Jama Masjid, Chandni Chowk, and Movies

This past Monday was yet again a holiday at Akshardham - and quite a respite, to be sure, from the 34,000 people that flooded Akshardham the day before. That's not to say the day didn't begin early. Since it was officially the New Year's Day, the morning began with a mahapuja (large/great worship ceremony) at 7:00 AM sharp. The puja lasted an hour, after which Saurabh (who volunteers at Akshardham on Saturday and Sunday) and I decided to head out for a bit of Delhi sightseeing. As we were going to visit the Lotus Temple, Mr. Kiran Wadhwana said he'd give us a ride. We accepted, but didn't realize the ride included lunch at his house - not that we mind home-cooked meals.

Needless to say, lunch was delicious, but the Lotus Temple was closed on Monday. So Saurabh and I headed for the nearest Metro stop to hitch a ride to Chandni Chowk. That stop happened to be at Connaught Place -Delhi's Concentric-ringed market. Nearby was the Jantar Mantar, an old astronomical observatory with an oversized sundial. Entry for tourists was Rs. 150/-, and believe me, this place was TOTALLY not worth it. Especially since they charged another Rs. 100/- to bring in a camera. Luckily, my Nikon hid well in my pocket and I brought it in. Not that it would have been worth the effort. The place was so ridiculously boring, I didn't even take any pictures. We spent about 5 minutes before decided our Rs. 20/- for entry was a waste and left. On the way out, I overheard a tourist say, "Man, after Akshardham, everywhere else seems like a total rip-off!" Damn straight.

A quick jaunt on Delhi's suprisingly clean, efficient, yet obviously crowded metro brought us to Chandni Chowk. Chandni Chowk is a very large, very crowded market in a predominantly-Muslim section of New Delhi. Access by road is near next to impossible because of the traffic, and getting there on foot requires a walk through lots of stall-filled back alleys. We quickly realized why vehicles in Chandni Chowk are an absolute joke because we walked the entire length of the market (1 Km) before most cars had managed to move 20 feet. We didn't spend much time in the shops, though - we were headed to Delhi's largest Mosque - the Jama Masjid.

Like an idiot, I had decided to wear shorts and had to enter the Masjid wearing a lungi, or wrap-skirt. Oh well. I had brought my small Nikon and had hidden it in my pocket. And like an idiot, Saurabh, after seeing the camera at Jantar Mantar, when asked if either of us had cameras, pointed to my pocket and said, he's got one in his pocket, causing me to have to part with Rs. 200/-. So I took pictures. Unfortunately, the Masjid, though old and quite large, wasn't photogenic enough to get Rs. 200/- worth of good pictures.

Our backside exit from the mosque took us through a mosquito-infested streetmarket that had Saurabh and I praying to avoid the Dengue plague rampaging through Delhi. We ended up on a side road and walked about 10 minutes back to the Metro stop at Chandni Chowk, and hopped back onto the metro to Connaught Place - the large concentric-ring market. We found a Costa Coffee shop and stopped for a cup. Mine cost Rs. 75/-, which was pretty cheap in dollar terms ($1.50) considering the size of the smoothie I ordered, but considering that Saurabh only makes Rs. 300,000/- per year, a Rs. 75/- cup of coffee seems pretty damn expensive.

We were quickly running out of daylight and options, so we decided to kill 3 hours by watching a Hindi movie. Now if you know me, you know I can't stand these movies, but I will say that Lage Raho Munnabhai is actually a good movie. Long, but good. I find it ironic though that Sanjay Dutt plays a gangster who engages in good acts (called Gandhigiri in the movie), while in real-life, he is a known philanthropist who is currently on trial for co-conspiring in the 1993 bomb blasts in Mumbai. The theater itself was a whole another story. It was a drama-theater that had been converted into a movie-theater. Sound was stereo, and came from two horribly undersized speakers all the way in the front of the theater, while the crowd sat in the back in the balcony. For you Houstonians, think sitting in the upper deck of Jones Hall and watching a movie that is only half the width of the stage in front of you with the sound coming from computer speakers placed on the stage. Yeah. An experience, for sure. The respite was that afterward, the only place left open to get food that was edible (and wouldn't give me diarrhea) was the Domino's Pizza next door. I will say cheese has never tasted so good.

I think I'll go to the Tex-Mex Restaurant in Connaught Place next - I hear they've designed it like a barn.