Azeem's Excellent Adventure in Delhi!

So, it’s Azeem finally blogging here. I know you have all enjoyed Zeena’s stories for the last couple of weeks as have I. But now I have a chance to contribute to the saga. The trip here was actually quite easy, just long. I got into Delhi on Monday morning, managed to get a “prepaid” cab and make it to the hotel all before breakfast. Yesterday, was kind of quiet, as you may have read in the previous blog, but today (Tuesday) was quite an eventful day.

We started our day using the car and driver that will eventually take us to Agra tomorrow. Our first stop was to the US Embassy to file for Zaleeya’s VISA, luckily there was no American Holiday today! We got in line about 8:45 and were ushered in about 45 minutes later. The inside of the Embassy grounds was like a park, quite tranquil and serene. The only people we saw while walking to the USCIS office were gardeners working on the gardens and lawns. We spent another hour and a half in the waiting room, until we were called in for our meeting. We were a little nervous, well actually I was really nervous, since the paperwork has been my responsibility to complete. We went through the paperwork one item at a time and then the processor asked us about our address, which was kind of weird. We said it’s in “Irvine” he replied “yes I know, but where in Irvine is your house”, so Zeena said, “off Sand Canyon and the 405”. I’m thinking, how did we just get into a conversation about a freeway and directions to our house with an adoption processor in India? Well come to find out he LIVES in IRVINE! We just travelled 8000 miles to have our paperwork processed by a guy who took a 2 year job with the US Embassy, who happens to live 5 miles from us. Small world, go figure… Needless to say the rest of our 10 minute meeting went just fine and we were on our way to start our tour for the day.

Next stop was to Old Delhi. Delhi is a city with two identities. New Delhi is representative of its colonial British rule. It’s apparent in the architecture and design of the streets (many roundabouts). Old Delhi is much older and shows it’s influence from the Mogul rulers of centuries ago, with it’s Islamic architecture and mosques. One of which was the largest mosque in India called the “Jama Masjid”. We stopped there and walked through the mosque; Zeena had to wear a cover since she was wearing short sleeves and capri pants (check out the guy on the cell phone!). On our exit, we took rickshaws for what we thought would be a “short little ride” to the Red Fort. Boy, were we in for an adventure! Our ride took us through the Chawari Bazzar, which ended up becoming a 1 hour whirlwind tour of a crowded bazaar that looked right out of a movie, but in fact it was the real thing. There were twists and turns through alleys, total gridlock where no one could move for minutes at a time, all sorts of close calls with scooters, other rickshaws and pedestrians. This is not recommended for those who are even remotely claustrophobic, because there are a lot of people in a very small space with all kinds of commotion going on. It was amazing to see how the crowd just flowed in chaotic elegance, and in the end everyone got where they needed to. With a little bit luck, we got to where we needed to be which was to the Red Fort.

The Red Fort “Lal Qila” was built by Mogul Emporor Shah Jahan (also the builder of the Taj Mahal) in 1638. It’s a magnificent Fort built to fortify the Mogul palace and his personal grounds. It’s now more like a park with people relaxing in the courtyards enjoying what has been nice weather, a bit warm but not stifling hot like we expected. We then finished off our tour with a drive by of the parliament and presidential buildings and a quick walk through the Gate of India, where we happened to see the changing of the guards ceremony. All in all, today was the day I realized that I was in India. I was truly amazed at the diversity of culture and history, even though I’ve only seen a small fraction of the country, but I have a new found respect and fascination for the land of my origins.