7-29-2011 Continuation of Arrival in Delhi

After we crossed the street (quite a big deal in and of itself), we went to our right. We quickly found that the night scene in this part of Delhi was somewhat beyond our comprehension. We thought we had become quite familiar with the energetic flow of street life in Indian. However, Troy had warned that India after dark can be a little more challenging for the westerner. In particular, considering the vast number of people in the country, with 16,000,000 at minimum in Delhi alone, you have to figure that even at normal percentages there are going to be a large number of people with mental issues and people who are simply starving.
     The people who have a place to go at night go there. The ones who don't have a place to go stay out around the streets. As such, these 'street people' become that much more noticeable and influential on the vibe of the street.
    We learned this when we waded further into the mix early on that Friday night. There was the woman, laughing while her two year old crawls around naked on the filthy ground while another toddler huddled nearby. There were the polio victims strewn around the sidewalk areas. There were the dogs running and scrapping with each other. There were the men, stalking us as we walked along but backing down quickly when we let him know in no uncertain terms that we had nothing for him.
     There were not any cows. Perhaps they cannot survive in that environment. The absence of cows adds to the strangeness of the vibe. One of the surprises of the trip was how quickly we got used to the cows roaming seemingly everywhere, often lounging in the middle of a busy highway. The cows were invariably healthy and well cared for and always carried the serene look of an animal that is said to be sacred.
     But there were no cows in the Connaught Circle area of Delhi. We saw a large well lit building that appeared to contain a number of stalls with small businesses. We decided to check it out and saw that the stalls were filled with tailors. Upon closer inspection we realized that the tailors in every stall were manufacturing one singular product: custom blue jeans. Blue jeans are a big deal for the young 'hip' kids over here. There were probably at least 50 separate stalls of guys making blue jeans. 
     We hesitated to leave the relative safety of the blue Jean stalls for the street but we decided to do so anyway. We took a left and went into a broad plaza filled with people. Some were selling things and others seemed to simply be living in destitution, hoping for some food or a handout. We are also approached by young men trying to direct us to various places to sell us something we don't need. We come upon a bazaar and purchase a tassel. But it is apparent that this overall scene is one we need to make our way out of. 
     As we head back to the hotel, we decided to take one more foray down another street. On this street we were approached every few feet by guys selling sunglasses or what looked like some sort of packaged clothing item.
     We decided to earnestly make it back to our hotel and have some drinks and dinner. We had a couple of intersections to cross. This was a challenge as there was construction everywhere and not safety barricades or directions as to where to go.
    Before getting to the intersection, we saw a polio victim, probably 49 years old, his body covered only by a loin cloth. His lower body was in a squatting position, with a spine that was arched in an indescribable position and his face planted squarely in the concrete. He looked dead.
     Troy had warned us about the sad visage of the polio victims. Though polio is close to being eradicated in India, there are still many polio victims, most over the age of 15 and many are apparently outcast. They are not provided with wheelchairs or given any method of getting around. As such, you often see them essentially walking on their hands, also using their hands to pick up their shriveled legs and drag them one at a time behind them. We saw a woman with her lower body on a cart with wheels dragging herself along the ground with her hands. She had two small children. We could only imagine that she was raped or perhaps married and dumped as soon as she had children.
    Meanwhile, we made our way across the first intersection no problem. At the second intersection, the traffic was flowing while the pedestrians tried to make their way in between the various cars, auto rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles and scooters that were flowing through. On the other side lay an obstacle course through the construction site poorly lit with bricks scattered about, holes everywhere and various objects sticking up from the ground. Fariba was trying to get across as quickly as she could and I was urging her on because there were street people actually grabbing my arms as I crossed the intersection, trying to get my attention to give them some money.
     Thankfully, we made it across! We began to hoof it around the circle to our hotel. We stopped at a tailor shop to try to haggle a suit for Troy. We weren't able to make a deal.
    We quickly entered our hotel, going through the metal detector and getting lightly frisked by the guard. Fariba and Troy had a well deserved drink, at the bar while i enjoyed a sweet lassi. We sat and recounted the intensity ofthe Delhi streets. We had been out on the street only an hour. We all came to the conclusion that this initial Delhi experience would be a difficult time for anyone from a western country, particularly from America. Nevertheless, we tried to keep an open mind as the dusty streets an alleys of Old Delhi were our planned destination for Saturday.