Delhi Update
All six of my regular readers are probably wondering how my trip to Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi went. I am, however, flooded at work trying to finish this project in my last week and a half, and I just don't have the luxurious time to be writing these overly-extensive blog entries for which Law, Partially is renowned. But here goes...
Jaipur is famous for its handicrafts. In Jaipur I spent the whole day hanging out with some middle age Indian men who took me workshops for all these handicrafts. This definitely is not on the normal tourist itinerary. I saw a jeweler make a ruby pendant. I saw rugs being knotted. I went to a private art gallery and an art college. I went to a cloth manufacturer. And I kind of missed out on exploring too much of the ancient walled city, but there just wasn't time for everything. I took an overnight bus to Agra and didn't sleep much because the ride was so rough. I man also got into bed with me, and I was like fine, there's enough room, but then he sprawled out and I kicked him out of the bed. He then slept on the floor. More beds were sold than actually existed on the bus.
Agra is a dump. It was so hot, and I was so dirty, and I saw the Taj. I almost punched some rickshaw drivers in their faces. I can't walk anywhere in Jaipur without being surrounded by tourist guides, post cars, taxi rides, and rickshaw rides all for sale. My train to Delhi was majorly delayed, and I slept on the dirty, dirty floor like an Indian street urchin. I even was woken up by a military policemen with a bamboo pole like an urchin. I took a non-ac second class train to Delhi overflowing with a surging sea of humanity. Again, more seats booked than actually exist. Even still, the seats aren't very big, and middle class Indian children are very poorly behaved.
Delhi was a highlight of the summer. I went to the Supreme Court with a lawyer who regularly argues there. He is one of the greatest people I've ever met, and I'd like to work for him. He arranged a car and driver through his law firm to take me around Delhi yesterday. So I saw the Delhi sites and rode the gleaming new subway for the hell of it. Well, it was gleaming, but it's quickly being Indianized, with broken glass, rude people, arbitrary rules, and accumulating filth. A highlight was Mahatma Ganhi's house. Dude lived in a mansion not far from the Parliament and capital. The President's House is ridiculous and looks more like a Roman temple than a house. I had dinner on Monday with the bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal and his wife who writes for the NYTimes. It's a highlight for a journalism obsessive like me. Unfortunately I barely gave them a chance to speak. And I drank more than I've drank since life in the States. Journalists like to drink.
A friend of mine, Noah Gorz, recommended I go to deli while in Delhi. I agreed that that was a fabulous idea, but I never saw any. I'll bet, however, that there are real delis in Delhi. Delhi, being the Indian capital, is an international city. I would venture to say it has more Western junk and food available than Mumbai. I went to a market aimed at the diplomatic set, and I stocked up on some brand new leather bound classic books, all priced under $10. Sweet.
Delhi is also notable because it is so spread out. Well, Old Delhi isn't. It's kind of a cluttered pile like South Mumbai, but the rest of Delhi -- New Delhi we'll call it -- is not very dense, even though Delhi is one of the world's largest cities. Absent also were the massive slums that you can't miss in Mumbai. They must exist, but I think they've been pushed out of view because the Commonwealth Games are coming to Delhi in 2010. Then again, I don't think Delhi attracts the tribes of poor that does freewheeling Mumbai. And it is very, very hot in Delhi, and there were no traces of monsoon.
So today I am extensively researching maritime trade law, something I've never learned about until last week.
PS
How crazy is it that bananas grow up? I always figured they just hung from trees, but no, they're more like a big flower.
Jaipur is famous for its handicrafts. In Jaipur I spent the whole day hanging out with some middle age Indian men who took me workshops for all these handicrafts. This definitely is not on the normal tourist itinerary. I saw a jeweler make a ruby pendant. I saw rugs being knotted. I went to a private art gallery and an art college. I went to a cloth manufacturer. And I kind of missed out on exploring too much of the ancient walled city, but there just wasn't time for everything. I took an overnight bus to Agra and didn't sleep much because the ride was so rough. I man also got into bed with me, and I was like fine, there's enough room, but then he sprawled out and I kicked him out of the bed. He then slept on the floor. More beds were sold than actually existed on the bus.
Agra is a dump. It was so hot, and I was so dirty, and I saw the Taj. I almost punched some rickshaw drivers in their faces. I can't walk anywhere in Jaipur without being surrounded by tourist guides, post cars, taxi rides, and rickshaw rides all for sale. My train to Delhi was majorly delayed, and I slept on the dirty, dirty floor like an Indian street urchin. I even was woken up by a military policemen with a bamboo pole like an urchin. I took a non-ac second class train to Delhi overflowing with a surging sea of humanity. Again, more seats booked than actually exist. Even still, the seats aren't very big, and middle class Indian children are very poorly behaved.
Delhi was a highlight of the summer. I went to the Supreme Court with a lawyer who regularly argues there. He is one of the greatest people I've ever met, and I'd like to work for him. He arranged a car and driver through his law firm to take me around Delhi yesterday. So I saw the Delhi sites and rode the gleaming new subway for the hell of it. Well, it was gleaming, but it's quickly being Indianized, with broken glass, rude people, arbitrary rules, and accumulating filth. A highlight was Mahatma Ganhi's house. Dude lived in a mansion not far from the Parliament and capital. The President's House is ridiculous and looks more like a Roman temple than a house. I had dinner on Monday with the bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal and his wife who writes for the NYTimes. It's a highlight for a journalism obsessive like me. Unfortunately I barely gave them a chance to speak. And I drank more than I've drank since life in the States. Journalists like to drink.
A friend of mine, Noah Gorz, recommended I go to deli while in Delhi. I agreed that that was a fabulous idea, but I never saw any. I'll bet, however, that there are real delis in Delhi. Delhi, being the Indian capital, is an international city. I would venture to say it has more Western junk and food available than Mumbai. I went to a market aimed at the diplomatic set, and I stocked up on some brand new leather bound classic books, all priced under $10. Sweet.
Delhi is also notable because it is so spread out. Well, Old Delhi isn't. It's kind of a cluttered pile like South Mumbai, but the rest of Delhi -- New Delhi we'll call it -- is not very dense, even though Delhi is one of the world's largest cities. Absent also were the massive slums that you can't miss in Mumbai. They must exist, but I think they've been pushed out of view because the Commonwealth Games are coming to Delhi in 2010. Then again, I don't think Delhi attracts the tribes of poor that does freewheeling Mumbai. And it is very, very hot in Delhi, and there were no traces of monsoon.
So today I am extensively researching maritime trade law, something I've never learned about until last week.
PS
How crazy is it that bananas grow up? I always figured they just hung from trees, but no, they're more like a big flower.
Comments
I didn't buy any rubies. They were about $50/carat, which I think is pretty cheap -- especially because I went to a government emporium, and they were something like $120/carat.