Monday, Nov. 24

Gorgeous weather here – cool and sunny, clearest air we’ve seen so far (let me define that: a little less haze than a month ago). So we headed outdoors to Lodi Gardens, a huge park in Delhi. Apparently it’s a hotspot for political bigwigs, accompanied by bodyguards, but we didn’t seen any of those (or their security was awfully subtle). We did see joggers, bikers, lots of young couples, a whole lot of birds and chipmunks, flowers and trees.

We checked out the 15th century tombs (Sayyid and Lodi dynasties) of Delhi’s last sultans (some still feature the original turquoise tilework and calligraphy). The Tomb of Muhammad Shah (r. 1434 – 44), the third ruler of the Sayyid dynasty, is said to be the oldest in the garden.

At the South End is a lovely stone bridge called Athpula (wich means eight piers), built in the 17th century.

We crisscrossed our way through the Gardens and exited a completely different spot from where we started! At that point we let Roop find us. And I let him track down a new phone charger for me, he was convinced I’d be gouged at the market given my foreign status. Probably true.

Note: this past weekend there were 10,000 weddings in the Delhi area! 10,000!!! There will be two more particularly wedding-packed weekends in Dec., according to the paper. One woman interviewed in a recent article about the wedding season (which Roop says is between Nov. and Feb.) said she plans to attend 25 this year! We've heard lots of fireworks and spied all kinds of party tents, decorated carriages, etc. around town.