Baisakhi & Lodhi Garden

Yesterday's Baisakhi celebration at the India Habitat Centre was not quite what I expected, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. It was more or less a concert of Punjabi music, and a bhangra group rounded out the evening with one dance. Not as exciting as what I had hoped for, and it was in a very crowded auditorium, so I didn't get to dance.

For being a multipurpose, pretty big holiday (first day of the solar year, harvest festival, Sikh holy day), I was surprised it wasn't more visible. I'm glad it didn't go by without my knowledge, though. Holidays here fascinate me. (Well, holidays anywhere, but here I get to experience new ones.)

Anyway, today I went to the Lodhi Gardens. Trust me; this was a huge achievement that few would attempt. I went during the late morning because it's pretty close to the IES Centre, where I had to be at 1:00 p.m. So I planned my visit around my schedule, not the weather - it was 105 today.

It's a beautiful place, and even though it was quite hot and I had my backpack and my camera with me, I walked around for about an hour taking pictures before I found a quiet shady spot to sit and relax.

The guy in this picture was a drunk bum who emerged from a small grove of palm trees looking for money. I ignored him, went up the steps to the tomb I had been heading towards, and when I came back, he was sitting down there. 

This is Sikander Lodhi's tomb. The tomb and the lawn are surrounded by a wall. Kind of like a fort. The rulers of Delhi were apparently a big deal after they died; I wonder who started all that. Seems to me that they all tried to outdo each other.

I wanted to get some pictures of the flowers in the garden before they all wither away and die from sitting in the scorching sun day after day: 

There were a lot of different kinds of flowers. More photos can be found on Flickr.

I miss Delhi's winter days where the fog enveloped the city in a quieting blanket, and it was just cool enough to make me really enjoy my morning tea. It was so quiet and spooky and mystifying. Now when I wake up at 7:00 a.m., it's already as bright as it is at noon in Massachusetts, and the temperature is already up to about 85. There's a chorus of birds singing in the park and in the trees outside my window; sometimes this is wonderful, but when I want to sleep, it's not. The fruit- and -vegetable wallahs, and the trash-wallah, and the guy who buys old newspapers get an early start so they can sleep away the hottest part of the day. Which I wish I could do. Alas, students do not have that luxury.

I do enjoy getting up early in the mornings, though. I'm always the first one up in my house (except for the cook), so I can sit out on the terrace watching the people doing yoga in the park, read a book, and enjoy the sunlight before it becomes uncomfortably warm. I'm glad I don't have class in the morning anymore so that I'm able to be productive as soon as I wake up; I function much better when I can relax in the evenings rather than being stressed out right before I go to sleep.

Speaking of sleep, it's been a long day, and I'm going to get to bed, I think.

Namaste.