White Privilege

June 13 and 14 Weekend in Delhi

Still recovering from the Delhi diet, so we took it easy on Saturday. Stayed in the apartment most of the morning avoiding the heat and soaking up air conditioning. In the afternoon a big windstorm kicked up and then there was a torrential rainstorm. It is the beginning of monsoon season, which is created by the height of the Himalayas. Although the storm lasted about an hour, it had the effect of lowering the temperature by about 25 degrees, thereby taking the temperature under 100 degrees during the daylight hours for the first time during our visit.

I took the opportunity to bake some chocolate chip cookies.

After the storm concluded we went down to the larger local market for some haircuts. The salon was modern and western looking. There were at least twelve barbers available with only a few chairs occupied. It was quite a production. First we were wrapped in hot towels. Then our hair was washed. Finally the cutting began. First there was lots of scissors work and then the straight edge razor.  When the haircut was completed, the barber left and a masseuse replaced him. He gave me a full upper body massage. Starting with the scalp.

Then did some food shopping at a grocery store that caters to expats and affluent Indians. No more cheap food. Even the fruits and vegetables were generally 50% higher than the markets I had visited. Lots of American brands that were expensive by US standards – Hershey’s chocolate syrup was $8; Skippy peanut butter, small jar, was $7; and Kellogg’s cereals were $3 to $4 more than in the US.

The highlight of the day was dinner at the house of a Punjabi couple who are friends of my son. They are late “20-somethings” and recently married. (He said the marriage was only a two-day affair with 800 people, most of whom they did not know. It supposedly was an orgy of eating and drinking to the point of drunkenness.) He was trained and worked in London and now owns an IT business that employs about 15 people. She is in marketing for a trade magazine. We cabbed to their house seemingly a long way across town. It was a nondescript building on a middling block, but the house was very nice on the inside.

My son had brought some whiskey that our host coveted, but was unable to obtain in India, so we started out with that and then were served several tasty Punjabi hors d’oeuvres. The meal was several home cooked Punjabi dishes, including a lentil soup, all of which were very good and which I over-indulged in with negative consequences later in the evening. They even served ice cream with mangos and chocolate syrup for dessert having learned of my son’s liking of that. He and I were the primary contributors to consuming almost two bricks of ice cream.

Three generations live in the house. Our host’s father lived in one area upstairs, the host had another floor and the host’s brother and his family on yet another floor. They shared the first floor common area.

The conversation was very interesting, ranging from US/India relations to the merits of various whiskeys. My son met them at a scuba diving resort at which the instruction was of varying quality, and thus, varying results and enjoyment. 

However for me, perhaps the most useful takeaway was the lesson from the host on how to use the water utensil at the toilet. He explained that it was commonly used by Indians in lieu of toilet paper. I am still getting used to it, but it is very effective and in India one dries off cleanly and quickly.  It was a very nice evening.

On Sunday my son and I went out early after another rainstorm, first to the National Rail Museum and then to Nehru Park. The temperature was almost mild and we had a nice walk and talk.

The Rail Museum had lots of old rail stock and engines from many Indian railroads. Very few of the pieces were made in America or by American companies. There was a good sized child’s (although I saw many adults riding it} railroad that brought back memories of Travel Town in LA.

Nehru Park was very nice and peaceful. There were a few joggers out, so we largely had the park to ourselves. There was a large statue of Lenin in the Park. There are probably not too many of them left, but it is a testament to India’s long period as a socialist economy.

In the afternoon Karen and I went by auto rickshaw to the Bahai Temple in South Delhi. We arrived to find a line that stretched forever, was moving very slowly and I felt that even if we wanted to wait in the heat, we would not get in by closing time. Our driver just motioned us to go in at the head of the line. We got out looking for a foreigner’s entrance. Not finding one we turned to leave. Another driver approached us and offered to take us to another temple that we had already visited. He then stood on the rope and motioned for us to cut into the line. We did (after some protest) and no one objected. I do not know if it was Indian hospitality or white privilege, but we were in within 15 minutes.

The temple grounds are beautifully maintained. The temple is shaped like a giant lotus flower. The first temple that we saw in India which had seats, there was strict emphasis on silence and mediation inside. It was a very peaceful experience.

We then went to the Imperial Hotel, but not without some detours. The auto rickshaw driver mentioned something about advertisements and I said no shopping. He took us to a store. We walked through that for about 10 minutes and I told him no more shopping. He said no problem, but took us to another store. At that point I told him that unless he took us to the Hotel, I was going to get out of his vehicle and take another vehicle. He glumly pushed the vehicle out and we road in silence to the hotel area. He could not find the hotel and kept asking us if we were there when we came to a big hotel. He probably could not read. We finally got there.

On the way there we drove past the park area surrounding India Gate. There was a major traffic jam caused by pedestrians in the street. The scene looked like something from Jones Beach (a popular beach on southern Long Island) on July 4^th weekend. It was wall-to-wall people. On Sundays it appears that the Delhi population turns out in force at public areas regardless of the heat.

 The Imperial Hotel was probably the premier hotel from the late stages of the British rule. I can only describe it as sumptuous. Perfectly maintained with lots of staff in elegant uniforms; it was an experience just walking through it. We had dinner there at one of the restaurants, Daniel’s Tavern. I ate light, not wishing to replicate the prior night’s experience. The food was good, the service, music and surroundings impeccable, and the Indian ice cream very flavorful.

Home by taxi from a very nice day.