Today a group of us went with one of the translators’ primary and secondary school – it’s kind of a mix of both; she attended from our equivalent of first class to sixth year. It’s a beautiful school. We took a metro, then an auto, and found ourselves in one of these parts of Delhi that just seem to be roads and roundabouts surrounded by smooth sidewalks and bright green trees and loads of space but seemingly still not enough for the indignant drivers on the road. It’s a beautiful area, and the school fitted right in.
The school is called Vidyalaya and the translator, Pavni, told us it’s the school that all parents want their kids to get into; it’s one of the most prestigious in Delhi. It’s difficult to get into and looks like a dream to attend. When you arrive, up the steps there is a huge gold circle that is the emblem of the school, called the Chakra.
Once you get inside, it’s all open hallways (when I mean open I mean they’re more balconies than hallways), modern science labs, home economics rooms, libraries and pitches. It’s amazing. Apparently every year they have a food festival with food stalls all around the school – this year there were more than sixty, and the food they sell sounds absolutely delicious.
There’s also a principal’s garden – the principal lives in the school – and it’s a patch of paradise. Here, I took a few photos…
Oh , and there’s a Lovers’ Lane too!
After that we went for lunch in a pretty snazzy place not far from the school and chatted with Pavni, and ate and had this dessert. Got a snap of that too. Yes, that’s a dessert. The noodles over it are cold and sweet and the stuff underneath is called Kulfi – it’s a bit like ice-cream. It’s weird when you’re not used to it; not everyone could finish it!
Then we said goodbye to Pavni and got a metro to Akshardham to meet up with some of the rest of our team and also some of Shine Om team who live in Delhi as well.
At Akshardham is the Akshardham Temple and it is one of the most amazing places I have ever been in my life. The security there is ten times tighter than at the Taj Mahal, yet it’s free to get in and it’s very new, in operation for less than a decade. It seems to be made mostly from red terra cotta the whole thing is made of the most intricate carving I’ve ever seen, and it’s EVERYWHERE. It didn’t have more of a “wow” factor than the Taj Mahal, but that could be purely down to reputation and history. Its grounds are bigger and the temple is apparently the world’s largest comprehensive Hindu temple. It is the richest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s like somebody has taken Delhi, sucked all the wealth out of the rest of it and concentrated in Akshardham. There is that less-than-savoury feel to it, especially as it was built as a tribute to a boy called Neelkanth who was an eleven-year-old child yogi who, in 1792, walked for 12,000 km around India barefoot and naked with nothing at all, just to preach and learn. It kind of makes me wonder what he would think of the temple if he was around to see it. I don’t think he’d like it, if that was the kind of life he led.
It was about six when we arrived, so we were lucky to see it both in daylight and as evening fell. The atmosphere is just incredible.
Before you go in, they take your belongings and electronic devices, and you have to walk barefoot in the temple and across the marble floor before it which, even at seven at night, burns the soles of your feet in the heat. You can’t take any pictures, obviously then, so I’ve decided to look to Google Images for help just to show you. There are lots of different areas in the grounds – the temple itself, whole courtyards and lakes dedicated to certain monuments, and bizarrely restaurants that provide drinks and popcorn for hungry visitors. But for the most part it’s tamales and broad walkways and well-tended gardens. The place is so vast and incredible that it’s difficult not to be awed by it.
Once you go into the temple itself, in the centre is a chamber that glitters and sparkles like very surface is encrusted with jewels and there’s a giant golden statue in the middle. Around that there are several chambers, all very symmetrical and perfect, intricately carved pillars and sculpted ceilings that would make Michelangelo weep. I really can’t get over this place. I didn’t like it as much as the Taj Mahal exactly, but it definitely left a very lasting impression.
One last thing that has nothing to do with the temple and more to do with actually getting to it. I haven’t mentioned this before but my teaching partner has narcolepsy and is prone to fainting (I wanted to check it was OK with her to add this into the blog; I feel strongly that you should understand what happened and how dangerous it was). She gets dizzy for a moment, faints, and can be woken up literally about three seconds later and is usually just fine. Her triggers are – wait for it – heat, stress, being crowded, exhaustion and pretty much everything else here that makes Delhi Delhi. I think it was brave of her to come here.
But today when we got the metro to Akshardham, it was getting on for rush hour and we were crammed in the women’s carriage right in the front of the train, behind the drivers’ compartment. The girls were sitting on the ground and I was standing by the door. It wasn’t terribly crowded when we got on – no more than usual at least – but it filled up quickly with the crowds flocking to Akshardham and with absolutely no space at all and barely any air to breathe, Amy fainted, right behind my legs. It was so crowded that nobody could even look down and there was much less of a fuss than usual, with only the very closest asking if she was OK as she came to. She was fine, as usual, and we got out of the train at our stop and headed for the exit.
Then, when we got to the gate, it was a whole different story. It was packed. The metro here is much like a metro anywhere and you have a metro card that you use to get in and out of the gates. At Akshardham, people were being shoved right up against the gates and pushing and jostling and it was tighter then the metro, with the added pressure of people pushing to get places. We all eventually got through – except for Amy. Right at the point she tried to get out, there seemed to be a problem with some of the gates and Amy couldn’t seem to get through any. The crowds behind her weren’t helping. We were all watching on the other side, totally helpless, and we could see she was getting anxious and panicky. Finally she ran behind someone else as they went through, walked about three steps, collapsed, came to and had a panic attack. It was scary for us, infinitely more so for her and it took a long time for her to recover and for us to get away from the staring people. It was pretty dangerous. There aren’t many concessions for people like Amy in a city like this. Here’s a photo to show you how crowded it was…
Anyway.
After that we came back to Preet Vihar with the guys from Shine Om and had a party at Pratham Palace! It was great! We also had a bit of a quiz night, using some of the questions from a couple of my fundraisers. That plus pizza plus some beer plus excellent company and conversation – the first typical Saturday night I’ve had in a while!
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Bantz 