The Big Parade

Yesterday was Republic Day, that is, the 56th anniversary of the inception of the Indian constitution. It's somewhat equivalent to the Indian version of July 4th, ie, it's the day when people walk around wearing patriotic colors with flags painted on their cheeks. Schools and offices close down, people visit friends and relatives and generally make merry.

The highlight of Republic Day in Delhi is the Republic Day Parade. This occurs along the Rajpath, which is a several-mile-long avenue linking the Indian Parliament House to India Gate, a British-built memorial commemorating Indian soldiers who died in World War 1. All of the major parades happen on the Rajpath, which has sort of a Champs Elysees-like feeling.

Anyway, I hadn't been to a parade since I was about ten but I was pretty psyched for this one! I left my house at 8am with two American friends, and took a taxi as close as we could get before the parade security blocked us. We had seated tickets and had to ask about 30 different police officers, wait in ten different lines, and duck under three security cordons before we could find the right entrance to our seats. At this point we joined the huge, jostling crowd that fed its way through the impossibly narrow security checkpoint that separated us from our seats. Have I mentioned Indian security checkpoints before? The (female) attendants grope you like anything and confiscate everything, so I lost my book :(

The parade itself, though, was great! Unfortunately I don't have pictures (i knew my camera would never make it through above-mentioned security checkpoint...). The president was driven by with all of his body-guards on horses behind him, then sections of each regiment of the army marched past, all in different uniforms, carrying different rifles, and swinging their arms in different directions. Then came the fighter jets in the air and the army tanks rolling past, displaying the latest missiles. Then replicas of naval ships. The military in all of its finest. My favorite part, which came after the military display, was when floats representing the different states of India and the different government ministries paraded past. You have to be pretty creative to come up with a float representing the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment... I'll leave that one to your imagination. The best float might have been from the Department of Animal Conservation, which included a replica of a helicopter lifting stranded, scared-looking mountain goats out of an avalanche.

After getting up at 7 to make it to the parade on time, and after all of the craziness that followed, all I wanted was some food and a coffee. Some friends and I tried to go to our favorite cafe, the Market Place Cafe (which, FYI, is totally the place to see and be seen), but everything was closed because of the holiday. So, while breakfast and coffee would have been the perfect post-parade celebration, this unfortunately could not happen so instead I went home and fell asleep.

And now it's already a day later but finally I am at the Market Place Cafe using their wireless internet (the wireless is really the reason everybody comes here). Am meeting am ENT here in ten minutes for an "interview." I have no idea what to expect and don't even know if this doctor is male or female as so far we have corresponded only over email. Ahh!

Some Much Belated Blogging

Hello to anyone who is still reading this blog,
sorry about the delay in posting. I got back to Delhi about a week ago after a month of traveling... around India and to Kathmandu for my research visa. When I came back from Kathmandu, the Fulbright formalities began and I am now officially "on grant." Yay, because this means money.

This hasn't really changed anything though, as far as my "researching" goes... I think I'm still at square one with this project. I am trying to schedule a lot of meetings/interviews in the next couple of weeks and hopefully those will get me somewhere. I am also trying to talk to some people at the World Bank and WHO in Delhi. Maybe they can find me a project to work on part-time that is related to my disabilities research, or even one that isn't related, but that I find interesting in any event. We'll see.

In other news, I now have a roommate. Gul from Yale was initially going to stay with me just for the first week, but we've decided we like living together so she is going to stay on in my room. It's a good deal! It means cheaper rent and a buddy, which makes a HUGE difference in this city where women generally don't travel alone after dark.

In still more news, I am embarking on a course of self-improvement. First of all, I have joined a gym. (Gul and I qualify for the "couples" membership which makes it cheaper... quite nice) This was a big step for me but so far I have gone three days in a row. And I actually enjoy it. The nice thing about this gym is that there are all sorts of trainers on call who will help you plan your work out for the day, or even a workout schedule for the week or month. This is the type of thing I need from a gym... someone to hold my hand.

The other bit of self-improvement is that I have started taking Hindi again. 2 hours a day for the next 2 and a half weeks. Sadly my awesome tutor, who used to tutor me in Mussoorie, leaves Delhi in early Feb to return to the school in Mussoorie. Boo... I will hopefully find someone else who can compare. Or maybe just follow her back to Mussoorie!