Finding quiet in a noise polluted city

The past few days I've made it my goal to find places to 'escape the city' while still of course, being in the city. Traffic, noise, smells, smog and just plain trash can be a bit overwhelming at times (actually I won't lie, all the time) so after a week of arguing with rickshaw drivers and walking next to busy roads I made it my weekend goal to find a quite place in the bustling 14 million strong city. 

The original plan was to visit Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, but due to security reasons involving the recent bombing and the anniversary of 9/11, the group decided it was probably best to lay low in Delhi for the weekend. So Friday after classes ended (early, which was a pleasant surprise!) a group of us went on an adventure to Humayun's Tomb and to the Nizamuddin dargah. Humayun's Tomb was exactly the peaceful atmosphere we'd all been looking for.. immediately after walking onto the grounds the noise level decrease, pollution went to zero and there were large spans of open grassy area perfect to just walk around and get an escape from the city. Unfortunately, being white here has its drawbacks, and foreigners were charged 250 rupees to enter while Indians are only charged 10 rupees. Ridiculous markups, right?! Apparently that happens everywhere. It was totally worth the money though, the tomb and other surrrounding buildings within the kept site were beautiful. And I've really been in need of some anti-city time. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss being in the middle of nowhere! Being around so many people all the time is a bit overwhelming, so to have a little peace and quite was totally worth the extra rupees. 

Right around the corner from the tomb is the Nizamuddin dargah, probably the most famous dargah's in the world. For those of you that don't exactly know what I'm talking about (I had to look it up before going too) a dargah is a masoleum of a Sufi saint (a branch of the Muslim religion), and this one is the masoleum of Nizamuddin Aluiya. Surrounding the dargah is a very dense and winding path where many vendors are selling flowers, incense, and appropriate clothing to wear while inside. This enviornment could not have been more opposite from the Tomb! Loud, crowded, hot, and slightly uncomfortable, because non of us are practicing Muslims. But, our program director told us that twilight was the time to go, and so that's when we went. We conveniently showed up during the last namaz of the day (prayers), and got many looks for being a large group of white girls that looked like they were lost. Fortunately we all had our heads covered, so we really didn't run into any issues, I was just feeling a bit insensitive for not understanding what was going on while we were inside (the mixture of lack of knowledge of Sufi practices as well as the never-ending language barrier). Word to the wise: never wear a raincoat in India. I only say this because, as we were leaving the dargah a girl in our group pretty suddenly fell ill, unable to support herself and walk around. Being a group of students studying health issues we handled the situation perfectly well (got her eventually to the hospital to make sure everything was OK), but it was scary seeing how easily someone can become dehydrated and overwhelmed with everything going on. It really is never a dull day in India. 

Saturday I continued my search for the serene locations in Delhi, and went to the free (!!!) Lodi Gardens. I might have finally found a place to run outside (when its not 95 + humidity during they day...) and study/ relax in the afternoons. Great success! A group of us also escaped from the late mealtime and Indian cuisine and went to a local thai restaurant for dinner. When we got home around 9 we were informed that members of the family were coming over (including the groom-to-be) to do some wedding planning and hang out with the baby. The bustling flat reminded me of when my family members just stop over to our house, the only difference being that here people stop over around 10 PM, and at home my family comes over before 8 AM. Total time difference for sure! 

This week the group is travelling to Aligarh to get a look at the various levels of the Indian Health Care system. We're all going to get our first look at the real rural India, and I couldn't be more excited.