I went to Delhi for the weekend as Dr.Vandana Shiva was speaking at a workshop on organic farming. I packed up all of my belongings, said good bye to Parmarth Niketan ashram and caught a government bus from Rishikesh to Delhi. One of the best things I have done since I have been in India is get a local phone!!! It took a lot of work and a couple of tries to get it sorted, but it is so great to have a cell. Especially when you are arriving in a huge city and want to be able to call the one person you know there! I arrived just after sun down, negotiated a rikshaw into the heart of Delhi, and arrived to meet Rachy, a good friend from back home, and the sister of one of my besties Tabitha!
After dropping my belongings and washing the bus ride off Rachy and I went for a good meal. I had a Mexican dish, yes Mexican in India, doesn’t seem to be right. Then it was time to have a pre-party nap as we were going out to a reggae club. Rachy never ceases to amaze me. For one she always has a smile on her face. Whether she is eating, speaking, dancing, or probably even sleeping, she is smiling. It is wonderful and always brightens me up! Secondly Rachy always knows where the party is at. Whether she is flying into Calgary for the Snowblower show, hitting up Shambhala, or locating the best reggae scene in Delhi, she is on top of it and knows all the right people to enjoy the party with. Furthermore Rachy is an inspiration. Right now she is doing a three week placement at a hospital in Delhi. She is finishing up her fourth year of med school which is an entire year of doing placements at a hospital, or hospitals in Rachy’s case. She is lucky enough to have broken up her placements across the globe. Some of her placements include New Delhi, Churchill, Canmore, and maybe even Nicaragua. So impressive and incredible! I also love the duality that Rachy has. She works hard and knows how to play even harder. Its fabulous!
Off we went to a reggae club in Haus Khaus. We got right in because Racy knows everyone. I met a group of friends she has in Delhi. She met them last year when she couch surfed with them here in Delhi. The Dj was great, but a little frustrating as they wouldn’t play a whole song, or a consistent beat, for more than thirty seconds. Challenging for a girl who loves to dance and just wants to let it all out! Because of our pre-party nap Rachy and I got to the club just as the Dj was finishing up. Not a worry; Rachy’s friends had another party lined up; of course. Would I expect any less. We shuffled out to the street to grab some rikshaws. Our very large group jammed into four different riks, four per rik. Most had one person sitting on a lap. In our rikshaw were Christine and Dan, both from Europe and both working in Delhi. The pair, now a couple, met here in Delhi doing the same work exchange. Really lovely people.
Our entourage of rikshaws scooted through the city. To be perfectly honest it seemed a little surreal, like I was in a movie or something. It actually reminded me of Midnight in Paris, when Owen Wilson gets picked up in the incredibly fancy cab, and takes off in it with a full party of people dressed in their finest, drinking wine and champagne. Indian rikshaws are not the same as a swank car from the twenties, but I am a simple gal and everything is relative.
We arrived at a venue called The Garden of the Five Senses. The place was a dream. I couldn’t believe that it existed in the middle of dirty Delhi. It was a paradise; manicured lawns, landscaped gardens, flowers everywhere. We were arriving at a graduation party for a local college. Everyone was dressed in their finest clothes, the young women looked so glamorous and modern in their platform heels, and chic evening wear.
We immediately made friends with one of the girls attending the graduation party. She actually wasn’t graduating but was the date of a guy who was. She was very sweet, from Germany I think. Working in Delhi, for a German company. Very friendly and interested in what Rachy and I were doing in Delhi. She had to run off shortly after chatting but I remember her final comments to Rachy and I “Good luck with your time at the hospital and you," she pointed to me, "come back to Delhi”. I had originally planned on being in Delhi only for the weekend, althpugh stayed for about a weeks' time after her request!
We danced at The Garden of Five Senses until it grew tired. As it turned out Rachy and I were not in the middle of Delhi, but, well actually I still don’t know where we were but it was very far from anything close by. Despite this we decided to find a way home. Leaving all senses behind, including common, we walked down a deserted road in search of a main one. Accompanied by two young India guys who seemed more bothered by our presence than appreciative we found a main street and a rikshaw to boot. We drove home and froze as Delhi is fairly warm during the day but cools off substantially at night. Plus rikshaws do not have sides to them, so 50km/creates quite the drafty breeze.
Saturday night was a similar occurrence of events. Delicious dinner, pre-party nap, this night I actually took the time to get ready in ‘going out’ clothes, then we were off. I cannot remember the name of the place we went to but we got right in and drinks were free until 11pm. So we took advantage of that. Up until Delhi I had not been drinking alcohol at all. Before I left for India I had spent six weeks or more or visiting with friends and family where alcohol was commonly available. I figured that I should correct the balance once arriving in India and give it up for awhile. So taking advantage of free alcohol after not drinking it for over a month, not the wisest decision. Hahahaha!
Needless to say we had a great night! I met new people, I also met the group from the night before and most of them didn’t recognize me, Hahahahha! Apparently I truly was Miss Decent the night before. But tonight I was not, I was probably Miss Dancing Queen. Dance we did. The music was great and it felt so good to shake it all off. I made friends with some local Indian girls before we got on the dance floor. I saw the three of them taking photos and I offered to take a group shot for them. Then I told them a tip that I learned from our dear Kim Kardashian; if you tilt your chin slightly down in photos you wont get a double chin. This group of girls really liked the tip and really liked me as the four of us tore it up all night!! I had so much fun with them!
I left the floor to take a break and then became known as “Miss Canada”. One of the girls from the dance floor came up to me and complimented my dancing, then asked where I was from. I told her, to which she replied that she had been to Canada and loved it. Another guy overheard me say Brampton, which is where he had lived for awhile. All of a sudden I was surrounded by a GTA collective, right in the heart if Delhi. So cliché but the world is so small.
When the club died down I opted out of the after party as Dr.Shiva was speaking the next day and I wasn’t going to miss it for the world. Rachy and I parted ways; I went back to the hotel to sleep, and Rachy went to the after party where she feel asleep, was forgotten about, and left behind at a farm house somewhere forty minutes or so outside of the city. I apparently made the right decision.
Dancing in Delhi was a ball. It some respects it could have been Toronto with the mix of people, the life, the vibrancy, and the buzz that exists there. But it wasn’t. It was New Delhi, India, and a new experience for me. Just fabulous! Thanks Rachy, you are the eternal “Miss Dancing Queen”!
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