Following checkout from our hotel in Agra, we boarded the bus with Suresh at the wheel and now three riding shotgun – Ragu was joined by Crissie and Cassandra. This new seating arrangement provided the two women with an “up close and personal” view of everything which was aiming toward our bus, and at the same time gave the rest of us a bit more legroom. We were hoping to be able to beat some of the morning traffic into Delhi, but it is very difficult to determine whether or not we succeeded. Who knows when it comes to traffic in Delhi?
We stopped at a rest stop along the way, purchased some snacks and cold drinks and sat outside in the garden. We were the first ones out there, but when subsequent bus groups arrived, they too wanted to sit out in the garden in the warm sun. I guess we set the standard. Some of us purchased various trinkets to take home to friends and family. We were back on the road, and eventually stopped for our lunch at India’s example of a fast food restaurant chain – Halduram’s. When looking at the huge menu (one could purchase North Indian, South Indian, Chinese and several other ethnic foods) several of us decided upon a less traditional fare – namely veggie burgers! Actually, the veggie burgers were a good deal better than the ones we are able to purchase at home, either at Burger Kind or at the supermarkets. These were served with French fries and ketchup, so other than the setting, who would have known where we were eating?
After finishing up our lunch with a sinful sweet, gooey, sticky pastry treat, we headed into Delhi. I had contacted a fellow Rotarian, Brian Fulp from the Homesdale, Pennsylvania Rotary Club, who was traveling in India at the same time. He is affiliated with the Himalayan Institute and that group was bringing a few hundred devotees to India for two weeks, working with them in Assam, where the institute has a facility. It happened that Brian and I had been playing telephone tag, but finally caught up with one another an arranged to meet somewhere later that afternoon. Some of the group wanted “free” time; others wanted to visit Fab-India, a store that sells clothing for men, women and children; and still others were still light on gifts to take home. The bus dropped off most of us at Fab India, and the others hired tuk-tuks (auto-rickshaws) to take them into the Connaught Circus area of the city. Sean, in particular, wanted to purchase a gift for all of us to give to Sanjiv and his family for the amazing bit of hosting they provided to us. It was not simply feeding us, but providing toilets, providing Internet access, providing R&R, and providing rooms to serve as Sick Bay, when one or another of us fell victim to Delhi Belly.
I checked out a few things at Fab India and was actually able to find a vest and shirt for my grandson. Boone, Dianne, Kim, Nancy and Pallavi stayed back for a while, and I left in a tuk-tuk to be driven over to Delhi Haat (or Dilly Hut). This is a wonderful open-air market, where artisans from all parts of India have booths for two or three weeks and sell their products, only to be replaced by others from different regions when the first folks return to their homes. Prices at Delhi Haat are also considered pretty reasonable and the variety one sees is considerable. (Haat in Hindi means open market.) I had already made arrangements to meet Brian Fulp and the easiest place to find was Delhi Haat. Brian had never been there prior to today, but he was certainly agreeable to meet there and share experiences and concerns. When we met, Brian and I picked up from where we had left off several months back when I spoke at a District Conference in Pennsylvania this past October. It was enjoyable meeting someone I knew who was also halfway around the world and comparing notes with him about his experiences.
After being at Delhi Haat for a while, the remainder of the group arrived and split up to take in the wide variety of the shops and handicrafts from every state in India. Dianne retained her title of being the very BEST shopper of our team – having found some goodies at Fab India, as well as Delhi Haat. When the appointed time arrived, we gathered at the gate and waited for the bus to meet us. This was to be the last trip we would be taking in the bus, under the very able direction and control of Suresh and Ragu. We worked our way through the throngs of cars, auto-rickshaws, tuk-tuks, trucks, buses and whatever else managed to crowd the streets and clog virtually every intersection in the city. Finally, we made it to Safdarjung Enclave, Sector B, block 1 and number 22 – the home of Sanjiv, Jyotsna, Pallavi, Olie and of course, granddad (Sanjiv’s father, who is a very spry eighty-seven years young). We off loaded all of our bags from the bus, because following dinner, we would be splitting the group and sending them off in different directions: Chris Parkinson and Cassandra Bradley, along with Dianne and Boone Powell would be departing for the airport for the fifteen plus hour flight back to Newark, and then on either to New Hampshire, Boston or San Antonio. Sean and Kim would be going to a hotel for the night, then flying on up to Kathmandu, Nepal for a week. Nancy Day and Crissie Day would be staying at a different hotel from Sean and Kim, and the following day would be flying back to Seattle. Linda Nicol was not with us, as she had remained on in Mewat to offer her services as a massage therapist to polio victims for a couple of weeks. I was the only remaining member of the team and moved into my old bedroom at Sanjiv’s house.
During dinner, each member of the team spoke of impressions of the trip, experiences to and from, as well as within the village. Chris Parkinson talked about composing and singing his own compositions at his three daughters’ weddings. Sanjiv asked if he would sing for us, and he said he really needed a guitar. Did I ever mention the MAGIC OF ROTARY??? It is alive and well in Delhi, in the personage of Sanjiv Saran. He told Chris he would just take a minute and when he returned, he produced a dusty guitar case, but a nice guitar inside! Chris entertained us with one of the wedding songs. Dinner was drawing to a close – schedules needed to be met – and we needed to pause for a few moments to thank Sanjiv, Jyotsna and Olie, as well as Pallavi, for all they had done to make our stay a wonderful experience. We had all agreed to purchase a gift for them and left that task to Sean Dolter. He presented a packed and heavy sack to Sanjiv and Jyotsna, and asked them to open it. The content was uncovered and revealed a magnificent hand-carved statue of Lord Ganesh. This is going to be taken to the farm and placed in the niche in the entry hall of the house, where it will serve as the overseeing god of the household. Lord Ganesh or Ganesha or Genesha (take your pick of the spellings) is the elephant god and if you are interested in learning of the story about what seems to be the most popular manifestation of the Hindu gods, I suggest you try researching in Wikipedia, Google or Yahoo or some other search engine. Sanjiv and Jyotsna seemed to be overwhelmed with the gift and thanked each of us. Not only did they have tears in their eyes, but most of us did, as well. It was time to depart and say our farewells, at least for now. The SUV was waiting out in front of the house to take the four fly-home members to the airport. Other vehicles took Sean and Kim, and Nancy and Crissie. We were about to shut off the lights, when the doorbell rang. The gentleman who was at the door was Basu Dev Golyan, a Rotarian from Nepal, with whom Sanjiv and I had been speaking regarding meeting to discuss the potential of projects in Nepal in future years.
More on this later, but it is time for me to close this off and shut down my laptop, and kiss another night goodbye.
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