Good morning, elephant and a trip to IIT

Although I was promised that I would see cows on the street, I certainly didn’t expect to wake up my first morning and go out to see an elephant on the street. On the first walk out to find bottled water, we saw an elephant standing along the street. We snapped a few quick pictures, but never did figure out what the elephant was doing on the street.
After the elephant incident, the day returned to me learning what a day in Delhi is like including busy, congested streets, vibrant colors, and a lot of Hindi that I still don’t understand. For part of the day, we had a driver (arranged by Abhijeet’s friend) take us around the city to various places. This is an amazing luxury to me that might spoil me too much. In the afternoon, we went to see IIT Delhi which is the university where Abhijeet went for undergrad. The campus was full of lush green colors of plants, trees, and other wildlife and was a calm retreat that made you feel like you were out of the city. The buildings themselves were simple, sometimes old and worn down, and contained just the basics of a classroom. It is in these basic accommodations that India’s top engineers are educated. It is also a well recognized and university with a great reputation worldwide. Students cram, study, and apply by the thousands to get into this university. As a teacher who finds it easy to complain about lack of funding, budget cuts, etc, it is a good reminder that the best education does not necessarily require fancy supplies.

The one thing I am quickly falling in love with are the saris. Delhi is not especially dirty because of litter, but the overall coloring seems to be a dusty grey/brown. The bright colors of the women’s clothes stand out like flowers in a desert. I am amazed at the variety of colors and patterns and the overall elegance. As I go along, I may be able to better differentiate quality of fabrics, etc. but for now it appears that women both rich and poor all appear to be dressed with a sense of grace and beauty in the clothing.

And of course, I cannot forget to mention food! So far, I have not tried many new things since I am basically familiar with the staples of Indian cuisine. I would, however, love to learn how to make paneer (Indian cheese) so that it stays in nice cubes (mine always crumbles) and just melts in your mouth when you eat it. We visited the home of Abhijeet’s friends and had gulab jamon and malpura which was new for me. I also tried kheer, which is similar to rice pudding, for the first time and was licking my spoon it was so good. We have received really great hospitality from Abhijeet’s friends with a ride from the airport, advice and help with arranging our travel, patience with my attempts at a few words in Hindi, and an overall warm welcome. This has made the first day here a really meaningful experience.