It's nearly impossible to integrate when you are clutching your belongings (most especially your child - teenage boys are keen to have their picture taken with her, but we'll only let them do it if one of us is in the photo), trying not to make eye contact, saying "no" to beggars and vendors who are most persuasive.
We've been taking our breakfast and dinners in the guest house. They are served by 3 house boys who are between the ages of 14-18. They rarely smile and almost never speak directly with us. They make the most light and delicious omelette I've ever tasted with coriander leaves and tomato. When we are eating, the boys crouch in the kitchen and drink tea or smoke bidis. Violet is aghast that the innkeeper "does nothing" and they do all the work. We told her that she's a manager, but I don't think she's exonerated in Violet's eyes.
Our next day, I went to work in the Gurgaon office - I'm not working right now, but this was an opportunity to meet my boss and peer managers. My boss' name is Gayatri, which means sun salutation. She is true to her name - refreshing in her straightforward style. I sat in on several meetings and learned quite a bit on my first day about the logistics of running a company across the globe. My driver in the morning was a Sikh that I fear may have TB. We've had him several times as our driver in Delhi. He coughs as he drives and sips cough syrup at stoplights.
Nick and Violet spent the day in Old Delhi - very exciting, but I'll let them recount it. We've spent the Christmas holiday in Agra - the site of the Taj Mahal. Nick insisted we take the train, and I may have never been more scared or uncomfortable as when we were waiting on the platform in Delhi. On the train, several children tried to jump on and stow away under our seats, but were caught. We were immediately put at ease by a young man named Ish who sat with us. He spoke beautiful English - so well that the other men in the car wouldn't speak English in our presence despite their obvious understanding. He worked in South Africa setting up 3G networks for Nokia and was beaming as he told us about his engagement. He bought us tea and made sure that we got off at the right train station.
If India is chaotic, then the train stations are pure havoc. We met a very persuasive, almost unsettlingly so, cab driver named Tahir who took us to our hotel and picked us up at 6:30 on Christmas morning to take us to the Taj. Tahir insisted he cared not for money but for honesty and trust. I've never felt so happy to be in the embraces of a western style hotel. We had beers in the bar, breakfast in the room, hot water to spare, and reliable Internet - all spotty at the guest house.
The Taj Mahal is daunting to get to because there are so many foreign tourists and activity all around. We saw camels, dogs copulating, bulls in the roundabout, monkeys on the walls. Once you walk through the gate, it's the most remarkable site of beauty and harmony you will ever see. Outside and inside the Taj are beautiful gem inlaid flower designs. After the Taj, we went to another site, the Red Fort, which was also spectacular. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was a king's palace, very well preserved. The white marble harem was truly a marvel with similar inlaid work, and beautiful views. You could walk around all of it and imagine that you were there. Finally, Tahir took us to a nice restaurant for lunch and we agreed to go to a rug store where we dropped a lot of dough. (Tahir was delighted, because he no doubt got a kickback). The rugs are hand knotted in the villages around Agra. They are made of Kashmir wools with beautiful, Indian inspired designs. Shipping is subsidized by the Indian government, because it is a dying art form. Our salesman was a class act. I pray we receive the rugs and this was not the biggest Christmas day scam ever. Tahir wanted to spend the evening with us, but we had to forcefully decline. Although we had a nice day, Tahir kept us waiting in the havoc of Agra quite a bit which made the experience harrowing.
Today, we return to Delhi for a couple of days. I'm insisting we skip the train and hire a car...
