No Delhi Belly

Here is another beautiful elephant from the lobby of the Imperial Hotel.

Today was the first day of exploration. We hired a driver to take us to several landmarks in Delhi, including The Red Fort and India Gate. We have been very careful to avoid exposure to the famed microbes of the Third World. So far, success! But it's only been a day!

What we have experienced is the incredible density of p-e-o-p-l-e. Everywhere. Masses. And as we walk through crowds, everyone is close. No touching, but distances measured in millimeters.

It is the same with driving.

These three-wheeled wonders are nicknamed "tuk-tuks." They are everywhere. The driver sits solo in the front, steering handlebars like a bike or motor scooter.

Bicycles are everywhere, too. They are purely pedal power. Somehow, they jostle and survive alongside the tuk-tuks and cars and heavily-ladened, exhaust spewing lorries (trucks).

It's wild. So, everyone drives within inches of each other, aiming to cut off anyone who lags and blocks the flow of eager drivers trying to get to wherever they are going just a little faster than the next guy.

What is significant, though, whether it is at the airport (where the crowds first hit you, on the roads, or in the attractions we went to see, is the total lack of private space. Oh, give me Utah, Wyoming or Montana, please!

So, while we have avoided Delhi Belly, a few hours of tourism and jet lag brought on fatigue and a sore stomach. Naps this afternoon countered the effect as treasured silence soothed the soul.

The Red Fort

The Red Fort was bult in 1648 by Shah Jahan as part of the wave of Islamic in-migration from Iran. It was the fortified palace made of red sandstone (looks to be Triassic judging by the oxidized iron caused by the planet's rising levels of oxygen).

The construction, as you can see, is really magnificent and represents the pinnacle of Mugai achievement, according to tourist brochures.

India Gate

Indians have good reason to be proud of all they have achieved. Not the least of these is independence from Great Britain. That status took decades. Military service and contributions alongside UK soldiers during the two World Wars were thought to be down payments for independence. But it took FDR's insistence for Churchill to grant independence in the Atlantic Charter for Britain to recognize India as being independent.

There is a large park in Delhi set aside in recognition of "the new India." At one end is India Gate and its larger-than-life statue of patriot Subhas Chandra Bose who died in his effort to gain independence.

Here, just in front of this statue, is India Gate. It is likened to the Arc de Triomphe and is built in honor of the 13,300 servicemen who fought from 1913 to 1921.

At the other end of this magnificent mall is the Parliament. The air was not clear enough to picture it well. But you can see the scale of the mall and its buildings and landscaping in the diagrams shown in a subterranean display.

Of course, here is the human interest picture:

The Indian Back Story

Keep in mind the tremendous challenge India faces today. Of its population of 1.4 billion people, perhaps 300 million have achieved middle-class status. It means that Prime Minister Modi has to create a million new jobs every month just to keep the economy growing and not stagnating. What could easily be done with machines must be done with job-creating hand labor. Here is a team of men erecting a fabric roof over a shed under construction. Ropes and manpower are preferred for so many obvious reasons.

Tomorrow, we fly from Delhi to Jaipur to visit that beautiful city built by a ruler of perhaps 50 to 750 years ago.

Cheers,

Brio