Benjamin Chodroff

The Taj Mahal certainly deserves its official title as one of the seven wonders. The inlaid marble work is simply exquisite and the overall impressiveness of the building makes one stair in awe. I had a guide show me around and explain the history. Simply writing about the Taj is no way to appreciate it. I am glad I have had the opportunity to see it for myself.

After seeing some shops in Agra, my driver took me to Mathura and Brindavan. These places are off the beaten path for most western tourists as was quite obvious by the stairs I got. Thousands and thousands of Hindu pilgrims visit Mathura as it is the birthplace of Lord Krishna. Myself, a boat rower, and a guide drifted down the river to a temple located on the water. I didn’t quite understand everything that was going on but the site was beautiful. I saw where Krishna is said to have been born and I repeated a prayer that protected my family. They asked for a donation (Rs 10,000!), but were quite understanding when I told them I was only a student and offered Rs 20. Brindavan is a beautiful temple on the way back to Delhi. Hundreds of Hindus were inside singing songs and walking through the beautiful courtyards. Unfortunately, photography was strictly not allowed.

I did wander around Delhi quite a bit. I met Dana and her sister Maya and we toured the Red Fort together. We ran from building to building to avoid the rain and had a great time. After lunch, we purchased sweets, talked in the park, and then went back to Metropolis for drinks. The streets of Paharganj are certainly a curious place.

My sole mission for Delhi was to find a sitar for myself. By chance, I ended up in a hotel just down the road from a small music shop “Music Emporium”, owned by Shan Khan. I dropped into his shop the first night I arrived in Delhi and we hit it off immediately. He showed me some fine sitars and I began to learn what to look for when picking a sitar. I spent the next couple of days catching rickshaws all over Delhi looking at all the sitars. Of course, I poked into Rikhi Rham’s shop, the place where the Beatles’ purchased their sitars. I must have visited over 10 shops before realizing that the sitar I wanted was the one at the Music Emporium. The tone quality and craftsmanship just couldn’t be beat.

Shan invited me to hear his brother, Nasir Khan play the sarangi at his house. It was a once in a lifetime concert. The saragi is in some ways like a cello in that it has 4 bass strings which are bowed and it is a fretless instrument. However, the unique part of this Indian instrument is the use of sympathetic string which reverberate making each note sing out. It is a remarkable instrument and Nasir Khan made a performance of a lifetime. Shan recorded a video and I took photographs of the virtuoso as he played. Afterwords, Shan took me on his bike over to his shop where his Gurugi was working on assembling an instrument. Next, we headed over to his shop and we shared lunch - chole bhature, which was fantastic. I watched his shop for a bit (noodling on the violin to bollywood tunes) while he ran some errands. Later that afternoon, we headed over to meet his other brother who watched over the factory where the drums were assembled. Then, a motorcycle tour of Old Delhi where we ultimately ended up at Jama Masjid mosque. He did his prayers while I explored and snapped some shots. I spent the rest of the day noodling on the instruments in the shop until the evening.

Vikas headed up to Delhi with me on the same flight. He was heading off to Roorkee for school. He helped me get a prepaid taxi to Paravganj area and we said goodbyes. My taxi never made it to the hotel I had reserved. Instead, he dropped me off outside of Paraganj. If you can imagine the most incredible assault on the senses, that would be Paraganj. The smell of a thousand smells, the sound of rickshaws, people shouting, and the site of a riot moving throughout the small streets. I never found the hotel I reserved. Instead, my bicycle rickshaw driver dropped me outside of a random hotel because he could not go any farther due to a small crowd of onlookers. A cow was dieing in the road - blood, shit and vomit from the cow mixed with the overflowing dumpster. The smell was overwhelming in the hot sun.

I booked a room for a mere Rs. 200 (about $5USD) a night. The hotel was grade F - cockroaches, shady sheets on the bed and no hot water. I only had to put up with it for 5 nights and I barely minded. The cockroaches kept to themselves, it was too hot for sheets and the cold showers kept the Delhi heat at bay.

Most of the evenings in Delhi I spent with “Gigilo” and his friends which I met in Paraganj. They are travel agents and I met them while wandering around the streets. We’d start off at Metropolis Hotel then headd to the very posh Le Meridion Hotel’s club. Nice guys and it made clubbing in Delhi enjoyable. They also helped me book an AC car to see the Taj, Mathura and Brindavan.

I spent the rest of my trip in Bangalore exploring the city. I bought Katie an absolutely stunning sari at Deepums, the renowned silk store. I then took the sari over to make the blouse and jacket and they allowed me to photograph them doing there work as well as ask questions. It was a very interesting process to watch as the team passed the fabric around.

With work over, it was time to play. I went out clubbing/lounging in Bangalore, but overall found the scene fairly pathetic. Every place closed at 11:30. I managed to find a club that was just packed and awesome, but the place was cleared out before midnight.

On the last day, I met a few of Vikas’ friends at the mall. They were all very nice and Pratusha even bought me a book to read while on the road - “How I taught my grandmother to read.”She also suggested I buy “Maximum City” which is a book about Mumbai. I was finishing up “The Argumentative Indian,” which was recommended to me by Mike Swartzlander. I have nearly finished it and I am impressed with Amartya Sen’s writing. Anyone who is interested in India or will travel to India and wants to really understand why and how India came to be what it is needs to read this book.

It has been awhile since we finished up the Extreme Blue India Expo in Bangalore, but our team has been quite happy with the results. We submitted six patent disclosures and our project on Connecting Virtual Worlds and Real Worlds was featured in the India Times in the Economic section. I gave my first press statement and I was very happy that they quoted me in the article. I should note that the article is a bit too gracious in its credit to me. The idea for connecting the virtual world and the real world to me was originally Pankaj Zanwar’s, our mentor, and as well, due credit to the rest of the team including Debdutta Choudhuri, Harish Lakshmi, and Vikas Sonigara. I have missed working with them and our ten weeks together went by quickly.