Lazy Days and Holidays

Well, last weekend Will came to Delhi for a much too short visit and we had a lovely time doing a lot of nothing. Mostly we had lazy days filled with conversations, walks, and food. The only real site I think we saw was Lodi Garden, a garden in the south of Delhi that has tombs of some rulers of the Delhi Sultanate. My favorite tomb is Sikander Lodi's, he was a ruler of India from 1489 - 1517, but there are also the tombs of Mubarak Shah (died, 1433) and Ibrahim Lodi (died 1526) in the garden. The garden also has a phenomenal maze of paths to wander around.

The other "cultural" thing that we did was look at the art in the India Habitat Centre. The Centre is a beautiful space in Delhi, beautifully designed with tall office buildings and large open spaces. We went there because located within the compound is a restaurant called the All American Diner that has a menu remarkably similar to Denny's in the US, but with more vegan options. We also went there because of the photography exhibit. The exhibit was in the office buildings lobbies's and was set up by Manas, Mental Health and Social Service, a non-profit organization committed to working for mental health awareness in India. Walking from lobby to lobby provided a nice time to contemplate the paintings, which were stylistically beautiful but slightly disturbing in their subject.

After Will's short visit, I returned to Lucknow and celebrated Thanksgiving with my friends in Lucknow. We had a wonderful potluck (I, again, made a very yummy vegan chocolate pie). My friends here are very sweet and even made me my own portion of the cornbread, stuffing, sticky date pudding, and mashed potatoes. It was an excellent meal and in the spirit of the holiday, I overstuffed myself.