stuff and take your money.' I was very worried. Not just for me and the trials of finding a new place but also for Izzy's sake. Coming back from Jaipur to find that she'd been ejected from a house would not have been nice, either that or the bad atmosphere there would have been if I'd left her on her own.
I slept at Mandy's and headed back to Govindpuri c. 11am and made my apologies. The family had phoned Preeti in the night and she must have calmed them down. She truly is a star. They explained that they worry and that they'd prefer that if I can't be back before 11 I stay out. Seemed like what I had been saying the whole night. Granny said I wasn't to see Mandy again because she is 'a dirty girl'. I don't think I'll be doing that one. She also said that my parents know that I am in India to work and so I should be coming straight back from work to home. I completely disagreed saying that my parents want me to see us much as I can while I am here, and tried to explain how much I'd spent just getting here, but that language barrier arose again. I drafted Preeti in. Everything was settled.
I have now been at work all day on a Sunday in payback to my work schedule. I have got lots of work done as there have been few distractions AND have managed to read some nice poetry on shringara (one of the nine rasas, usually translated as erotic love, romantic love) in the sun.

44th - Photos

Yesterday we had a big meeting at the designer's office. Afterwards Saumya, Mandy and I went for beer and a meal at a place that Mandy has been talking up for a long while called 4S in Defence Colony. It didn't live up to her description of a notorious drinking hall, but the Hakka noodles were really good and the 2 for 1 happy hours certainly made me happy. I left to get back for 10 pm and was a little late so that the new fam would get used to me being a little bit of a wild card, but not too wild.

What I have been seeing and hearing when I leave the office this week

YES!

My new gaff

... had my first bucket bath this morning!

Cimar

Paper plate snow

Everything is bigger in India :)

Meher's house(party)

This is all the stuff that the Auto driver left me to walk with

Sidak

Cimar

My new ends

Mandy at 4S

Saumya and I at 4S

Ha.

Saumya at 4S

I love this dog's pattern!

43rd

This morning I had gobi parantha for breakfast with the family. The two boys - Sikant and Cimar - went to school at 6.30 so I din't see them. However, I was woken by Granny coming through my bedroom to go to the washroom. Apparently I share that with her. She did propose yesterday that I share my bed with a fellow lodger, I politely declined and phoned Preeti so that she could better explain my position. The situation in the house is a little funny at the moment though because there is no running water. Flushing the toilet is resolved by filling the cistern up from their reserve water supplies. The shower issue remains unresolved.
I have been getting those odd feeling of deja vu and dread again. I think this must just be the alien nature of my current situation.

41st

Draft on tablet:

I know this post won't be published for ages because I'm moving into a place with no WiFi but I wanted to express my feelings about the situation.

Plus points:

Cheaper

Food included

Nice family

Closer to work

Hot water

Can finally unpack

Don't have to see that conman again

Laundry is cheaper

Ensuite washroom

Learn about Punjabi family life

Chole bhature

Negatives:

Restricted freedom (time constraints etc.)

Lack of communication (with the family and no WiFi)

No choice of food or 24 hour kitchen

Further from Delhi centre

Inquisitive grandsons

The positives outweigh the negatives for sure. And it will be nice not to think so much about my budget. However I feel like, as part of this new family, new restrictions will be put on me. Some that I may not understand fully due to cultural differences. It is going to be a learning curve and we shall see the eventual conclusion.