Travelogue: Delhi
I awoke to the sound of a sitr and figured that yes, all of India is a Bollywood movie. My headache is undoubtedly the result of my body’s refusal to become acclimated to three days of irregular sleep. The dull pain is eased by the soft breeze coming through the French doors leading to my friend's balcony. Between the music, the porch, and the vegitation, I feel I’m in a colonial bungalow.
After a few hours of finishing Murakami’s Wild Sheep Chase (appropriately, a tale of loneliness and self-actualization in far off lands), I spend some time alone in the botanical gardens appreciating the exotic birds, young couples, and cricket players. Mughal ruins dot the lush landscape. I have chai at an expensive outdoor café before meeting Dan for lunch back in the inner city...
How can one travel to the Far East and not conjure the image of Lawrence of Arabia? That is, how can one not while sitting on a communal bench with a dozen men, drinking questionable water from a tin cup, and eating samosa and daal with my hands now decorated with a fringe of blackened fingernails? I haven't seen an unaccompanied woman my entire time here. I occasionally catch a whiff of that certain curried body odor, but curiously I'm hardly self-conscious of it.
After a few hours of finishing Murakami’s Wild Sheep Chase (appropriately, a tale of loneliness and self-actualization in far off lands), I spend some time alone in the botanical gardens appreciating the exotic birds, young couples, and cricket players. Mughal ruins dot the lush landscape. I have chai at an expensive outdoor café before meeting Dan for lunch back in the inner city...
How can one travel to the Far East and not conjure the image of Lawrence of Arabia? That is, how can one not while sitting on a communal bench with a dozen men, drinking questionable water from a tin cup, and eating samosa and daal with my hands now decorated with a fringe of blackened fingernails? I haven't seen an unaccompanied woman my entire time here. I occasionally catch a whiff of that certain curried body odor, but curiously I'm hardly self-conscious of it.
Comments