In the morning Vidushi brings me to the foreigners’ registration office. There is a thin smog over Delhi and later on I get to know from the news that some flights to and from Delhi have been delayed due to that. I get more introduced to the traffic in the daytime. Amusing to observe, dangerous to participate. The road is very busy, but no one is stuck. Hell lots of auto- and velo-rikshaws, cars, bikes, buses etc keep moving, finding their ways to get through. This is a major difference from traffic jams at home where people would just get stuck in their cars (and nothing but cars!), they turn off engines and just start doing their stuff – be on mobile etc. before the traffic gets ok again.
The registration procedures go smooth. Just like home you are supposed to run from one table to another, to tell the same stuff, jump the queue. They would ask you to show some weird docs you have even no clue about. You would tell them you do not have that, but have that. And it all would go. Takes time and lots of patience, but nothing extraordinary. Feels home.
It is also not that summer as I thought. To assume India is always warm is as smart as think of Russia being always cold. It’s quite windy here in Delhi, about 10 C in daytime. Even me… never freezing girl from Russia who ran around in a short-sleeve t-shirt yesterday had to put on a woolen pullover on my kameez today.
Afterwards Vidishu brings me to the AIESECers meeting where the new board members are announced. She is getting a vice-president title (I wonder how it could have been otherwise for such an active girl) and along with the other lucky guys she gets some water poured on her head. Ceremony of initialization. I get to socialize with other AIESECers – very progressive young people (mainly on their 1st and 2nd years at university), traveled around, internationally aware.
I am passed over to Jasmir and Anjali, another AESECers. We go by Anjali’s car: her parents say that security is above all, so she’s got a car and a driver. The girls bring me to Kashmir Food Festival at Delhi Heart. The latter is essentially a venue to hold events such as that one – a fair with handcrafts and food from different regions of India being presented. We had some food. I took talhi – roti (bread) with various dalhs and curries – sauces-like liquids, pickles. The point of thali is to tear small pieces of bread and deep it in the sauces. Hands are to be used… hei, not at an open-air café, not by me, a hygiene freak. I am managing with a tissue and the girls laugh. They say it is a new experience for them as well - to watch how one does that this way. I tell them I am happy they also see something new. We proceed to shopping and scroll down the stalls. True paradise for Indian souvenir-hunters. Kashmir shawls, leather sabo-like shoes, kameez, jewelry, textiles, leather bags, millions of handicrafts. Abunadnce of stuff… I am getting so many ideas of the presents to bring home!... and no idea how to go about the weigh of the luggage that is going to be super-extra then… one year ahead to think it over… actually, so much if this stuff you find in Europe, being so overpriced there as well. Bought a gorgeous par of ear-rings for as mush as 60 baks (this is how they call rupees here) – about 1.2 USD. I would not dream of such a deal anywhere else… my ear rings collection would rock!...
Indian English (Hinglish) is something to get used to. Both in terms of the vocabulary and the manner of speaking. They speak very smooth and fast here. Words just flow one from another. Sometimes I do not understand whether they speak English or Hindi because they switch constantly and they speak both languages in the same smooth manner. Sometimes, it seesms to me I hear Norwegian words. All in all, time is needed to get used.
Got home after the fair and felt completely exhausted. After being so hyperactive, I finally felt the jet-lag is there. My nap turned into 3-4 hours of sleeping. Given some attention, some food afterwards I got to my computer after…
i re-read the post... words feel too bare to describe what I’ve seen….
The registration procedures go smooth. Just like home you are supposed to run from one table to another, to tell the same stuff, jump the queue. They would ask you to show some weird docs you have even no clue about. You would tell them you do not have that, but have that. And it all would go. Takes time and lots of patience, but nothing extraordinary. Feels home.
It is also not that summer as I thought. To assume India is always warm is as smart as think of Russia being always cold. It’s quite windy here in Delhi, about 10 C in daytime. Even me… never freezing girl from Russia who ran around in a short-sleeve t-shirt yesterday had to put on a woolen pullover on my kameez today.
Afterwards Vidishu brings me to the AIESECers meeting where the new board members are announced. She is getting a vice-president title (I wonder how it could have been otherwise for such an active girl) and along with the other lucky guys she gets some water poured on her head. Ceremony of initialization. I get to socialize with other AIESECers – very progressive young people (mainly on their 1st and 2nd years at university), traveled around, internationally aware.
I am passed over to Jasmir and Anjali, another AESECers. We go by Anjali’s car: her parents say that security is above all, so she’s got a car and a driver. The girls bring me to Kashmir Food Festival at Delhi Heart. The latter is essentially a venue to hold events such as that one – a fair with handcrafts and food from different regions of India being presented. We had some food. I took talhi – roti (bread) with various dalhs and curries – sauces-like liquids, pickles. The point of thali is to tear small pieces of bread and deep it in the sauces. Hands are to be used… hei, not at an open-air café, not by me, a hygiene freak. I am managing with a tissue and the girls laugh. They say it is a new experience for them as well - to watch how one does that this way. I tell them I am happy they also see something new. We proceed to shopping and scroll down the stalls. True paradise for Indian souvenir-hunters. Kashmir shawls, leather sabo-like shoes, kameez, jewelry, textiles, leather bags, millions of handicrafts. Abunadnce of stuff… I am getting so many ideas of the presents to bring home!... and no idea how to go about the weigh of the luggage that is going to be super-extra then… one year ahead to think it over… actually, so much if this stuff you find in Europe, being so overpriced there as well. Bought a gorgeous par of ear-rings for as mush as 60 baks (this is how they call rupees here) – about 1.2 USD. I would not dream of such a deal anywhere else… my ear rings collection would rock!...
Indian English (Hinglish) is something to get used to. Both in terms of the vocabulary and the manner of speaking. They speak very smooth and fast here. Words just flow one from another. Sometimes I do not understand whether they speak English or Hindi because they switch constantly and they speak both languages in the same smooth manner. Sometimes, it seesms to me I hear Norwegian words. All in all, time is needed to get used.
Got home after the fair and felt completely exhausted. After being so hyperactive, I finally felt the jet-lag is there. My nap turned into 3-4 hours of sleeping. Given some attention, some food afterwards I got to my computer after…
i re-read the post... words feel too bare to describe what I’ve seen….
posted by Olga Tikhonova | 1:43 am
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