Snow Days in Delhi

Today began with a trip to the AIPTF office to meet with Dr. Singh and do some preparation for the national level training which will begin Friday.  Many of the teachers who are coming are using their discretionary or personal days from work to attend, which shows their commitment.

On our way to the the AIPTF office I noticed that there seemed to be many children running around.  Our driver said they were having a school holiday.  When I asked Dr. Singh about the holiday, he informed me that schools had been closed for the last week due to the cold - just to help put the -30 weather you folks are experiencing in perspective.  We told Dr. Singh that we call these snow days in Canada, so it seems they've been having snow week!  As we drove around we saw lots of teens out playing cricket on open lots.  I even saw a group of three teenage boys running to catch a bus carrying a cricket bat.  It  seems that kids worldwide know what to do on "snow days"!

A drive through Delhi is an experience of many contrasts.  We saw this boy carrying his sister on his back begging for money in the moving traffic:

There also was a mother and her children sitting around a fire on the median of the highway we were on.  The poverty some live in here is like nothing I've ever seen.  Here are some shots of some of the neighborhoods we drove through and some of the stores we saw on our drive:

As you drive through Delhi and pass through different neighborhoods, you can quickly tell if the area is wealthy or not.  The wealthy areas are given away by new cars, manicured grounds and an absence of people living and working on the street.

We spent the morning with Dr. Singh reviewing the plans for the upcoming week, the we went to lunch where he taught us to eat in the traditional way by using pieces of naan bread to grab food and dip it in sauce.  We ended lunch with one of Tish's favourites - cold coffee with ice cream.  Very tasty.

Following lunch, we had our driver take us to Swaminarayan Akshardam, a new Indian culture complex.  Initially, we thought it was a historical site, but it turns out it is only 7 years old.  It took 11 000 people five years to build it.  The carving work is absolutely amazing.  Picture taking was not allowed, so you'll have to check out their web site www.akshardham.com .  While there I realized why you always see these people in temples, etc. sitting on mats.  Marble is super cold!  With the cool weather here the insides of buildings are very cold due to the marble.

Our poor driver had a very bad day with the police.  He racked up two tickets in the space of the afternoon, both for supposedly running a red light.  He was fined both times - 100 rupees the first ($2) and 500 rupees the second time ($10).  We thought the first ticket was bogus and the second he might have gotten away with if he didn't have a need to argue with the police!

During our trip back to the hotel we saw many sales people in the street selling everything including cell phone chargers, food, newspapers and steering wheel covers.  Some of the sales people were children as young as 6 or 7.  I caught this photo of a boy who was taking a brief break from selling merchandise car to car.

As you can also see in the photo, it was very smoggy in Delhi today.  It is particularly bad in the morning and at night when people begin using coal to cook their evening meals.  We should never take our clean Saskatchewan air for granted, no matter  how cold it might be!

Back at the hotel we sat in an open area on our floor to do some planning.  While working we watched the hotel workers try to catch the cat that had infiltrated our floor.  Murray saw it run by and we all heard its unhappy meowing from the ceiling.  Hopefully kitty gets caught so none of us have a midnight visitor!

Finally, a day on this blog wouldn't be complete without my commentary on the art of hovering and hierarchy of wait staff.  This morning they hovered less, but were still very present.  At lunch, one fellow stood there and watched us eat the entire meal.  He didn't serve us, he just watched.  At our hotel, the restaurant seems to have four levels of bureaucracy - young men in white shirts, who do most of the work; older men in brown uniforms, who watch the young men in white, do some work and bring the bill; even older men in dark suits who watch the white shirts and brown suits and who do no work; and the greeter at the door.  At supper tonight it was Murray and me and 10 wait staff.  Needless to say, the service was prompt all evening!

Tomorrow, we begin the national level training.  A fellow from Bihar was already at the AIPTF office and is extremely excited about the upcoming week.  We're looking forward to a great week as well.

So, stay warm friends as "snow week" ends here in Delhi