Ho Ho Ho!

It's been a little quiet from here on the blog front....I've had three weeks Perth and my Mum travelled back to Delhi with me, then it was Xmas and New Year and some of my lovely mates joined us here in Delhi to celebrate both. As a result I haven't had much writing time but I have been out and about showing off my home.

It has been a very interesting time for me as I show visitors around this crazy city. I really wanted them to enjoy Delhi, see it's crazy, quirky elements and be amazed that it all just seems to work - somehow. I became strangely defensive of my home and all its bits and pieces but at the same time India and Delhi made sure it challenged us to ensure my tourist leader job wasn't always easy.

Our itinerary started calmly with a drive to India Gate and down Rajpath. I love this part of the city, I think the buildings and space are stunning. We were reading some of the history while getting out of the car...."You can't stop there"..... we are just getting out of the car to walk "You can't stop there"! OK OK..... so the driver hurried off as we looked at the stunning buildings and I noticed the mass of men and machinery protecting the monument.

We then checked out Humayun's Tomb where, on exiting the car, a man threw a basket at our feet and simply yelled "SNAKE" and proceeded to play his flute. I jumped a mile, it was scary and hilarious as a cobra danced itself out of the basket. We were lucky with timing as about 10 bus loads of school children exited the Tomb as we entered so all we got were the enthusiastic yells of 'hello' and 'what is your name?' This is a really beautiful building. Khan Market was next for lunch and a spot of shopping. Of course after all this we needed a drink and a brilliant meal - look no further than TLR and Gunpowder in Hauz Khas - loved it.

The next day we headed to Old Delhi. We visited Jama Masjid then ate lunch at busy, hectic, aromatic Karim's. We walked the crazy lanes of Kinari Bizarre and caught a cycle rickshaw to the Spice Market where we choked and coughed on the pungent spices. I'm still getting to used to Old Delhi but was reminded of how I quite like wandering through here (when it's not 40 degrees). People who live and work there just go about their business of cooking, eating, selling, talking and buying...... we are merely another group of people who regularly get in the way. I tried out Delhi metro for the first time - so impressed! Clean, efficient an super fast way to get home. 

Xmas was great fun - drinks, food and lots of friends who are away from their families. Then Boxing Day gave us the Boxing Day test on a plate with our Xmas leftovers.

My friends then headed off to Agra.... I didn't make the journey with them but it was a long one in the car. We saw them the next day after another long car ride but the Taj was a spectacle and didn't disappoint.

After this we were to head off to Udaipur and Jaipur for a few days...... more Indian adventures to follow.

Diwali pictures

Flowers ready for house Diwali decoration

S helping Priya with rangoli

The finished product

Diwali party drums

S with her friends - Priya, Sheela and Anil



Diwali dancing

S giving it a crack



Pretty pumped with best dressed

Hitting the dancefloor



Time to decorate



All ready!

Happy Diwali x

AFL comes to Delhi (in mini)

It was all about AFL at Nehru Park, Chanakyapuri last Sunday morning. The sun was shining and the weather was mild so about a dozen little kids from Australia, and a couple from the States, headed to the park to work on their handballs and kicks.

It was a great morning with many bemused Indians looking on at the kids playing with a very strange shaped ball.

 

Going through the drills with the Coach!

Focus kids....

Other little kids were a bit more interested in the snacks on offer....

Lights, camera, action .... me

So as you have just read we had the Melbourne Cup here on Tuesday and this also involved an after party, this also involved too much champagne and over excitement at being asked to be an extra in a Hollywood film that has made its way to Delhi.

Some crew from The Reluctant Fundamentalist came to Olive Beach and starting asking around for people to be in their movie. Of course, I say, here's my number call me........ expecting to hear nothing of it, although I am also informed by my friends that being an extra in a film is almost an expat right of passage.

Wednesday I receive a call to go to an orphanage near Connaught Place on Thursday morning at 6 am and you will possibly be required until 4 pm. I say yes I'll see you there. Oh god, what have I done....  I then rethink it all and decide it's really not for me and pull out late that night.

Then at 12 noon I get the call that I really must come, we really need you..... (of course you do!!!) So I go down to CP and run into some friends who have been there since 6am and have had very little to do with the film (bar one girl who got to shake Keifer Sutherland's hand in a scene).

It's 1.30pm..... and nothing, the 4 of us sit around and wait and wait and wait and wait in a bare little room upstairs away from the action.

Movie set

Nothing much going on here....

At 4 pm we are called to the cafe scene and take our seats behind the stars of the show and sit, pretend talk, pretend eat and just be until they were finished with the scene. I am sure to make it big after this!!!

God knows if you will get to see my pretty little face on the big screen but keep an eye out for me.

So what do I get for 4 hours of my life ....

and the glory.....

And they're off and racing.... in Delhi

Melbourne came to Delhi this week with the Australian New Zealand Association (ANZA) Melbourne Cup Charity Brunch. This event happens every year, although this is the first one I have attended and helped to organise. I have organised a number of events at home, so I am not completely inexperienced, but organising events here throws up a whole new set of challenges and we got our fair share of curve balls (including holidays around Diwali) but I think we came out on top.

As you probably know, The Melbourne Cup is held on the first Tuesday of November every year at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. I used to live in Melbourne and loved the spring carnival so was more than happy to partake in a little celebration here. Only problem being the 5.5 hours time difference which meant the big race was all done and dusted by 9.30am Delhi time (and we nearly missed it). The early race meant an early start, the team had to be up and going at about 5.30am, yes still dark and quite chilly (yes it does get cold here). We had a great group together running gift bags from here to there, setting up tables, checking the layout, chilling the sparkling and setting up the banners of all our generous sponsors.

The event commenced on the Australian High Commission lawn at 8.30am and it looked pretty stunning. Yellow and pink were the colours of the day and they were hard to miss!



The tent!

The Hyatt Regency did some excellent catering and a small team of us proud Aussies organised the rest with the main point of the day being to raise some money for Delhi charities.

To raise money there was a raffle, tombola and a silent art auction with some great pieces to buy.

The prizes were pretty amazing - people won flights, hotel accommy, jewellery, art, champagne - heaps of wonderful stuff. I won nothing!

It was a great day, everyone looked beautiful - hats, fascinators, smart suits and cute summer dresses. There was the not so serious 'Fashion on the Field' that showed off the lovely fillies and stallions. Four categories were represented - best dressed lady, best dressed man, best hat and best couple - all escorted by the very fine expat Cricket Club.

The 'Viceroys' expat Cricket Club

Best hat winner

Of course there was also the reason we were all there, the 'race that stops a nation' - I pulled the horse in the sweep that came last, but on the bright side I got my money back with that little beauty!

So all in all a super fun day and an after party at Olive Beach Chanakyapuri to match.... I almost felt like I was at the racetrack by the end of the day - too much champagne, sore feet and a very droopy fascinator!

Here are some more pictures of the day.

Chefs ready for action



The happy crowd

 

Oktoberfest and Diwali - it's a celebration showdown

Delhi has gone into party and celebration mode. Fireworks, lights, parties, festivities, sweets - it's a hive of activity. Not so long ago there was Dussehra (6 October), this is when (according to my trusty Wiki source), the harvest season begins so the Mother Goddess is invoked to start the new harvest season and reactivate the vigor and fertility of the soil. But here in Delhi they like fire and light so at the outdoor fairs and parades enormous effigies of Ravana (a mythical king of ancient Sri Lanka), his brother Kumbhakarna and son Meghanad are burnt in the evening. We were attending a wedding so couldn't get amongst it but will mark it down for next year.

The good news for us is that after this celebration summer is also over and it's time to enjoy some winter weather and get ready for Diwali. Of course there is also a negative with this as it is also the time in Delhi where everyone gets sick - coughs, colds, fevers, dengue - you name it someone has it!  Good news is that the burning of the effigies (that are also filled with firecrackers containing phosphorus) supposedly purifies the atmosphere. I am not sure whether this is that effective but the air has certainly taken on a lovely smoky feel....

The temperatures are lovely though and Delhi days are hovering around 30/31 for the next 10 days which is very pleasant.

Around this time there is also the very important festival of Oktoberfest! No matter which country you are in everyone is keen to celebrate. So I headed off to the Americans baseball diamond to mark this important occasion. Beer, sausages, salads - it was all very German except perhaps the 80's/90's Top 40 cover band. There was a 'chugging' contest which was won by one incredible sculler..... amazingly fast. There was also a Stein comp, where you had to keep your arm straight holding a stein for as long as possible. Valiant effort by many but no one was ever going to beat the man who apparently can lock his elbow! The hostesses looked amazing.

Brilliant outfits!

Unfortunately my husband wasn't here for Oktoberfest, one of his favourite holidays, as he was off representing India in the Gaelic Footy Champs in Korea (of course I hear you say). Sad news is the 'Irish Wolfhounds' didn't win the comp but I think they had a damn fine time trying. There's always next year!!!

Of course it wouldn't be a week here without story of irritation. I went to bank a cheque for my husband today, easy job isn't it? Well I strolled into the bank and gave them the cheque and they refused to bank it as this cheque is made for Tom and my husband is not called Tom, he is called Thomas. But they are the same I said.... Tom Moody is Thomas Moody - the same (always try a cricket analogy). Well apparently not, they are different and I have to get my husband to write a note saying that they are intended for the same person..... I may just never bank these cheques.

Next stop here is Diwali (26 October) and everyone is very excited...... it's time for Diwali bonus, sweets, lights and a bucket load of firecrackers. Delhi is not the place to catch some rest over the next month or so. But what I am most looking forward to is my visitors....... bring it on!!!

Sari time

A few weeks ago we received our first invitation to a wedding since we have lived here in Delhi. It was for Slyvia and Solomon, Slyvia being the sister of a colleague of T's.

I was really looking forward to donning my first sari so headed into Old Delhi to buy one. Mel, Hannah and I went in search and found Bansal Saree Emporium in Kinari Bazaar. It was floor to ceiling packed with sari's of all colours and patterns!

Our friendly assistant pulled out sari after sari for us to look at and then we each selected a couple to try on. That's when the assistants got even friendlier!!!

I found a sari I liked and unsuccessfully tried to negotiate the price..... he didn't budge, I liked it, I bought.

After buying the sari I then went to Lodhi Colony main market and got my blouse and petticoat custom made, two days later I was all set for action!

Then yesterday the big day finally came for Slyvia and Solomon so T, S and I frocked up. I was wearing my new sari and T in his new favourite outfit - the Kurta pyjama. Just the idea of T getting to wear 'pyjama' to a formal event made him quite excited.

The wedding was to commence at 3.30pm so at 2.45pm Sheela (our cook) and Priya (our housekeeper) came over to assist in getting me into my sari. It took about 15 minutes and thankfully had the assistance of some pins! I felt a little strange but have to say quite like it.

The girls left and Priya went to get ready for the wedding at 3.15pm.... I started to get anxious we would be very late.... 3.30pm arrived, they hadn't ......3.45pm.... nothing so I called - yes yes maam we're coming.... (I am picturing a roll of the eyes down the line).  So at 4 pm we finally arrived for the 3.30pm wedding at Sacred Heart Cathedral and yes.... well we were about the only ones there. When will I learn, time means nothing in this town!!! Then at 4.30pm the bride arrives and we are ready for action.

The bride was lead down the aisle by heaps of family and friends, unlike at Christian weddings back home where someone gives the bride 'away' and she didn't look overjoyed by the whole occasion, which is also part of the deal I was told.

The service was obviously in Hindi which made it a bit tricky but S ran around the church, people came in and out, moved seats, chatted..... no one seemed to mind too much. Soon enough they were husband and wife, he removed the veil but no smooch :)

The bride and groom didn't leave the church straight away whereas most visitors took their leave. T,S and I were then summoned to the alter where we were to have some photos with the bride and groom. A little bit strange as I had never actually met either of them before but it was very nice.

Then we all exited the church to drums, dancing and much fanfare, S loved it (even being abducted by other guests - spot in video below)!!!

The band played, guests danced and many a rupee was thrown in the air in celebration!

We took our leave, took S home to bed and then returned at 8pm for the dinner. Now this is were you are on time apparently.... there is food, you are on time.

The tent was set up where all the food stations were and inside the bride and groom sat on the stage being congratulated by visitors and had their picture taken. The noise inside the hall battled with the noise of Dusshera fireworks lighting up the sky outside.

Sorry for blurred photo - taken on iPhone

We enjoyed some snacks of aloo kachori, deep fried potato covered in a chilli based sauce (with our without curd - your choice), Indian noodles (very spicy but very good), paneer curry, vege curries, naan, rice followed up with some ice-cream. We then talked with our friends for awhile before going into see the bride and groom who apparently have to sit on the stage for 2 - 3 hours!

After we paid our respects to the bride and groom it was time to go, the night dressed up in my a lovely sari was at an end. We thanked our host and entered the Delhi night leaving a wedding that was sure to go into the wee hours of the morning.