I think I speak for all of us when I say that Delhi is totally different from anything we´ve ever experienced before. The smells and sounds and sheer energy of the city is quite overwhelming. The first time you meet a cow loose in the middle of a six lane highway you realise that the Indian concept of traffic is a bit different from our own. But after a total of three and a half hours with a cab driver who was permanently lost (and whose bribe WE had to pay when he was pulled over for jumping a red light), we´re getting used to it!
Yesterday, after a very generous and informative introduction by the British Council, we parted company with Neil and Olivia, who are now in Kerala, and spent the afternoon in New Delhi. We were specularly ripped off by our first Rickshaw driver, and went to a "concert" in memory of Ali Akbar Khan, which unfortunately turned into a series of heartfelt speeches in Hindi, while a TV camera zoomed in on us. The small amount of music we did see, in particular part of a film from one of Ali Akbar Khan´s concerts, was a fascinating insight into Indian classical music which we hope to be experiencing more over the next couple of months.
This evening we´ve been specially invited to a Quawwali concert at the British Council...
Theo FS
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