 |
| Tandoori Shrimp |
 |
| Vegetable Biryani |
 |
| Syncwire supports 4 Apple devices |
 |
| Only 1 small bag from Vivek Sahni store at Bikaner House |
 |
| Who is that behind the hot towels? |
 |
| Home cooking at Vijay's House |
 |
| Arjun with the 2 iPads we brought for him and his brother |
 |
| Vijay, Sunita and Arjun |
We have been to Delhi many times, and have seen much of the
historical wonders of this ancient city. We planned this first part of our trip
to be basically R&R to get over the jetlag. It is always difficult for the
first few days.
The day started with a typical Indian experience. We had to
chuckle. The Manager of the Imperial yesterday said he would meet us this
morning and get one of his employees to take us to The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) to see if would could exchange some of our now worthless 1000 rupee notes
for a valid currency. He never showed up. We weren’t mad, but rather amused.
This could have been predicted.
The reality is that it is a horrible situation.
There just isn’t enough currency currently in circulation because of the
government’s decision to declare some denominations (80% of all value of
currency) null and void. We literally can’t tip because we can’t get small
denominations bills. The fact that we have lost several hundred dollars of
rupees is insignificant compared to the hardships Indians are going through.
Most Indians feel this is the pain they suffer to rid themselves of corruption.
I hope it works out. Many people were either being bribed with cash or even being paid in cash (called black money) that was never declared for tax purposes. They never deposited the money in a bank but rather hid it at home. By invalidating the currency, the government was saying that black money you hid away somewhere is now worthless. You can exchange it for the new
currency and pay taxes on it, or it will be worthless. ATM's have only limited currency. At the hotel they are limited in how much currency they can exchange. Yesterday I was only able to get about $ 80 US dollars converted, today none. They just don't have cash.
The first picture above is a techie pic for people who
travel with many Apple Devices. We travel with a bunch. I bought Syncwire from Amazon. It
charges up to 4 devices simultaneously using only 1 outlet. Less chargers to
carry. Make sense to me.
John and I both needed to new India SIM Cards for our
iPhones. Vijay took us to this typical little India store front shop, where
they quickly sold us SIM cards. The process now is far smoother than it used to be. We filled out
some paperwork, I didn’t have a picture of myself for the documentation and
they simply snapped a cell phone picture of me. They then gave me a slip of
paper, and a phone number that I was supposed to dial on my phone at exactly
5pm. At 5pm I dialed a number and a VRU asked me a few questions and I was fine
with a 4g working SIM card.
During the Raj, when the British controlled India, each of
the major princely states built huge Palaces in Delhi for their royal family to
stay in when in Delhi. Many of these have been converted into museums or used
for other purposes. We had read in The New York Times that a design shop Vivek
Sahni, had opened in Bikaner House, the Delhi Palace of the Maharaja of
Bikaner. Bikaner was a princely state locate in Rajasthan. We visited the shop
that had an interesting combination of both antiques and modern clothing for
sale. It is worth a stop if you are ever in Delhi.
On of the fun things I always do in India, is get a
professional shave. Shaving can be a pain, but also kind of cool ritual. I have
thrown away all of my old plastic disposable razors at home and returned to
double edge safety razors. The blades are much sharper and the razor feels like
a tool in your hand not some cheap plastic product. Truefitt & Hill is a chain
of English Barbers with salon’s in a few key Indian cities. If you go in for a
shave you get the full treatment of hot towels, skin prep and finally a shave
with a straight razor. They know how to shave a guy. It is quite a treat. Put
that experience on your bucket list. I bet you repeat it! Vijay
took Cathy back to Ogaan while John and I were getting our beards trimmed.
Over the years the most special part of a visit to Delhi for us is
lunch at our driver’s Vijay house. His wife Samita always cooks a special lunch
and it gives us real insight in to the way people of very modest means live in
Delhi. It takes us out of a typical bubble. We eat in their one small room that doubles as bedroom, storage room, dining
room and living room. Arjun one of their two sons has grown up before our eyes.
He is now 16 and lives like every Indian boy for cricket. Last year Vijay gave
me a ipad that was locked and useless to them. I took it back to the States and
fixed it so it was like brand new. Joan Wynn, a neighbor of ours had an extra iPad
that she gave me and I told her I would bring it to India and give to Vijay's children. Arjun is holding
both of the iPads and can’t wait to share it with his brother. It was funny, I
expected I would have to show him what to do, but like the young generation everywhere,
he immediately knew how to start it up and configure it. The food was delicious
as always.
It was mid-afternoon, and a wave of jetlag was washing over
all of us, so we decided to return to our hotels (John is staying at the nearby
LaLit). Cathy took a nap I decided to fight jetlag with a massage!
Click the picture to see a video.
We then had cocktails in the bar followed by dinner at the hotel. We huge,
delicious spicy tandoori Shrimps, a Vegetable Biryani and Garlic Naan. The
jetlag finally caught up to me and I barely made it back to our room.
In the morning we will pack and head for Agra and the Taj
Mahal.
No comments:
Post a Comment