Prayers, Peace and Parakeets!

On Sunday morning we (both!) went to a church with Cleo in South Delhi, called the Delhi Bible Fellowship. It was very multicultural - Cleo even met another Zimbabwean! It had different services in English and Hindi, and we both found it very welcoming, particularly given the free chai! It was quite similar to Emma's church back home in Peckham. She felt very at home and loved how people from all over the world and from all different backgrounds were united in song and prayer.

Us with Cleo, outside Church.

A tuk-tuk ride later we were at Connaught Place and went to explore Palika market, a busy underground market under the central park area. Although we are getting used to being stared at everywhere we go, it was quite overwhelming being called to by every stall holder as we walked past!  Our next stop was the Delhi tourist office, after being strongly encouraged to go there by a man on the street who stopped to talk to us. Being naturally suspicious Londoners, we have found it hard to tell when people stop to talk to us in the street if they are trying to help us or sell us something!

We then got another tuk-tuk, after some expert haggling from Emma, to the Lodi Gardens. After the noise and constant bustle of the town centre it was very relaxing to walk through this beautiful park, filled with palm trees, young couples escaping  from their parents,  families enjoying very elaborate picnics and the occasional cricket match. 

The bridge as we came into Lodi gardens.

One of the many Cricket matches dotted around the gardens, in full swing!

Dotted around the gardens are the 15th and 16th century tombs of Sayyid and Lodi rulers, which are sadly grafitti-ed and poorly preserved. One of the tombs had a mosque attached, which had beautiful  carved writing and geometric patterns as decoration around the arches. We were very surprised at how little protection of these monuments there seemed to be, with people allowed to clamber all over them!

Looking over at Bara Gumbad tomb and attached mosque.

One of the doorways to the mosque, beautifully decorated with carvings.

The mosque itself - part tourist attraction and interesting monument and part local hangout for teens. 

Even here we were still asked for photos, although we managed to get the husband of this couple to take a photo of us with his wife who was very dressed up, which we think may indicate that they are recently married. You can still see the blue tiling that would have decorated this tomb, and the contrast of the red and yellow stone.

Us with the lady we met in front of Sheesh Gumbad.

Michaela in front of Sheesh Gumbad. You can just see some of the blue tiles remaining below the dome.

One of the buildings, the tomb of Mohammed Shah - one of the Sayyid rulers, is one of the few remaining examples of architecture from the era, built in the early 1400's. It had a very striking octagonal design with a colonnade all the way around the edge, and looked too beautiful to be unprotected. 

Mohammed Shah's Tomb

The colonnade around Mohammed Shah's Tomb.

Instead of the usual blare of car horns, the sound of birds and people chatting with friends dominated. We saw plenty more black kites, some common mynas, large grey babblers, whose call really does sound like high pitched chattering, and even green parakeets!

A very friendly green parakeet!

  We left feeling relaxed and ready to face the crowded metro back, and our next week at the hospital. We will let you know what adventures we manage to fit in between ward work, and maybe a little more on the medicine we've seen so far.

One of the rows of palm trees lining the walkways of Lodi gardens, as the sun starts to set.