Picto Diary - 23, 24 December 2015 - Christmas Eve New Delhi
Above: Western state snow totals showing above average snow pack throughout Utah, 23 December 2015.
TIMDT and Mwah (sic) left for India just as a mega storm hit the Wasatch. 40 inches of new snow at the resorts and counting.
We departed San Francisco on an Ethiad Airlines triple 7, about noon on 22 December 2015 and arrived in Abu Dhabi, after a 14 hour flight, about 4PM on 23 December 2015. After a 5 hour layover spent snoozing, reading, blogging, and eating in the Ethiad Airlines lounge, we departed for New Delhi, on another Ethiad triple 7, and arrived about 3:00 AM on Christmas Eve day, 24 December 2015.
FeeBee and B1B's family, and their friends, Psychology, Montana, and son K, had made their own separate ways to New Delhi. We would meet them later in the morning for a day tour.
Above: Business class cabin. Ethiad Airlines, triple 7. 23 December 2015.
Losing a day. Our home for 23 December 2015.
TIMDT. 3:00 AM. New Delhi Airport. 24 December 2015. Merry Christmas say all the banners.
With a coupla (sic) millennia experience, and not without occasional sectarian violence, India is one of the few countries of the world where multiculturalism is celebrated...where it actually works.
Every one celebrates everybody else's holiday. Hindus celebrate Christmas... all respect Ramadan. .. Muslims celebrate Holi and Divali. And...nobody is offended!
I love visiting India. This is my 4th visit to India in 6 years. While the challenges are legion, India is on the move. She aspires.
TIMDT is on her 9th India visit in as many years. Giving birth to Rudy Jr. here in 1973 made India special for her.
Above: Humayan's Tomb. New Delhi, India. 24 December 2015.
Guide, VJ, kids, Drums, Cat, and K, and adults, TIMDT, FeeBee, B1B, Philosophy, and Montana in the image.
Humayan Moghul great grandfather of Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal.
Above: Food preparation at Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Sikh temple in New Delhi, India. Near Connaught Place. 24 December 2015.
Above: Bare footed with head covered, Drums, K standing near, stirs up the dahl. Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Sikh temple in New Delhi, India. Near Connaught Place. 24 December 2015.
One of India's largest Sikh temples, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib serves up to 50K meals on holy days.
Above: The Bishop observes the Kwality Restaurant, on Parliament Street, just across the street from the site (now home of a "new skyscraper" built in 1974, of the old New Delhi branch of Citibank where the Bishop worked during 1972/1973. 24 December 2015.
Our group had lunch here. Dahl, rice pillau, bindi, alou gobi, chicken tikka kebab, nan, salty lassi. Later on, the kids said lunch was the best part of the day. Its good to see the kids liking the exotic, spicy food.
I ate occasionally at this restaurant, in the early 70's. It felt good to touch the past at Kwality.
Kwality reminded me of some of the established restaurants in New York City. The Palm, for example. The waiters at Kwality were all in their 50's or above... long time employees... professionals. Food and service were excellent. We arrived to the empty restaurant about noon. By the time we left, every table was full.
Above: The Bishop observes the exterior of the New Delhi, Connaught Place branch of Citibank. 24 December 2015.
The Bishop worked as Sundries officer, Current Accounts Officer and Bills Officer over a period of 18 months at this branch in 1972/1973. Then, the Bishop was a junior officer at Citibank, New Delhi and the only gringo working at the branch. His senior Indian officers treated him and his wife very well during what was a significant cultural change for him and his family. He and TIMDT are gratefully in touch with many of these same Indian officers and their spouses 42 years later.
The actual branch were the Bishop worked was on Parliament Street, only a short walk away from where the branch (as seen, on Connaught Place, in the above image) is today. The branch in the image is in a "new building" constructed in 1974.
As the Bishop surveyed the area of Connaught Place it seemed incredible to him that during his 28th year he lived and worked in New Delhi. He was supported by his 27 year old wife and 2 year old daughter.
Memories started to waft back as The Bishop strolled through the Connaught Place area. He remembers once, while serving as Current Accounts and Cash Officer, the branch ran out of cash. His 2nd in charge, who usually trekked to the nearby Reserve Bank of India, on cash runs was not available, so his boss, Ajit Grewal Singlh (now deceased) said that he, The Bishop, would have to go get the cash himself. Ajit's sly smile quickly signaled that the cash replenishment errand would be somewhat of a spectacle... an American Bank officer on a cash run in the bowels of the New Delhi branch of India's central bank. It was. There were lots of gawks and lots of smiles both from the Citibank clerks who accompanied the Bishop and the cash disbursement at the Reserve Bank of India.
Ajit Grewal, my first real boss in professional life, was a great guy. I was able to stay in New Delhi with him and his wife Royina, an accomplished author, in 2007 precedent to a motorcycle trip I took through northern West Bengal, Bhutan, and Assam.
Above: Site of the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, 31 October 2015. Safdarjang Road, New Delhi, India. 24 December 2015.
The pathway down which Mrs. Ghandi was walking when assassinated by two of her Skih guards is now layered with crystal.
Mrs. Ghandi had stirred up the ire of Sikhs when she authorized Indian troops to attack Sikh extremists holed up in the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar. Most of the extremists were killed and the Golden Temple, the "Mecca" for Sikhs, was partially destroyed.
In the image, beyond, the kids, their parents and TIMDT can be seen.
While on another visit to south India earlier this year, January 2015, we saw the spot where Indira Ghandi's successor, her son, Rajiv Ghandi, was assassinated at the hands of a Tamil extremists suicide bomber. Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Above: K, mom Montana, and Santa. Taipan Restaurant, Oberoi Hotel, New Delhi, India. Christmas Eve. 24 December 2015.
Above: Bar tenders, New Delhi Oberoi Hotel. New Delhi, India. Christmas Eve. 24 December 2015.
Christmas may be dying on 5th Avenue...but it's alive and well in India.
B1B joined Mwah (sic) for a post dinner, Christmas eve cocktail at the bar.
Merry Christmas!
Addendum:
Get used to it, it happens!
Lianne,
Miami, FL
Wants to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and hope that 2016 will bring you joy and happiness. It is Christmas Eve and 84 degrees here. No danger of a white Christmas.
Bridge,
Palm Beach, FL
Saw the last 4 minutes – UNBELEIVABLE!
Joe, Sydney, Australia
Bishop,
Stihl and I skied Deer Valley today, 50 plus inches of snow here in the last 48 hours, we got first tracks this morning when they opened the Sultan lift for the first time this year. We missed you.
Our best to you and the family. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
Travel safe.
Golf,
Chicago, IL