We are on our way to the Taj Mahal, by way of New Delhi. Yesterday (May 6th) we left the ship to fly from Cochin to New Delhi, then boarded a bus from the airport to our hotel. What an adventure that was! Traffic is bumper to bumper, and there are no traffic signs or signals, and no one directing traffic. Our guide said they don’t need them here – they use “logic.” He said the recently agreed to some common rules of the road and that has made things much better. People used to be honking their horns, making angry gestures at one another…you don’t see that anymore, he said. When we commented that we still heard a lot of horns honking he responded, “You hear horns honking; I hear communication!”
Today we made our way from New Delhi to Agra, which is nothing like Delhi. Nearly 50% of Agra’s population live in slums or squatter settlements. Cows roam the streets defecating when and where they please. Everything is matted in dust. There is no rhyme or reason to the traffic. The dirt roads have no lane markings, and there may be six lanes of traffic with cars going both directions in all lanes, weaving in and out and around one another to get where they want to go. If they bump into one another along the way, no one bothers to notice – they all just keep on going. It’s crazy!
Our hotel is an oasis in the midst of this chaos…sidewalks surrounded by beautifully manicured bright green lawns and hedges and 5-star accommodations. Somehow, this doesn’t seem right. During dinner we were entertained with a “Kathak” dance. In ancient times traveling bands of storytellers (Kathaks) would communicate stories of epic battles and mythology through dance, songs, and music. Dancers tell their stories through their hand movements, footwork and facial expressions. Their feet and wrists are adorned with small bells and their movements are harmonized to music.
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