Breaking news: sari donned!

Ok, it took about 40 minutes of watching youtube tutorials plus the in person instruction of an Indian friend, but I finally figured out how to put on a sari.

I'm so pleased with my accomplishment that I may insist on wearing saris to all formal events (in India or States-side) from here on out. Because wearing a sari indicates not only that you are an elegant, put-together woman--but also that you are a person of enough determination and ingenuity to figure out out how to get the damn thing on.

Also, as a fashion bonus for my faithful readers--this is what I and my Italian friend would like like as Maharajan princes.

Shahpur Jat

The neighborhood right next to mine is called Shahpur Jat and it is one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city because it is this bizarre mix of local working class shops  tucked into miniscule niches along the alleyways and really upscale boutiques and cafes. What's particularly interesting about Shahpur Jat, actually, is that the local shops and restaurants are not like, part of the charm attracting upscale places to the neighborhood (you know, like how NYC;s meat-packing district capitalized on the neighborhood's former grittiness to entice people into its $20 cocktail clubs); rather the grittiness here exists side-by-side and competes with with the upscale stuff.

(As a side note, I also like Shahpur Jat because I think it has the best collection of doorways in the city--several of which have already been pictured on this blog).

So, for example, this is what a normal street in Shahpur Jat looks like:

However, if you turn down the wrong alleyway, you get to this:

The first picture above was taken looking down the alleyway. The second picture above was taken looking up from the alleyway so you can see just how close these houses are built together. Now, even though it's broad daylight at the time these pictures were taken there is literally NO light illuminating some of the Shahpur Jat streets because of how closely things are packed together.

Don't believe me? The below picture was taken about 20 second later than the above two. See, broad daylight:

Now if you were to walk say 30 seconds from where I took those dark pictures you would stumble across a slew of high end fashion boutiques and quirky home goods stores like these:

 [This one has a tea shop in the back!]

And, if you were to keep walking another 45 seconds you would come across several delightfully relaxed cafes with well designed outdoor decks and fancy looking coffee drinks like the below.

Other features of Shahpur Jat include a tremendous amount of progressive street art and it appears to be the center of India's dyeing industry (like, color dyeing--I'm not trying to suggest its filled with old age homes or something. As you walk down the streets every other nook is filled by some guy dipping a big swatch of fabric into boiling dye. (Sorry, I don't have any pictures of this)

So, there you have it. Shahpur Jat--one of my favorite and most enigmatic neighborhoods in Delhi.

Humayun's Tomb

Now that the weather is a bit cooler (i.e., between 90-95 degrees during the day) I've decided I need to start properly seeing the fine sites of Delhi. You know, it's funny--I've heard that ALOT of people don't like Delhi (earning it the moniker "Helli" amongst the uninformed) but actually it has some of the most amazing sites I've ever seen put together in one city. The Mughal legacy alone pervades and beautifies the city. 

Example No. 1: Humayun's Tomb, built in 1572--without a doubt one of the most amazing city-site I've seen.  It is comprised of an enormous central tomb building, lovely surrounding gardens, and many other minor tombs scattered throughout the grounds. The site itself actually has an interesting history--built first for the Mughal emporer Humayun by his grieving (or show-offy) widow, it eventually became a pleasure ground (and even vegetable garden) for the British, before being occupied by Muslim refugees during partition.

The massive Tomb is said to be inspiration for the Taj Mahal the buildings are very similar in their grandeur and grace. No doubt the Taj Mahal simply shines in its white stone majesty and does deserve its place as wonder of the world. But I actually found Humayun's Tomb to be a much more pleasurable experience as a tourist because the amount of hassle involved in visiting the Taj Majal is extraordinary, where as visiting Humayun's Tomb--easily accessible in the heart of Delhi and surprisingly barren of touts and would-be-guides--is a relaxed and chilled out event. The Tomb itself is not nearly as crowded as you think it would be considering how incredible it is; at times it even felt like I had certain views and vistas all to myself.

I've put a couple of my favorite photos below. I know, I know--you guys must be sick of seeing this incredible Mughal architecture by now and I have to admit that even I am beginning to have a bit of Tomb-fatigue (quite similar to the cathedral-fatigue frequent visitors to Europe may suffer). But, just standing in the presence of these incredible works of art, feeling the play of latticed shadow and light, hearing the stillness of the tomb rooms themselves--well, it's still quite a moving experience.

Large things on bicycles.

Bicycle rickshaw pullers seem to do the majority of shlepping in this city and I am constantly impressed by the things I see loaded on to their carts. Unfortunately it's not to easy to get pictures of these guys since they go by so fast, but here are just a few loaded down carts I've seen last weekend.

Sari

A few months ago my friend's mom gave me a colorful "daily-wear" sari as a present. I have a beautiful and quite expensive sari which I bought 4 years ago when I was traveling around India which I have never worn because well, I have nowhere to wear it.

So, I decided to get my new "daily wear" sari stitched* because I figured I could use it as a kind of practice sari--something I can just wear out on the town to get used to the feeling of wearing a sari before I don my splendid, expensive one.**

My brilliant plan just had one error. I cannot figure out how to put the damn thing on. No, seriously, I've spend about a half hour watching youtube tutorials and still look like a teenage giraffe trying attempting to roll myself into a burrito.

Don't believe me? See for yourself. I filmed myself so I could see what was actually happening and what the finished look was (I don't have a full-length mirror here). The results are, well, ugly. 

* When you buy a sari it comes as one long piece of fabric, so in order to actually wear the sari you need to take it to the tailor to get "stiched." Basically this entails the tailor cutting the material for the sari blouse out of the long fabric and then tailoring the blouse to you and hemming up the ends of the cloth.
** Someone needs to invite me to an Indian wedding so I actually have a place to wear my nice sari, OK? Please inform all of your recently affianced Indian friends that there is a party-goer ready to attend, at no fee! (I say no fee because, actually, one of the jobs in the category of Shit White Girls Can Do in India, is get paid to attend weddings. You know, white skin and blond hair--we class up the joint! Make all of your friend's think you're sophisticated and rich!)

Seen in Delhi

Oh, just some random things I've seen on my meanders about the city.

Baby Shiva, chillaxing.

 In case anyone was wondering, this is what a Mughal lord would have looked like. 

 Stillshot from the fake flower market.

 I'm beginning to realize there may be nothing that Delhites like more than bling.

 Delhi is a very urban and cosmopolitan city, but everynow and then I run into someone like the above, just hanging out on the streets.

Nobody knew how to play with light and darkness better than Mughal architects.

Popcorn

There is nothing in life that I do better than make popcorn--it is my finest skill. Of course, I'm not talking about microwave popcorn, which any fool can do, but rather the fine art of popping the kernels from scratch in a well-seasoned pot and salting just so with my array of gourmet salts. Popcorn is my number one comfort food and, in fact, when The Boyfriend came to visit he once again showed his undying devotion and firm grasp of my character my schlepping along my favorite brand of popcorn kernel so I could have a little taste of home in Delhi.

I am a popcorn lover, connoisseur and critic.

So, you can imagine how my interest was piqued when a couple of weeks ago I noticed popcorn venders popping up all over Delhi. (Pun totally intended!) The fact that these guys weren't around until recently was particularly exciting to me because it meant that popcorn is a seasonal food here!

Ok, sadly the above isn't the greatest picture, but you can kind of see what's going on here. To the left on his popcorn cart the vendor has bags of kernels (and nuts), that sort of whitish uimp you see on the right hand side of the cart is the fresh popcorn ready for sale and that big wok you see hanging off the far right hand of his cart is where the popcorn is being popped. (It's seated on an metal cylinder with fire inside)

What's not pictured here is how these guys season the popcorn. Basically, at the bottom of the cast-iron wok there is a seasoning mix of salt, masala, ashes, who knows what else. Each popcorn vender has a kind of big flat sifter-scooper thing which he uses to scoop up the seasoning which has gathered on the bottom and sprinkle it over the popcorn.(This also allows him to pick up heaps of popcorn and dump it on the cart).

 I was entranced. I had to have some! So I bought myself a bag (for $20). As you can see pictured below, the popcorn is served in a make-shift bag from newspaper.

The verdict? Needs more salt.