Wait until they see our review!!!!

Woke at around 3.30 this morning, which while very unusual for me (not so for Sherry) was not surprising given the noises outside.

Yesterday we were told that breakfast was available by ringing reception sometime after 9 so shortly after 9.00 we did so only to be told to come to the “dining room in 10-15 minutes”

You can’t make this s…t up!

The breakfast was chapatti and some yoghurt to dip the chapatti in and a cup of coffee- the coffee was returned to the kitchen for a remake and half the chapatti and all but all of the yoghurt left untouched though we did met a young Indian lad who has been living in London and is making the trip home to Hyderabad to get permission from his girlfriend’s parents to allow them to wed - we then went our own ways he with our wishes that he is successful in his quest.

We had asked last night whether there was a laundry service and told no we have to take it to a laundry ourselves a street or two away so after breakfast went back to receptionist, who was a different person than yesterday, to get directions and was told that we leave the laundry with them in the evening and it is available again the next evening- would have been great to know that yesterday as it doesn’t work for us now as it wouldn’t be returned until after we have checked out tomorrow.

 

You can’t make this s…t up!

To get into Delhi central is a metro trip of 3 stops taking 23 minutes at a cost per person of 54rs, say a $, so it was another tuk tuk to the metro station, purchase a metro ticket, go through the scanner like you do when flying and step onto the next arriving unit (which depart every 10 minutes) the trip being in a comfortable air conditioned carriage.

Alighting at Delhi Central station is a chaotic experience. We were immediately “accosted” by tuk tuk and taxi drivers demanding that we use their services but we wanted to walk the 1 or so kms to Connaught Place so we declined to  accept but that didn’t stop the next driver waiting for a fare to make the same demand. There must have been 2-300 tuk tuks in and around the station and one needed to be careful not to become a road statistic.

 

Arrived at Connaught Place midday ish and sought refuge in a very nice restaurant to get out of the heat but more importantly to have the breakfast that we never had. We enjoyed a classy meal in nice surroundings before starting a walk around Connaught Place which is effectively circular.

 

We were quickly reminded of things we had forgotten from our last trip – men wanting to polish your shoes, stalls of Knick knacks on the pavement, kids pestering you for money etc.

I gave an old woman who looked like she needed some help a coin I had in my pocket but she immediately gave it back to me indicating it wasn’t enough!!

 

Sherry found her go to shop but came away empty handed but I found a cheap but nice polo in a shop we had visited last trip at a cost of the equivalent of $12.

Body temperatures were on the increase so it was to a Starbucks for a refresh before we jumped into a tuk tuk to return to the metro, back to Aerocity and another tuk tuk to the hotel.

 

In the evening it was tuk tuk back to Aerocity for dinner and a walk around before tuk  tukking back to the hotel – it was this return trip that had the most “action”.  

Commonsense dictates that one negotiates the price of the fare before getting into the vehicle and this was done (200rs). We then were taken on a hair raising trip back to the hotel area weaving in and out of the oncoming traffic with light blazing & horn honking and we both had very serious doubts that we would arrive safely but as Raj said as he was driving us to Rohit’s tilak ceremony to drive in India accident free you only need three things: Good horn, good brakes, good luck and we certainly had all 3 tonight.

On every other tuk tuk ride I have had the exact agreed fare but on this occasion I had to hand over a 500rs note expecting 300rs change but…I’m sure one knows the rest … he gave me 170rs, I sat there and we had a “discussion”, he gave over another 50rs and I reminded him what price we had agreed so he took what he already given me back, 220rs, and gave me 2 100rs notes. I indicated to Sherry to go into the shop we had stopped outside of and bring someone to the vehicle but I then heard Sherry yell something like “we agreed. I’m going to get the Police” which seemed to do the trick as he quickly found another 100rs note and called me a cheat. I smiled, patted him on the shoulder and replied that I had just met one tonight as well and exited the vehicle. Funny what one does to avoid being ripped off for $2 but it was the principle- we had agreed a figure and if I let him get away with it then he would not think twice about continuing to do so with other tourists.

 

This will be our last post on this trip as we check out of here by 11.00am tomorrow (not unhappy about leaving this highly rated hotel, yeah right) before starting the trip home with a 9.55pm departure to Singapore before a 10hr flight into NZ.

 

As always we have thoroughly enjoyed the experience stressful though it might have been from time to time. A traditional Hindi wedding is something we wish everyone could experience. 

 

It’s only been 24 hrs but we are already missing the Harsanpur villagers who were the greatest of hosts and caring beyond description. If you want to experience what we have been lucky enough to have experienced I’m sure we can arrange it.

 

Our most intrepid holiday ever is all but over!

A short one

Left the hotel at 11.00 after saying farewells to Ashok and his family, as we are being driven through to Delhi by Anil a friend of Ashok and who has to return to Delhi for work having taken leave for the wedding.

As we waited in the hotel forecourt for the pickup the Nepalese waiter who has served us at breakfast everyday came out of the hotel, shook our hands and wished us safe travels - that was a heartwarming gesture.

The drive through to Delhi was uneventful other than the traffic density as we neared the city.

The hotel was found and we booked in. A tip for all travellers: Do not believe the ratings and reviews on the booking sites. I’ll put it this way - the current rating of 9.8 will be severely reduced after we write our review.

It was well into the afternoon so we took a tuk tuk to Aerocity for lunch and some retail therapy- the former was had but the latter wasn’t as at lunch Sherry asked a lass in the food court where the best place for shopping was and was advised it was at Ambience Mall further away from the airport, so it was another tuk tuk journey across this part of the city.

The mall is in fact 3 malls flowing into each other, of at least 3 levels with the wide array of shops typically found in malls.

I saw a European face for the first time since we left the airport on our arrival and was also surprised (not sure why) by the number of Asian faces both shop assistants and shoppers.

Had dinner in the mall and returned by tuk tuk to the hotel.

An emotional day

We were expecting to book out of the hotel this morning as we had been told on booking in that it was full tonight due to a ceremony relating to a wedding so we had just about finished packing when the receptionist called and told us we could stay a further night. The call came almost directly after Ashok had sent a message “Is this your hotel even today” and I suspect that he had something to do with it as we had told him yesterday that we needed to find another hotel. However it had come about we are grateful as though it’s not the classiest establishment (though it could be so around here) it is comfortable enough even though housekeeping is next to not existent  

As we were walking up the stairs from breakfast an older Indian man was coming down, he stopped offered his hand and then hugged us both all the time speaking in his language-all we could respond with is the traditional Namaste greeting and bow and we went our separate ways.

  

The people around here are something special!

Got to Ashok’s and found Gita, his sister and Riya asleep  - we can understand Gita being asleep as she was at the last ceremony until 5.30am then came home and fed the buffaloes before having a quick nap and then got back up and milked them, she had earned the right to do so. She is Ashok’s rock.

The people around here are something special!

It was very hot today though the weather app suggested it was only 38 degrees and the village was “dead”; a combination I suspect of the previous day’s activities and the oppressive heat.

 

Ashok needed some sleep so he went into the yet to be completed “guest room” for a snooze while we sat in the bedroom where Gita was sleeping under the aircon.

 

Sitting around doing nothing is not us so around 2.30pm we decided to accept the challenge and to walk around the village. Did I say it was hot, it was 🔥🔥 and we moved slowly from area of shade to area of shade. About halfway round a family came out of their home and it was obvious they were saying “what the hell are you two old farts doing walking around in this heat, come inside for a drink”. We managed to convince them that we would decline their invitation so it changed to “Come inside so we can take a photo, only 1 click” so we did so but the one click quickly became many clicks”

 

When we finally managed to get away and finish our walk we commented that it was again humbling that strangers would show such concern for us as they don’t go outside in the heat of the afternoon.

 

The people around here are something special!

 

Finally got back home and Gita had woken while Ashok still had a little to go. When he did join us with Gita, Sherry offered Gita her saree as we couldn’t see that it would be worn again and Gita gratefully accepted.

 

As this was our farewell visit and Ashok would be driving us through to Delhi in the morning it was appropriate that we thanked them both for the invitation to come to the wedding and the hospitality that they had showered on us and we reimbursed them for the extra cost they had incurred in feeding us, the petrol Ashok had used in driving us from and to Delhi and back and forth to hotels and the cost of the jutti shoes he had purchased for me to wear at the wedding as well we gave both of them some personal money and also some funds to be put into Priya and Riya’s wedding accounts.

 

By now the temperature had fallen (just a little) so we started a walk to visit some of those folk who we had contact with and say goodbye.

We firstly went to Sireta’s home, Ashok’s best women friend, and spoke with her and another lady who is always there around milking time. She wouldn’t let us leave without sharing a coffee and by now it was obvious that this wasn’t going to be a “hi bye thanks for having us” type of walk.

Before leaving she insisted that we return for her son’s wedding at a future date though as yet the likelihood of a marriage is not in the same post code let alone the same street.

The people around here are something special!

 

Onto Virender Singh’s house and again invited in and offered a drink. An inter generational family of 7, Virender’s mother and father, he and his wife, his daughter and her husband and their child. Again it was difficult to get away – we thanked him and his family for their hospitality, he thanking us for coming to the village and “that our presence had been good for the village”. When we thought about that later it struck us that we may well have been the only non-Indian folk to spend time in the village and I had noticed that as we had interacted with the various groups of younger men he had been observing from a distance.

 

Before we left he invited us back for any future village wedding!

 

The people around here are something special!

 

Onto Ashok’s big brother’s house, Bir Singh, Sapna’s dad. The house is directly linked to Ashok’s old house which with the greatest of respect is almost uninhabitable though his mother and father live there. There was a room to keep the buffalo, an animal food storage area, a kitchen and one bedroom all very small. The daily cooking of chapatti is over a stick fire on a stair landing. How Ashok lived here as a family of 4 defies belief but he said he was very happy there and it was Gita who suggested they build a new house.

 

The people around here are something special!

 

Further up the lane lived his cousins brother, a gent with a sizeable tummy and because of the fact that he has a large multi-storey house Ashok jokes that he needs 2 rooms as he can’t fit into one hence the size of the home. We were shown, very proudly through every room of the home which would have been the equivalent of a Remuera home in comparison to most of the others which appear to be extremely basic and a very poor standard.

 

 

                                                   Ashok’s uncompleted home

                                      Ashok’s second brothers new but uncompleted home 

                                        Ashok’s eldest brothers new but uncompleted home

By now we were anxious to get away but there was one final ceremony that was still to take place and that was a procession of the women walking from Sapna’s family home out the lane and up a small distance in the direction of the wedding venue.

 

As they walked they were chanting/singing and yes Sherry had to be in the procession but one of the old dears who had taken a shine to her helpfully took her arm and shepherded her through though I don’t think trying to get Sherry to dance to the singing was in the script.

 

As they returned to the starting point the old dear started massaging Sherry’s lower limbs, implying that they were tired from the dancing, all done with a smile and she then approached me and bent and touched my foot showing her respect 

The people around here are something special!

 

Finally we moved to get into Ashok’s vehicle but to get into it we had to get past a bevy of women and Virender who had all come to see us away. An emotional send off!

 

The people around here are something special!

 

Arrived back at the hotel and as we got onto our floor who should be coming out of his room but the gent who had greeted us this morning and he approached and gave us both a strong hug

 The people around here are something special!

 

Over dinner in the hotel we chatted about our time in the village and agreed that when we first came to India and travelled the north with Ashok and passed through the villages we never thought that we would or could ever spend time in that type of environment as it wasn’t us, and now having spent the better part of a week doing so, living there is still not us, but without question the people we have met and the traditions that we have been part of certainly change one’s perception of how life should be lived. People with very little, possibly a lot on a subsistence income only with no possibility of improving themselves have the biggest hearts imaginable, hospitality beyond description and show total care and respect for their fellow villagers and guests like us.

 

The people around here are something special!

A new sign up today in front of the hotel

My cousin’s brother - my cousin who is male!!!

 

What just happened???

Today was the final day of the wedding ceremonies so it was back to Ashok’s late morning.

Luckily no turban was in sight or mentioned which I was thankful for.

On the invitation that we received there were times set out for various individual ceremonies scheduled for the day the first being at 2.15. Come that time Sherry was still waiting to be helped dressing in her saree.

Long story short she did get dressed and we moved to the main area around 4.30pm and on entry your name, place of residence was taken and the value of the gift you were giving was entered into a book. As  we like most guests were giving cash I handed over a stack after announcing its value but the amount was not recorded until after it had been counted out by the bookkeeper. 

As soon as we sat snacks were served - deep fried items and a very sweet sugar cane and halwa mix.

After a while, times now seemed unimportant, Ashok called us over to witness the Bhaat Ceremony which was very much like the Tilak ceremony that occurred the other night except that the givers of cash were the bride’s mothers male side which is that side of the family’s way of assisting with the cost of the wedding - the paternal side of the bride has the cost of the wedding and the maternal side provides some support by way of cash and gifts.

Initially a wad of cash was given then various paternal family members were called to kneel in the centre of the circle in order of seniority within the family and have their forehead marked with a red paste and pieces of rice affixed on the paste and given some payment.

 It was interesting watching the process until I was called reluctantly into the circle where my forehead was marked and I was given a 200rs note with the gentleman giving the note saying “accept this with our love and respect”. As I exited the circle he followed me over to where Sherry was sitting gave her a 200rs note said the same words, bent and touched her foot, a Hindi way of showing respect and then turned, returned to the circle and proceeded with the ceremony.

We looked at each other with a what the f… happened there look on our faces - we felt incredibly humbled and overwhelmed by the love and respect they showed to us and effectively saying you are part of our family something Ashok has said constantly since we arrived. 

As the final act of the ceremony everyone on site, cooks, waiters and guests were given a 10rs note

As Ashok had spent large on the wedding we happily stuffed what we had received into his shirt pocket.

After the ceremony we were joined by 3 11-13 year old lads who wanted to practice what little English they had learnt so far so we had a small q&a session until we ran out of the basic questions.  

Then we were joined by another group this time young men, some still completing their schooling, another studying to be a physiotherapist in Bengaluru and another slightly older who was a police officer and with one having quite good English the chat was quite wide ranging as we quizzed each other on our lives and cultures. We can’t speak more highly of the people we have encountered- polite, respectful, caring are three words that come quickly to mind. 

Then there was another ceremony (for family members, yes that included us) back at Sapna’s house where again the ceremony where couples scooped a mix of curd and mustard oil with a coin from a bowl and rubbed it into her hair seven times was repeated.

Returning to the venue, an open air paddock suitably decorated, all the villagers converged for a meal which comprised the full range of Indian from the breads through the curries and then the sweet dishes and it was at this time that the numbers in attendance were at the highest- say 1200.

By now ladies were dancing to another disco, this time pitched at a more sensible sound level and for the most part we watched and enjoyed though Sherry was invited to participate on more occasions than she wanted.

It was nearing 11.30 and the groom and his guests hadn’t yet arrived in the village but the fireworks which were starting to explode above signalled he was close so we moved out into the street where he would be welcomed. He arrived led by a mobile disco, dancers behind, and he sat on a brightly lit horse drawn carriage.

At the entrance to the venue the ladies who comprised the close family members of Sapna waited to welcome him into the village and each, Sherry included, then gifted him 500rs and his forehead was marked. He, Rohit, then went to Sapna’s home where in private the marriage ceremony took place while we waited with others back at the venue.

At around 12.30am the newly weds then made their grand entrance into the venue ending up on stage on an ornate throne and then the guests, who wanted to, couple by couple came up on stage stood behind them showing that they held a note before handing the cash to them and which they passed to their “treasurer”.

 

Sherry and I did so and as we started to leave we were asked to sit on the arms of the throne, one each side for photos and again we went to leave but Ashok and Gita come up and insisted we stay as they made their gift and we have “a family photo” with the couple.

By now is was closing in on 1:30am, the ceremonies other than one which would not take place until the early hours of the morning when Sapna left the family home had now finished so Ashok and Gita returned us to our hotel.

Our first Indian wedding was now over and it was a thoroughly enjoyable occasion and I hazard a guess that we had our photos taken more times that the bridal couple did as any one we talked with (tried to communicate with) all wanted to have a photo taken – even as we were leaving two middle aged gents stopped us and requested a photo and as we moved off to the car Ashok told us that one was Rohit’s father.

The fact that we had taken the trouble to dress in Indian clothing seemed to be appreciated and Sherry was complimented numerous times by numerous ladies and a few men who admired her saree – the compliment was usually a slight tug on the saree with a smile. 

The hospitality was both outstanding and truly humbling.

Regrettably we are encountering issues with transferring photos from iPhone to iPad photos will be on an if able basis.

We have one more day in the village before going back to Delhi tomorrow for 2 days to decompress before flying home.

Sherry’s henna