Dave the Nomad

After saying goodbye to the EWB group at the Delhi airport, Sam and I rickshawed into the heart of Delhi for our first independent stay night of travel. We were planning to stay in an area near the New Delhi Rail Station known for cheap quasi-run-down places filled with backpackers. The main strip stood unwavering from the reviews as we tip-toed along the muddy road and did our best to avoid making eye contact with the vulture like shop owners and hustlers. We stayed in an eloquent hotel with only the random appearance of a mouse scuttling in between our belongings.

We had already seen some of the sights in Delhi during a day-trip with the EWB team including Qutb Minar and the Ba’hai Lotus Temple. Qutb Minar is an impressively large minaret built to signal the arrival of Islam in what is present-day India, and the Mughal Empire. Today it is a bit off the tourist path, but less hustle and more interested school groups happy to practice their English and make you feel like a politician shaking hands. The Lotus Temple is an impressive modern-day structure shaped like a semi-open Lotus blossom with serene pools and gardens around the base. We ended the day trip here with a stop at the famous India Institute of Technology (IIT) and a social gathering with the Industrial Design Group, and dinner at the home of a University of Hartford alumnus who treated us with fantastic hospitality and a delicious home-cooked meal.

Sam and I narrowly escaped scams as a latent past-time while on our own, and managed to peruse the random bazaars and visit Connaught Place. Outside of being hustled, seeing the reasons why this is a contender for the most polluted city in the world, there was little else which was enticing to us here. We managed to find a rotating restaurant near Connaught Place that offered a great view of the city and decently priced food before planning our exit strategy.

I had a friend from Case Medical School, Deepak who took us under his wing and helped us plan our trip onward over several meals and hanging out with friends. Deepak is currently working at a hospital on the west edge of Delhi, and it was great to catch up on life and relay information on friends at home and afar. Our plan was to take his personally recommended driver from Delhi to Agra, and onwards to Jaipur before sending him back to Delhi while we headed farther south. Deepak knew him well, made sure he understood our plans before leaving, and was always on-call for any potential problems.

Ashok, our driver, whisked us away from Delhi and off to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. We arrived after dark, and would have to wait until the morning to see the wonder that is the Taj. Our hotel had a great rooftop view, and we decided to find a reliable internet cafe for the night and enter the Taj early in the morning before the hoards of tourists arrived from Delhi. We weren’t quite ready to return to the hotel and attempted a walk around the city. As we started walking down several darker streets we heard the monkeys all around us, and they weren’t very happy. They were hollering, hooting, running around the power lines, and some even screaming from no distinct location as the sounds echoed around us. If you stared carefully you could pick them out hiding in window sills or crevices between steps and doors defensively holding their positions. For a brief moment I felt like I was in a bad zombie movie, and we both thought it would be best to return to the confines of the hotel. I suddenly understood why the whole upper part of the hotel was effectively caged in at night, and appreciated the no monkey business aspect.

We woke up around 7 am, stumbled up to the cafe on the roof and watched as the sky turned from blue to pink and more and more details revealed themselves on the magical Taj Mahal. There is a reason this place is so famous, and it was a bit surreal to being seeing it while eating a parantha (stuffed unleavened bread) and Chai for breakfast. Satisfied the morning sky was done revealing interesting colors, we headed out to pay the ridiculous entrance fee. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but India has different entrances fees for Indians and Foreigners; at the Taj we each payed 750 rupees (~15 USD), while the Indians paid only 20 rupees. You quickly get over this souring note walking along the sides of groomed lush gardens and reflecting pools. The Taj is certainly the center of attraction, but the red mosque to the left was also a nice visit as were the views onto the Yamuna River bordering the back edge of the beautiful mausoleum.

After the must visit, we checked out of our hotel, and had Ashok shimmy us through the tourist mayhem of the city including the Agra Fort, mini Taj Mahal, and Moon Gardens. After the in-your-face souvenir shopping, the gardens were a breath of fresh air, and a completely different perspective of the Taj. We sat on the far banks of the river looking across at the Taj from the shade of a pepper tree and enjoying the goats scavenging the almost dry river bed and occasional passing camel. The relaxing end to the day was a nice start to our 5 hour drive to Jaipur and the Rajasthan state.

My flight from Istanbul was uneventful. It was nighttime, and futile to try and look at the Middle East below me. I instead delved into several of the on-board movies to choose from, and next thing I knew we were landing. I arrived around 4 am local time, as such, customs was a breeze and I got a pre-paid taxi and headed off to an a pre-arranged guesthouse to sleep for a bit before being taken out to the village the next day.

The taxi ride was a great introduction to driving in India. We dodged through traffic, blockades, cows, and bicycles. It was a very foggy morning, and shadowed figures would emerge from the side of the road only to vanish as quickly as they appeared. The occasional speed bump slowed us down, and it was only after five minutes of swerving I was confident they indeed drove on the left side of the street. The cab driver had no idea where to bring me, and was annoyed I wouldn’t let him drop me off at a well known four star hotel. After asking directions about 6 or7 times we agreed to have a local show us in return for a lift. I arrived at a guarded guest house, where they whisked my bags away and said goodnight.

After a hearty breakfast, a cab was arranged to bring me to the small village of Abheypur. This sounds like an easy task, but it took them almost two hours to figure it out. The ride was a cacophony of action, unlike the side of a typical American / European road, the action is multi-leveled. To start, take the number of lanes marked on the pavement, and double it, that is the approximate number of lanes of traffic there actually is, and rules on passing are as simple as don’t get hit. Immediately off the main flow is the make-shift parking lot of auto rickshaws, mopeds, motorcycles, and the occasional cow. The next section consistently has groups of men huddled around completely some type of action, hammering out a dent, moving bricks, and avoiding the direct sunlight as needed. Lastly, there is the ring of garbage, and heaps of random materials unneeded and allowed to amass with the random scavenging dog, cow, and or pig sifting it as a hopeful past-time. It is only then you get to the action of the street vendor selling food in front of a store, the moving of people, and what you typically would see driving around. For the first half of the trip, it was this type of sensory overload that filled my vision and with time fields slowly replacing shops. In time we were back to the same protocol of stopping at each intersection to see which way it was to the village. After a half hour of driving around a rural area doing this, we were in a small village of sorts backed up by an extra muddy street. As I looked at the car in front of me, I saw it was filled with Caucasian people; a rarity since arriving. I deduced we were close, and we followed the other car for another ten minutes and arrived at the schoolyard in Abheypur.

The village is sparse, and definitely a place in need of this help. The street is at times filled with a watery concoction, and the open drainage ways thick with film. Cow patties are strewn around drying, and eventually stacked neatly to be used as fuel. Buffalo are tied up inside courtyards, or along the edge of the street, and the pace of life is sluggish. The village is divided more or less into sections, with farmers holding better land, and an area named as the “Potter’s Village,” where more impoverished villagers lived. The village is built at the base of some hills overlooking a vast plain of fields. This area is referred to as the bread belt of India, with the main crops being wheat and mustard. The hills above the village are grazed by goats and cows, and offer a great view of the surrounding countryside. Peacocks run wild around the area, and would invade the schoolyard when possible. In the mornings, the monkeys would come over to scope out the action, and if possible steal some villager’s food.

Dave Pines, the Profesor in charge of the University of Hartford EWB Chapter introduced me to the team, and showed me what the team has completed on past projects. This includes a solar powered well, storage tanks, and a pipeline with more storage tanks to a nearby section of the village, and the current project creating a rain water harvesting and filtration system. In addition to the engineering project, a group from the art school had joined them to paint a mural to help teach the girls about sharing, respecting water, cleanliness, and using dustbins. After hanging out with the team for the afternoon, helping as much as I could, and playing with the kids after school who insisted on having just “one photo” taken of them, we piled into the mini-bus and van to head to a local school boarding school, Pathways, where we were graciously being hosted.

Pathways World School is an international school located about an hour from Abheypur. They recently prided themselves on having six students selected as guests to the US Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama. The school was a complete change from the village, immaculate expansive campus, with cafeteria, and homey dorm rooms. It was comforting, and relaxing. At the same point it was bizarre. Although I was in India, I was back in the company of Americans; many of whom have never traveled outside of the US before, and I had flashbacks of being back in the US. It was an odd feeling, but not an unpleasant one, everyone has been welcoming and inclusive, and I’m glad they have allowed me to join them.