Welcome to India!!

Picking up from where we have left, we managed (mostly by luck!!) to board on the plane headed to Delhi with our over-weight baggage. Ramji had left yesterday to Chennai on a short trip to meet his family, and will join us at Delhi airport the next day. As the flight ascended into the sky from the Tribhuvan international airport, the panoramic view of the city was amazing especially the miniaturized buildings and the Bagmati river which resembled a crawling snake. Guess what, it was August 15th, India's independence day and we were flying to the country's capital. We were all very excited to observe the glorious celebrations taking place at various historic places across the capital.

We were welcomed in Delhi by surprise showers which lasted for an hour. By the time we reached the hotel and got settled, the drizzling rain also terminated, after which we decided to head out and explore the city. We were slightly disappointed after knowing that the official celebrations at most of the places had already completed, however we decided to stick with our exploration. As we reached our first stop, Connaught place, which is one of the largest financial and business places in Delhi, the rain picked up again. We consulted some people around about the best places to visit in Delhi given our time constraint. After spending sometime wandering on the roads looking at the office complexes, we reached India gate which is a historic all India First World War memorial constructed during the British period. The central part of the monument was heavily guarded, while the lawns around it was kept open for general public. It was already filled with people from all age groups equally exhilarated and proud about the country's independence. We went around and took lot of snaps, of and with the monument. At the far end of the road (Rajpath), we were able to see the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential bungalow, which is constructed on Raisina hill. We walked towards it from India gate on the beautiful lawns, well maintained on either side of the Rajpath. Due to the heavy pouring rain, we called it a day and headed back to the hotel.

India's Independence day!!!

No entry zone!! 

Next morning, we were overwhelmed with a myriad of food cuisines that the hotel served for breakfast. After having a fulfilling breakfast, we took a cab to Chandini Chowk (descriptions will be given after reaching the place!!). However, we changed our course to Qutb Minar, on the counsel of the cab driver. He informed us that Akshardam temple, is also nearby and took us to a place with a chain of temples on either side of the road. We were disappointed to find out that we have reached the wrong temple and went to back to Qutb Minar. We explored the place and were awed to see the level of detail in the wall/pillar architecture. Sakina was our Arabic translator, explaining us the writings on the walls. The security guard helped us in taking the customary monument holding picture, after looking at our struggles in getting it right. After clicking a few wonderful snaps (of course some weird ones too!!), we waved goodbye to Qutb Minar. Ramji who wasn’t with us, based on his past experiences had advised us to travel on Delhi Metro, apparently as good as the London tubes. The metro travel from Qutb Minar to Chandini Chowk was as pleasant as we have expected.

Arabic translator!!!

                            

  Photography!!                                  I got it!!

We went to the Red fort on a human powered vehicle, which was the common means of transportation in those parts of the city. The four of us enjoyed in the rickshaw ride looking at the buildings and the diversity of the crowd, as it advanced slowly in the tightly packed roads of old Delhi. As it was a weekend, the Red fort was getting inundated with tourists. After a brief stay at the Red fort, we went to Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in the country. We then went to Parathe-wali Gali in Chandini Chowk, a famous and historic food ally in Old Delhi. We went to a sixth generation Parathe shop, where the food was ambrosial. Even though we didn’t visit all the places we were hoping to, we had to head back to the hotel as we had to reach the airport to catch our flight to Patna. The past two touristy days in Delhi were amazing and we are very excitedly looking forward to start our clinical immersions in Bihar.         

Cheese!!!!

                                                                    The Red Fort

Blending in!!!

Jama Masjid