Uneasy as we clunk-a-bunked down the rickety street in the two-way river of people, I was in a silently loud freak-out-fest that the vehicle we rode upon was gonna tip over at any moment. But my internal hysteria quickly morphed into rapt fascination as we wound down the alley-esque street, the famous Chandni Chowk.
Man! Going down that narrow narrow mad crowded street was like being teleported to another reality, where the love interest in a James Bond flick would be chased by the bad guys in a pursuing rickshaw with guns blazing, people getting shot in the head with some ubër sophisticated contraption, only to die from being crushed from the weight of the freight they carried, emitting blood curdling screams as they expire. But the soon to be ravished love interest continues on, taking her life into her hands & magically not getting hit by one single bullet from the machine gun type weapons just feet away, [only in the movies] all the while occasionally ducking but still digitally recording enemy territory with her Olympus camera until James shows up & takes the bad guys out with a click of his camera that’s really a high tech bazooka, only to be dissed by the love interest he wants to ravish & will by the movie’s end but she doesn’t know that & continues on in her rickety rickshaw, completing her mission & wondering what the driver’s legs look like because one must be strong like all the cows in Delhi to do that for a living.
Ok, back to the story, at the end of the ride, we de-rickshaw across the street from the Red Fort. Oh gees, another one of those multi-lane streets. Sigh. I get my nerves together as I run with the human gauntlet my companions form around me. Like it would stop me from getting hit, but at least it blocked what was roaring toward us so I couldn’t see it & I guess, psychologically it was helpful. As we safely reach the other side I have my first view of the Red Fort. Considered Delhi’s most magnificent monument, it was built during the time of Emperor Shah Jahan [1636-56]. Made of red sandstone, it is impressive in its scope & has an inside area open to the public, but once I saw a window titled ‘FOREIGNERS’ selling tickets for 250RS to the Indians’ 10, I elected to skip that part, already way put out after the very intrusive search.
Like the subways, there are searches prior to entering attractions such as this. On the other side of the metal detector, the female security guard awaited me. Standing somewhat patiently impatient as the search commenced, my eyes widened suddenly as Miss Thang flat out ran her hand firmly over my left breast & DOWN...ok need I to say more??!! & I mean DAMN! Just my left breast? What about the other one if ya gonna be thorough, I mean I coulda had somethin’ up under there & done everybody in! Yeah right, I mean was that exactly necessary? I think not! So of course I am FUMING after that but sobered immediately when I saw guards armed with rifles standing in strategic places, perfect to pop yo ass if you stepped out of place. Tanu explained there had been a terrorist attack so security was no joke tight.
The trek back to the train was interesting as we walked down a major street in Old Delhi. I don’t think one can really appreciate how ‘new’ New Delhi is until they’ve seen the old. Wow, it is definitely frozen in time with dilapidated buildings that looked like they'd groan & set themselves down on your head in a flash. I saw a Hindu temple for the first time, wow, they're a look unto themselves & I also saw a Sikh temple. Called gurdwaras, meaning the doorway to the Guru, one must remove their shoes to wash their feet when they step into the outer area prior to entering the house of worship. Some drink that same water, believing it holy. All I could say was a capital WOW as I observed one person doing just that. WOW, Evian water, it ain’t! All joking aside & no disrespect intended, it was fascinating [Spock’s word again] to witness the rituals performed. There was a sentinel at the entrance using a staff to push aside shoes even though they were in the street but I guess because they were at the mouth of the temple that wasn’t cool at all.
Pondering the pushing of the shoes incident my attention instantly diverted to a most delightful sight, & I spring into ‘Gordon Parkette’ mode, whippin’ out my Olympus to track a monkey appearing from a window to take his afternoon stroll by scaling across the front of a few buildings & of course the only person to be fazed by this was moi, ‘cause my companions could’ve kept on walkin’ no problem!
So after this excitement, it was a return to my fire trap place of a residence & trying to be prepared for the abrupt sight of the resident gecko who delighted in scaring the crap outta me. I named him Samadhi which is such a contradiction since translated from Sanskrit basically means spiritual ecstasy & his appearing out of nowhere is anything but. Hmmm…unless in this case I equate ecstasy to the light burst of terror that flows momentarily along my nerves upon his startling & jarring appearance.
