Today was a big day in Delhi. We began with going to the oldest mosque in Delhi Jama Masjid which sits in the center of the city. This was built during the 1600s by the Mughals during the time of their between the 16th-18th centuries. The Mughals came from Turkey- Mongolia area and were muslim and when they came they brought Islam to India. Many Hindus were forced to join Islam at one point under one of their rulers which created the Sikhs, Hindus that fought the military and many died in defense of their Hindu faith. From that time on Sikhs became a sect of Hinduism and they had their own leaders and holy men. Sikhs wear turbans and never cut their hair. Our guide today was a Sikh and we learned that they have 5 things that they must do: Never cut any of their body hair- way to identify their group. They must wear a comb in their hair, under their turban, for hygiene and to maintain their hair. Sikhs hey wear a metal bracelet on one hand to remember to always care for others, they also wear special undergarments that are long that remind them of their morality code, and always carry a dagger to protect themselves and others from wrong. Their faith has also evolved and rather than believing in millions of gods like the Hindus they believe in one god and worship one god.
Sorry for the tangent, but we went to Jama Masjid and they were preparing for the worship services, since today is the Sabbath Day for Muslims, Friday. Rugs were being laid out for prayers all over the courtyard which can fit up to 25,000 devotees. Being there reminded me of when I came here almost 7 years ago with the girls and Nate. There were tons of men gawking at the girls and wanting to take their pictures,...nice to be with Sam. Only had a couple people want to take their picture with him :) When we left I was reminded of all the sales people and how aggressive they were and how the guy selling whips followed us into our van and was so persistent Kendall had yelled from the back of the bus "SHUT THE DOOR!" We all broke out into laughter because she had just met her max... the guy walked off the bus. So funny. We took a rickshaw around the quarter and through the narrow streets where it's hard to believe that there are rickshaws since it bottle necks and there are oxen and men pulling carts and tons of people. It was interesting, we had done this years ago too and Delhi just seemed different. It didn't seem as crazy as before, it was definitely cleaner and there weren't as many beggars on the road or sales people for that matter. It was interesting. It definitely has changed, Almost like how not going to NYC for about 7 years from high school until about 7 years later and how much had changed until Giuliani and it felt safer, quieter and cleaner. Apparently Delhi has been working on it and it shows, and also we just came from Varanasi which is wild and noisy and dirty and packed with beggars and people- but also so amazing too.
We then took a drive down Embassy road and through the British built streets to the President's Palace. There were wide and well maintained and covered in flowers. The President's Palace was where the British Viceroy ruled India. It is right up there in size with Buckingham Palace. They had the political offices there for the government there too. It was built in the early 1900s and it actually feels like the layout of Washington DC with parks and reflective pools between the India Gate and the President's Palace. It is similar to DC area between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. Lots of people playing on the fields and kids playing cricket; DC you find people playing Ultimate frisbee in the summer.
We made our way through town to the site where Ghandi was cremated and where hundreds of thousands gathered spontaneously when he died, if not millions. This is called the Raj Ghat, it used to be a spot along the Yamuna River and the main cremation spot in Delhi. It is now a large park which surrounds the marble block that marks the site of Ghandi's cremation. There inscribed on the stone were his last words which is God, forgive him. This was uttered in response to the man that shot him. He died with the words on his lips being true to the man he was. At the entrance to this site there is a stone carving of one of his sayings which to me meant what steps we take think how they will impact just you, but how will they impact others and those that are the "least of these". It reminds me of what I am also taught in the scriptures in Matthew 25:40 "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me"
We then headed to Ghandi's home in Delhi. This was actually the home of a friend who he stayed with and had a couple of rooms to himself. He would hold his meetings here and then would go to a large grassy courtyard which was open to anyone, with no security since he felt that God would not let him leave this earth until it was his time. After holding a meeting in the room beside his bedroom he exited and walked to the courtyard where over 500 people were there to meditate and greet him. A man came to him and as he bowed to him he pulled a revolver and shot him in the chest, in the shape of a V. The last words that Ghandi offered were "God, forgive him". Again this reminds me of our Savior Jesus Christ who as he was hung on the cross to die offered the words " Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do." Ghandi was a great man. He embraced truth, and understood the same truth that so many religions hold including my own which is we are all created equal, we are all God's children. We are more alike than we are different. We are to love one another, love those that hate and despitefully use us and here in his last utterance he embraced that truth offering forgiveness to the man that took his life.
The museum shows his last footsteps that went up the path to the small covered area where a small stone sits marking the spot of his death. We walked around the courtyard clockwise in respect of him. We then went inside the home and and there were hundreds of displays about his life, his works. I learned about the Salt march. He was against the government putting such high taxes on salt and began a 241 mile march which he completed in 24 days in resistance to this unfair tax put on by the British. He began with 79 people and ended with over 5,000,000 people.
Another thing that stood out to me was the photos and descriptions of him burning their English/Western clothes. He had embraced his white cotton cloth by that point and recognized that more and more Indians were going without jobs and weavers where loosing jobs to British and he encouraged people to go back to their traditional dress and buy cloth and garments from their people. "Shop local". People began to go back to traditional dress as a symbol of national unity and pride and gave jobs back to the locals- how smart was that?!
He held many fasts to, he would stop eating until a situation was resolved. This helped to bring about the cause he had led the charge on which was getting ride of the discrimination of the Caste System. Hinduism actually propagated the idea of castes and there are 4 of them. The government also encouraged this along with dividing up by religion- moving Muslims to the north- which later became Pakistan= divide and conquer. But through Ghandi's fast and other pressures there was a law put in by the British that stopped the legal discrimination by caste. There is a video in the upstairs of the museum which shows Ghandi's eyes as he reads different news headlines. Here is reading the article and his eyes begin to water and you can see his love for his people, for all people and his heart pouring from his eyes. I cried as I could feel his love and relief even as I sat and watched a film of his eyes. Truly windows to the soul. At this interactive display you could press several different headlines that he read and then showed his eyes and expression. One was when in the paper it announced India's independence and freedom being granted to India and his eyes and eyebrows keep bulging and rising with excitement. The upstairs of this museum was incredible and contemporary and interactive. I would have had no idea and almost debated about going upstairs and we could have spent 2 hours up there with all the interactive and fascinating displays of Ghandi's life. I highly recommend this and is one of my favorite museums anywhere.
Thanks to the hotel packing our car with drinks and snacks we still had energy to keep going. We made our way to Humayan's Tomb- tomb of a mughul that was built by his wife. This tomb is what the later mughul who built the Taj Mahal modeled the Taj after. It is a lovely symetrical building and the spaces inside the tomb are in the shape of a star with stone lattice corners. We explored this for a bit and then were ready for some lunch.
Lunch was at a local Indian restaurant and after our sampler the night before I knew more about what I could order and what was too spicy or not too spicy. I had a delicious meal of fish with mint sauce and some of their saffron rice. With some energy in us we made our way to a section of town that sells handicrafts. There I was able to purchase a couple of gifts which I have been meaning to get and Sam secured a metal painted bird, after some bargaining and the help of our guide working the price down. This parrot is perfect, since this trip all Sam has talked about is getting a bird when he gets back and which parrot to get and which color and what they are like and how he will train it. As much as I am not an animal person, there is no way I can't get Sam a pet and most likely this parrot when we get back. He loves animals. That has become perfectly clear on this trip and I don't doubt that one day he will open a bird park if he has the same passion for it as he does now :)
We got back to the hotel around 7 p.m. It as a busy day. We were tired and cleaned up and bathed before heading to dinner. After dinner, so darn tired we just went straight to bed. Tomorrow Sam would have school with April and get some more work to do before we board the train tomorrow night. Great day in Delhi.
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