New Delhi in old trousers

Upon entering India, we had to go through the usual procedures, i.e. submit fingerprints, have our photos taken, provide a health declaration, and wait for our luggage. Once these hurdles were crossed, we were kindly greeted by the tour guide and taken to the hotel, where we could have breakfast and freshen up. Then we set off on the sightseeing tour. During the two days we spent in the capital, we saw quite a bit: markets, various temple complexes, the Red Fort, the Parliament building, and mosques. We also took a walk through the old town. The various temple complexes were all beautiful in their own way, but the most beautiful temple we saw was the Laxmi Mayaran Temple. Its red, orange, and yellow tones were not only aesthetically pleasing but also architecturally stunning. It had clear forms, felt open and welcoming, and was beautifully decorated inside without being overloaded. It had just the right architectural mix of playful and strict.

Upon leaving the temple, Mrs. Waas received a dot of red ash on her forehead, intended to make one aware of the third eye. Mr. Ärmel preferred to leave this holy site with as many eyes as he could see in the mirror upon entering. Thus, he remained unenlightened.

During the visit to the Sikh temple, Mrs. Waas had her saffron-yellow scarf tied around her head to cover her hair. This required three different professionals skilled in scarf tying, as it was made of silk and thus very smooth. Mr. Ärmel could easily tie his bandana himself. This temple was quite different in its simplicity from the other temples we saw. Our tour guide explained to us that the Sikhs, although originally a branch of Hinduism, now regarded themselves as a separate religion. During the visit, we found it particularly interesting that we could take a look into the communal kitchen, where food was prepared for all believers.

As for our tour guide, a few more words are needed. While he was cultured, educated with a wealth of background knowledge, spoke six different languages, and tried to fulfill all of our wishes, he unfortunately had a major flaw: he was extremely biased in his religious worldview. He took every opportunity to speak ill of the Islamic religion: Muslims were uneducated, had too many children, believed the earth was flat, were aggressive, had only stolen their architectural ideas, were incapable of building towers, were misogynistic, had a completely illogical religion, and always started wars. In his view, the Palestinians deserved it when Israel retaliated, as it was merely a natural counter-reaction. However, it was also clear that he held little regard for the Sikhs or Gandhi. Well, how does one best react when visiting a country and not wanting to offend or upset the people there, while also not wanting to spend the little time one has in the city on discussions? We ignored most of his statements, and when he started his tirades of hate again, we simply asked him something on a different topic. Aside from that, he made an effort to accommodate our sometimes quite individual requests. For example, we had specific restaurant preferences, and as a result, we experienced two very different and truly excellent restaurants over the two days. One was somewhat traditional, with a large vegetarian selection, while the other was more modern and offered a good South Indian vegan menu. In addition, he took us to a street cobbler who repaired Mr. Ärmel's backpack for the equivalent of 0.70 euros. A special experience was the visit to the tailor, which became necessary since Mr. Ärmel's trousers had torn during the journey. Just like at the cobbler, this was a street tailor who did not have a fitting room. So Mr. Ärmel had to remove his trousers in the car and wait for the sewing work in his underwear. During this time, he was served Chai Masala. Mrs. Waas couldn't decide which she found more spectacular: watching the street tailor at work or admiring Mr. Ärmel sitting without trousers in a taxi sipping tea. Thus, she oscillated between the two highlights. After 5 minutes, the trousers were sewn, the tea was drunk, and Mr. Ärmel was once again decently dressed, and then it was back to the hotel to rest for the night flight to Bhutan...