Moment:
July 7th at 11:32 am IST
Me: “I’m headed to Delhi”
My friend: “What kinda meats you got there?”
I officially started my study abroad trip! My dad and I traveled to New Delhi, where he introduced me to a family who used to mentor him when he was a 28-year-old software programmer in Delhi, then dropped me off at the hotel where I met my fellow American classmates: Salma, Gavin, and Claire. The next day, we started on our tour of India, fittingly at the India Gate in New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
It was built in 1915, during World War I, to honor the 700,000 fallen Indian soldiers all over the world. The road that passes under the gate of India, is called Rajpat, or the King’s Way, and it leads to a roundabout where the Supreme Court, House of Parliament, President’s house (the largest world leader residence in the world), and Capital buildings are found. At night, the buildings are beautifully lit up in different colors, and the surrounding fountains are illuminated with the colors of the Indian flag: orange, white, and green.
We continued our tour through Delhi with our tour guide, Jimmy. He is a very animated storyteller who is extremely passionate about history, as he is a former history professor but resigned because he wanted to teach history where it actually took place, rather than in a classroom. He has been a tour guide for over 30 years, and throughout his career, he had the opportunity to show around Delhi and other parts of North India to thousands of people, including Kate Winslet (during the Titanic era!), Richard Greer, and Mother Teresa.
He told us there were 20 million people living in Delhi, and 10 million vehicles, but none of those vehicles would be able to fit on the narrow roads in Old Delhi, so we hopped on some rickshaws to explore the centuries-old architecture and incredibly vibrant displays in the various shops. Our rickshaw driver (or cyclist, it’s a gray area) deftly navigated the twists and turns of the path while pointing out many of the 300 historical monuments in Delhi.
We wrapped up our rickshaw (say that ten times fast!) tour, then took a drive to Humayun’s Tomb, which was built by his wife in his honor in 1565, and was the first monument built in India purely according to Muslim architectural styles, without any Turkish or Mongolian influences. The second Mughal emperor was buried there with about 100 of his loved ones, including his wife, various relatives, and even his barber, cooks and loyal servants.
We went through the front gate, and out of respect, we took off our shoes, but I didn’t realize how hot the red sandstone and marble could get, so we were taking photos while slightly running in place to keep our feet from getting burned. Our tour guide saw our struggle and he took us inside one of the rooms, and surprisingly, it was instantly cool. He explained that the walls were extremely thick to keep the heat out in the summer and insulate the rooms in the winter, and the rooms were designed to have circulation that would allow for a cross breeze.
After exploring the various buildings in the large compound, we reached Humayun’s tomb. Jimmy said that it is essentially an “introduction to the Taj Mahal” as it looks pretty similar but is about 5 times smaller, so we were expecting the tomb to be a fairly small structure. Instead, it was a massive historical landmark constructed out of red sandstone that looked incredible in the sunlight, and outlines of marble used to accentuate details and break up the monotony. We were taken aback by the monument's grandeur, so I can’t imagine how incredible the Taj Mahal is going to be. Good thing our next stop is Agra!
