Somehow we all woke up feeling refreshed on our first morning in Delhi – neither the 30 hours of travel nor the magic of jumping a day forward in time seemed to phase the group. We had an amazing and quintessential Indian breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel – chai, aloo parantha (potato-stuffed bread), breakfast curries, omelettes, cornflakes and curd. Appetites sated, we jumped right in with some great conversations about safety, cultural norms, some travel savvy tips, and the concept of the Hero’s Journey. After a quick lesson, we threw on day packs and headed out into the chaos of mid-day Delhi with the goal of reaching Dilli Haat, a market in the south part of town.
Winding our way through the Central Bazaar of Paharganj, we had a chance to practice bartering for the first time, with moderate success. Let’s just say we got some good deals…and some bad ones. Our group is full of curiosity, and walking through markets lined with endless stalls of vendors selling goods from all over the sub-continent inspires exploration. After a while, a few of us found ourselves in a tiny music store upstairs from the hustle and bustle of the street. The owner chatted us up amiably, and let us play around with sitars and tablas and one cheap Indian “Gibson” mandolin. He ended by playing a song on the sitar for the five of us in the room, and we were all transfixed for a few minutes and the stress of the outside world melted away completely. What a guy. Ben plans on going back to buy the mandolin so we can play some groovy tunes.
As we neared the Metro station, air conditioned cars in sight, we suddenly found ourselves on the edge of a frantic mob escalating in volume and intensity. We got clear of the hubbub and turned to see what was happening. Some young man had tried to steal a motorcycle outside of the main train station, but the surrounding locals created an uproar. We watched as they closed in on the man, forcing him to crash, then pulled him from under the bike and proceeded to publicly shame him and turn him over to the police. It was an incredibly intense moment, made more intense by the newness of it all. We spent the rest of the afternoon in a quieter part of town, trying to process that moment and treating ourselves to some amazing Maharashtra food. We are still working on wrapping our heads fully around the day as a whole…it was packed to the gills with new sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. Perhaps some yoga and meditation on day 2 will do the trick.
