Oh no, no, no. Turns out despite my instructions, we had got on the wrong road and had almost zoomed to the next town past Mehrauli. Needless to say, a few phonecalls found us on the right road and then the pleasure of yet another argument with someone you thought was straight up trying to rip you off (they start young here!!) and I was finally at my destination.
William and Olive, (though I'm yet to meet the lady of the house as she's running an art and craft festival in Jaipur), have the most wonderful home which is set on a sizeable acreage and has a wide variety of animals. Albinia is the resident cocktatoo, [posing here with Sam] reminding me of home and most talented, she can say a very posh "Hello I'm Albinia" and loves spreading out her wings when sprayed with a fine mist of water. Gilbert and George are a crazy pair of goats. George has recently impregnated his mother to everyone's slight alarm.
Then there are the new puppies Chocolate and Fudge, named by the two Dalrymple boys who I probably should have mentioned before the pets!!! Sam and Adam are truly divine. They're bright, well spoken, enthusiastic, sassy and great company. We've been watching David Attenborough fossil programs and discussing all manner of things. Sam's rock collection is mighty impressive (aka 'his etchings'!!).
So apart from the dogs and peacocks and chickens (rooster named Stanley of course) and various other creatures, the house is teeming with incredible artifacts from various travels and the books. My god, the books. I've hardly had my nose out of one since I arrived. William has given me all sorts of advice about onward travels and has recommended some amazing places off the beaten track.
He's working like crazy on his literature festival, which starts on Wed (21st Feb) and has grown from 6 authors 4 years ago (I think) to 180 artists this year including musicians and filmmakers. Wow! Just in case you fancy a peek, check out the Jaipur Literature Festival site, for some reason I can't post the link but it comes up first in Google.
Amongst many missions and themes, the festival is promoting a dialogue with Pakistan, which is so healthy as there are a lot people here who simply want to boycott the whole country. Their relationship sits on a knife edge and William is determined to do his part at this tricky time. A lot of the Pakistani artists are coming on their own dime to show their commitment. I'm so excited that Vikram Seth will be there, and Shekhar Kapur and Thomas Keneally just confirmed. Yippee! And sooooo many more talented people. I can't wait.
So, I spent my first afternoon exploring the Mehrauli archaeological park, which is close by and filled with fascinating ruins and the famous Q'utb Minar, which I couldn't get into as I arrived in between tour times, so we drove through the bazaar which was full of life. I ended up in a mosque listening to the call to prayer that so dominates life in the east.
I've now had two full days of touring Delhi, leaving each time with a list of William's recommendations and being driven around by his fave taxi driver Kapoor, who is wonderful and most importantly knows his way back to the farm. It's hard to convey the breadth and depth of this city if you haven't been here. The architecture is astounding, the museums are brimming over, the streets are ancient, the bazaars are electric and the general mayhem is completely addictive.
If I went through everything I've seen, I'd never finish this post and it's getting late. So, a taste of my favourites has to include the astounding spectacle of driving past the government buildings, the architecture is glorious, simply stunning - the Brits got that right! The Indira Ghandi memorial was very moving and I'm so glad I insisted on going to the Triveni tea terrace for lunch. I ended up sitting with a charming guy called Piyush who edits the Hindi journal for the top notch, fine art Lalit Kala Academy. It turns out he was asked to present at William's festival but couldn't, as he's just started his prestigious job but he knows half of the people presenting and marked up my schedule for me, plus he insisted on buying me lunch! So generous and such a welcome coincidence in a lovely setting by the sculpture garden. Thank you Piyush for the recommendation to visit the arts and crafts museum. The textiles blew my mind.
I have to mention Humayun's tomb as it was spectacular but the white breasted kingfisher I saw at the Lodi Gardens at sunset (plus the sounds of all the birds there) with it's bright blue feathers had to be the highlight of the day. Oh no, that's only my first day. Sorry.
Today was spent putting up posters and getting photos sorted first at Khan Market. Then I went to the Red Fort, which was much better than I expected as the Brits obliterated in in the siege, so my expectations were low. However William gave me a brilliant book that took me on a walk and described how it used to look, providing me current references that helped my imagination to run free. I put in my headphones and listened to Lamb and just wandered, ignoring everyone who looked my way. Bliss. Funny how quickly you learn to be a Madam here. Or perhaps I've always been one?!? Don't answer that.
The Jamal Masjid mosque was awe inspiring but very busy, plus it was well into mid arvo and I was starving. So I drank it in and then went on and found the famous Kamil's where I had a massive and delicious lunch. I then wandered for hours around the Chandi Chowk bazaar and can see why its sights and smells inspire people so. I finally decided it was time to leave and got into huge negotiations with a bicycle rickshaw and about 10 passersby. When he quoted me 50 rupees and I replied, "So that means I should be paying 25" they all laughed heartily. Thank you to the young boys who shouted, "Don't pay more than 15 or 20".
However after the driver braved crazy traffic and talked to a concerned Kapoor who was wondering where I was, plus seeing the holes in his clothes and how skinny the poor guy was I gave him 25 for the trip. That's about 30 pence by the way.
So here I am back at Chez Dalrymple sitting in front of a roaring fire and feeling absolutely shattered. It's such a happy sort of tired, though I feel slightly sick at what I spent on the most Kashmiri shawl I've ever seen and my belly is still full from my afternoon meal at Kamil's. I must admit that overall I feel happier than I have in a long, long time. Travelling nourishes the soul like nothing else for me. I'm the luckiest person alive, that is for shizzle!
So, the house gets filled with musicians and their families tomorrow and I am sleeping in the tent. Delhi is quite cold, unlike Bombay's winter you really go need to rug up here, so I hope I don't freeze out there with the goats and chickens. I was only supposed to stay one night but somehow time is marching on and I'm being made to feel so welcome and at home. There's a fun party brewing for tomorrow eve and I'm excited to head to the Taj Mahal (William says it's one of the few places in the world that lives up the hype) and then onwards to Jaipur for the start of the festival on Wed.
I have just over 3 weeks to go and promise to keep you posted as much as possible.
Promise!
Lxxx
1 comment:
Not sure how you have time for much reading with all your exploring plus making friends with pregnant goats!
The festival programme looks fab - avagoodtime muzz
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