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Photo Essay: The Human Plows of Chandni Chowk, India

Filed under Delhi, Interesting People by Christine Ka'aloa on October 19, 2010 at 3:03 pm {one comment}

Celebrating my solo travel anniversary with India, here’s some photo faves I loved discovering.

Delhi, India. Dilapidated havelis, winding souk-like streets congested with workers, rickshaws and merchant shops which sell anything imaginable from saris to electrical appliances– Chandi Chowk is the bustling heart of a 16th century Delhi. The “chowk”, reknown as one of the oldest and (more…)

Review: “Delhi’s Nightlife at Urban Pind”

Filed under Cool/Veg Restaurants & Bars, Delhi by Christine Ka'aloa on October 10, 2008 at 12:13 pm {no comments}

Just because you don’t see young and hip Delhiites on the streets, doesn’t mean a cool, chic and urban-saavy Delhi doesn’t exist. Delhi has a nightlife that’s young, beautiful and happening. My new Delhi friend, Sandeep took me out on the town to Shalom Lounge and Urban Pind. Both were hotspots; they were glowingly hip, with a sensual and classy appeal, spinning my modern lounge kind of vibes… This is where the beautiful people go.

Here’s my Urban Pind review on tripadvisor.com:

“Finally, a nightclub that redeems the notion of a nightlife in Delhi!”

Loved this restaurant/bar- from the moment you enter the door, see the handsome host (more…)

Delhi: Surviving Solo & Haggling for a taxi to Chandni Chowk

Filed under Delhi, India by Christine Ka'aloa on October 10, 2008 at 12:09 pm {no comments}

Fri, Oct 10, 2008: Delhi

Today I get up late; I’m awoken by Dev at Shahi Palace. He is calling to check in, concerned and wanting to see how my trip’s been going Post-Tour-Scam experience! Those guys at Shahi sure are a good bunch!

This means that my India Vodaphone SIM finally works again!

My red-eye flight with India Air leaves at 1:15 AM tomorrow morning and my hotel is allowing me a late checkout. It’s hard to decipher whether I should extend my stay in India and continue on. I want to experience more, but the fatigue of constantly scrambling to find my bearings in this crash course of solo travel is getting to me. It’s not easy to travel solo 24/7 with last-minute preparations made on-the-fly; at least, not easy in India.

My annoyance is primarily that I wish I planned for myself better! Right now, I seek an oasis of calm, “a moment” of beauty and a bit of spoiled privilege to rejuvenate myself. None offers itself within the Delhi madhouse of honking horns, zig-zag driving, near death collisions, dirt, bugs, haggling, outdoor urinals and the constant visibility of poverty.
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Everything is a Negotiation

As a tourist, most of the time you’re uncertain of whether a smile means you’ve just been scammed or if someone is going to ask you for rupees for it! Places with ‘fixed prices’ are a godsend vs that constant feeling that no matter how earnestly you haggle, you’re going to be a victim of a hiked up tourist price!

Haggling for a Taxi in India

There is no “ART” or playfulness to my method of haggling a taxi. I simply ASK a local what the going-rate is for my destination before hailing an auto!

Armed with my new Indian vocabulary…

1 – The Swivel-bob head action which looks like a NO but really, means “Okay, why not?”

2 – The Chalo! hands (a “Go away” flicking of a hand as if shooing away flies)

I have two points to my closed negotiation with taxi drivers:

1) I state the rate I’ve been given by a local upfront OR
2) I tell the taxi driver I want to use the meter! (something most want to avoid )

Last day for gift-getting is a scramble. I’ve done nowhere NEAR the amount of shopping as I hear Margaret & Dan are doing on this trip… I hail a taxi and direct him to take me to the famous Chandni Chowk.

The coolest little heart of Delhi

Chandni Chowk (or Moonlit Avenue) is a congested and historic marketplace of in the heart of Old Delhi with dilapidated havelis and small, winding streets and souks crowded with worker traffic, pedestrians and merchants specializing in a specific commodities.

Saris! Saris! Saris! & India’s Human Plows

Spices, jewelry, books, grains, sweets,… you name it, Chandi Chowk’s got it! I got my Dad’s kurta and dhoti here. Here, the traffic of people, workers and rickshaws is a messy and congested swarm as it is everywhere else in India, but out of that, what catches my attention are workers I’ve dubbed, “Human Plows”!

In Chandni Chowk, a cargo of product or produce is transported via two methods (see pictures here):

1) It is strapped to the top of a worker’s head or
2) Loaded on a pull-cart wagon with one worker up front pulling, followed by two worker behind, pushing!

These cargo loads are monstrous and these men do not make it look easy! Their sweat pours with physical strain and uneasy facial twitches and winces.

Cows are sacred in India…

It’s a bold sight to see men doing the mule work, strapped to the yoke as the cows lazily look on! This gives me an immediate respect for The Human Plow. It-is-what-it-is in extreme manual labor and a hard day of honest work! And despite the discomfort and the strain of their work, most of these hard-working men will make the time and energy amidst their work to lend a smile to my camera. They love having their picture taken & why shouldn’t they?…The work they do is phenomenal!

Like worker bees and ants, each worker is necessary to pushing the giant wheel of commerce- the smallness and greatness of his destiny is enslaved to arduous manual labor and the daily contract of a few rupees!
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Is it safe to eat Street Food in India?

I’m getting progressively bolder about eating foods locally. Today I pull out all stops. A part of me foolishly believes that I’ve NOT experienced true India until I’ve experienced Delhi-Belly, so I go crazy with sampling those foods off the streets sold in “the newspaper envelopes and banana leaf bowls”!

Street food is a common & inexpensive. It’s like a fast food restaurant without a roof! A chai stand lends a table & bench for people to “sit & sip” or it may consist of only one person, squatting on a mat while brewing cups for willing squatters.

Food vendors sell a range of things- chaat (like Indian Chex Mix or mixed plates & you choose the mixing), puris, samosas, jalebis (a deep-fried breakfast pretzel soaked in sweet syrup), curries, etc… Anywhere nearby is ‘squat or stand’ real estate for patrons taking their meal-on-the-go.

Of course, I stick to safe food rule. I order foods, which are piping hot, boiled or fresh out of the fryer. No cold liquids (unless it’s bottled) or foods which have sat out a while. I love the Indian sweets and while they are neither boiled or fresh out of the cookery, I feel they’re still safe.

The cups, packages and bowls that hold street food is a novelty! No plastic knifes, forks or paper plates – everything is biodegradable trash. Small newspaper takeout packages carry samosas and burfis, etc… ; while takeout bowls for curries are made of banana leaves. On my trek in Bhaktapur, Nepal, I noticed one chaat vendor had made scoops from folded paper and his cups were of composition book pages containing a child’s homework on it.

Crazy, but I love it!

Delhi: Hotels & Festival time

Filed under Delhi, India by Christine Ka'aloa on October 9, 2008 at 12:06 pm {no comments}

Thurs, Oct 9:Delhi

I’ve hired a driver for a day to sightsee Delhi.

For 700Rs (a little over $10 and equal to a OW cab trip from Soho to my apt in Hell’s Kitchen ) this is a bargain! Both Sandeep and Regina have arranged to join me. Sandeep was generous to offer the use of his car for this, but I had booked my car in advance, so I’ve asked him to tag along instead. Also, it’s Regina’s last day to sightsee Delhi and she wanted to see things as well.

Tourist sights: Lotus Temple, Hanumayun’s Tomb & Quatab Minar (both to drop R off), the government sector full of government building & the port of India & the Red Fort.

For me, the BEST attraction of the day was where Sandeep took me for lunch, a favored diner & bakery in Greater Kailash where he gave me the 101 (more…)

Review: “Raj’s Cozy Inn Hotel” (Delhi, India)

Filed under Accommodations, Delhi by Christine Ka'aloa on October 9, 2008 at 11:38 am {2 comments}

Delhi: Raj’s Cozy Inn Hotel review on IndiaMike.com

Here is my response to a forum query about budget hotels in Delhi. I posted on my India Bible, Indiamike.com:”Surprisingly, Raj’s Cozy Inn Hotel is not in Lonely Planet’s Guide to India. I found this hotel because the two hotels that were in Lonely Planet (Hotel Namaskar and I think, Smyle Inn) were booked and I was referred to this one around the corner. The hotel is smaller with less rooms, but looks like one of the newer hotels. The lobby and rooms were clean, bright, simple w/ fan, TV, western style bathroom and cost me around $13USD/night (600 Rs) for a Queen sized bed. The second night I still wanted to try one of the hotels that my guidebook suggested. I was especially curious about Hotel Namaskar; I’d heard of the owning brothers and how you can book cheap drivers through them. But when I went to check out the hotel, not only was it more expensive but the hallways looked like they were being used for storage . The room I was shown in the back, looked like a dungeon! Needless to say, I returned to Cozy and booked my driver through Namaskar.

Third night– the waft of urine in Pahar Ghanj was getting to me. I checked out guesthouses in Connaught Place but ugh! I decided to take a taxi to Bhogal and found a hotel at a $30/night! Upgrade? Not as much as you’d think. Just as soon as I booked it, I wished I had just stayed in Paharghanj at Cozy. I would go back to this hotel again.

I had also tried Grand Godwin Hotel which was around $24USD/night. It’s clean, nice and has a free buffet breakfast BUT… for the price I got at Raj’s Cozy, i’d definitely give up the breakfast!”