bits and pieces

Important lesson learned... The difference between the number twenty five and the number fifty in Hindi is a tiny shift in sound from short I to short A.. That said, the very long and angry argument I had with the rickshaw driver who claimed I owed him fifty rupees when I claimed we had agreed on twenty five rupees, ended in utter embarrassment and apology (and overpaying) on my part. It's probably not the best thing that I've learned how to say "You're crazy!" (Aap pagal hai!) and "I may be foreign, but I live in Delhii!" (Mein gora hai, mein Dilli mei rethi hoon!) I was quite embarrassed when 3 young Delhi-ites pointed out that I had in fact offered to pay fifty (which is PachAs as opposed to PachIs which is twenty five). Just when you think you're getting a handle on the language...

So I'm still settling into the grooves of the city, and I'm really liking it. The heat is pretty terrible and getting worse, but I'm figuring out some tricks to stay cool. From going to the cinema to see Akshay Kumar (my new muscled Bollywood love) fight gangsters to the backdrop of delicious bubblegum pop music, to strutting around the Oberoi Hotel like I own the place, but actually only sitting in the air-conditioned lobby on the comfy couches with a magazine. I'm also sightseeing quite a bit! I don't start work for a few more days, so I'm taking in the sights while I can. So far I've seen the Qutb Minar with my roomate Peter, Lodi Gardens with my Hindi teacher, Bharat (we choose a different site for each visit, which is great!), and today I went to the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets. Yes, yes, that's right... It's the quirky listing in the guidebook that everyone laughs at, but very few people go to. But it's absolutely fascinating! Did any of you know that India was the first place in history to have toilets in each household? That's right, during the times of the Indus Valley Civilization, every household had it's own toilet! Who knew? And in the Netherlands they now have toilets that sit below the ground during the day, but come up at night to be used by late-night partyers! And in Victorian England, they used to disguise toilets as chairs, or flowery sculptures, or tables, because they wanted them to blend in with the room... I got a little lost on the technology part of the tour, but I'm pretty sure I walked on grass that was grown with manure from human waste, and I watched the process of converting urine into (non-drinkable, but usable) water. Awesome.

Oh and here is a fantastic link that Shruti found and it just embodies everything that is amazing and ironic about India. http://www.hipsterhunter.com/HH_INDIA.html

Are these photos of pretty flowers? Check again! They're actually urinals that were created by a Japanese artist! Japan also boasts electric toilets all over the country (in 90% of households and every public restroom), which has buttons for different water sprays, a dryer, and even a massage button for your backside! Apparently all the buttons are in japanese, so tourists sometimes run into some chaos when they hit the wrong button.

That's me hard at work studying Hindi in Lodi gardens. There are these amazingly beautiful tombs (mugdaras) all over the gardens, and you can smell the flowers from way outside.

That's my roomate Peter! He's extremely tall, but the Qutb Minar is even taller. In fact, it's the largest stone structure in India! Unfortunately all of my photos of it were taken vertically, and I still don't know how to put vertical photos up here, so you'll just get a photo of Peter looking at the Qutb Minar. It was built by various generations of Muslim rulers, the first one starting it in the 1200s after defeating the Hindu empire that was in power. There's a lot on the site besides the Qutb Minar itself, including a (now destroyed) mosque that was built with the remnants of a Hindu temple that was destroyed! You can apparently see carvings of Hindu gods in the remaining columns of the mosque, but we couldn't find any.

A lot of the strutures on site are still in tact, but here is a photo of some of the ruins. There's also an iron pole on site that has been around for centuries and STILL hasn't rusted! People think it's magical.

And that's me with my boyfriends Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan! I've changed my look a bit in these past 5 1/2 months. Just kidding, that's Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, and Saif Ali Khan in a shot from their movie "Tashan" which might be the most beautiful, insane, and violent film I've ever seen. Kudos Bollywood, way to go.