Before I even arrived in India, I heard about “Delhi Belly”, typically referred to as the condition which makes you sick after eating food in India. Having experienced this at least twice during my trip, it is not pleasant and is thus considered a negative, however I think there are two greater negatives about India which would be the tin hut shacks visible in far too many areas that we visited, and the extreme poverty that accompanies those homes. In Mumbai for example, they are visible upon landing at the airport, for some reason, that is where a vast majority exist. I have been told by some of the fellows that I traveled with that there is a great book entitled “Beyond the Beautiful Forevers”, referring to what is called the slums of Mumbai. I plan on reading it. Why, I wondered, would a city government want visitors to their airport to see the excessive poverty upon arrival????? Does this not shame them in terms of their capacity to offer human services? Anyway, for me, after visiting India, I now choose to call these unpleasant sites the “belly” – forget the food issues.
(what are called “slums”- note-I don’t care for the word, but that is what everyone refers to it as-right next to the runway in Mumbai, and a view from the airplane on ascent leaving Mumbai (all the blue dots are tin huts with blue tarp covering it for the monsoon rains)
Well, with great surprise, I witnessed the exact opposite upon arrival to Delhi. The airport looked as if it was built yesterday. I actually took pictures of some of the artwork, one of the most impressive is featured in a photo, the hands are symbolic for classical Indian dance forms that use mudras [hand gestures]. It was designed by an Indian artist named Ayush Kasliwal from Jaipur. I was very, very impressed, the design grabs your attention and evokes questions.
the picture I took
a professional’s picture
This image, mind you, is huge and it is placed on the wall above everyone’s head visible as you descend the escalator upon arrival. Though two hands are featured here, there are seven more that could not fit into my photo. I have added a photo taken by someone else to give the full effect. The expressive hand gestures are called “mudras” and are usually featured in dance and yoga. Mudras are considered a channeling force which aids spiritual/mental well being by enhancing the flow of energies through the body. This article gives further description of what the hand gestures symbolize if you are interested –http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/07/28/qa-delhi-airports-hands-sculpture/. My mindset upon leaving the airport was,” ok, surely we will see the same things that we have witnessed in other towns and cities once we begin our ride to the hotel.” Wrong again, paved roads with lines delineating lanes! No motor cycles, rickshaws, cows, dogs, buses, etc. on the highway! Everything clean! No visible sign of shanty towns! Impressive city buildings, malls, high tech metro, billboards, and as Stevie Wonder put it – “skyscrapers, and everythang!”
me and my second favorite art display in the New Delhi airport – elephants!!!!!
I thought, wow, if Delhi can do it, why not share best practices with at least Bangalore and Mumbai? I later found out from our most valuable guide and host from the Teacher’s Foundation, Indira, that Delhi was the home of the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010. Isn’t it amazing that a government can get it together for a sports event, but not necessarily for their people???? This is the reason that Brazilians are losing it over the money being spent for the Olympics, – yet their education system and infrastructure does not get the same attention. I hear ya loud and clear, people of Brazil.