Religious Diversity

Hello from Delhi!

The board reads “Your First REAL Hindi Class”

Today started out with a lesson in Hindi. Although we knew a few common words and phrases, we were instructed in the alphabet and basic construction of words and sentences. After reviewing the common phrases by role-playing conversations with others, we were able to learn how to write our names in Hindi.

After this lesson we had breakfast and then walked to the Sheik temple near our hostel. Here, we had a brief introduction to the Sheik faith, visited the temple, and toured the kitchens where they prepare food daily for thousands of guests. This marks the first social service we’ve encountered during our time in India, and it is provided by a faith community and not the government.

In the kitchen of the Sheik Temple preparing food; these machines produce 1500 tortillas an hour!

Following this tour, we boarded the bus and traveled to Akshardham temple – the site for Hindu worship of a recent Hindu god. Here, in addition to visiting the temple, we took a boat ride though India’s history and viewed an Imax film on the life of the god.

I ripped this image from their website, as cameras were not allowed in the space. As you can see, it was a beautiful temple!

After this excursion, we traveled to Alecca Carrano – a small café and storefront with high fashion designs created by ex-pat, Alecca Carrano. We had the opportunity to hear from her and her husband about their choice to move to India, their experiences in starting their business, and their perspectives on the future of the country.

After that lunch, we traveled to the Lotus Temple for an interfaith service. Although the Lotus Temple is the home for those who practice the Baha’i faith, this service extracts snippets of 5 holy texts and reads them at the same time.

The Lotus Temple – the view might be distorted a bit, as I used panorama to capture the temple!

Following the Lotus Temple, we visited a small Hindu temple and participated in a fire ceremony. We were halfway through, and a surprise dust storm struck and rendered us incapable of fully completing it in its intended manner.

We formally ended our day with a trip to N-Block and Dilly Market for shopping, haggling, and dinner. I had my first try at working prices on the streets, and it was fun! I feel pretty pleased with the deals I made, with the exception of the first at each site. However, I attribute this to needing to warm up to haggling 

To informally conclude our evening, we met up with another OSU study abroad group. This was a group of engineering students who visited an orphanage to construct a maze for the children there. It was interesting to hear their take on the country – as it was far more tourist-y than ours has been to this point.

Today’s post title is religious diversity. Clearly, we observed the temples for a variety of faith traditions today. Although we traveled across Delhi to see these spaces, they are very common throughout India – at least to my observations. Although I cannot speak to the devoutness of those practicing religions here, it strikes me that far more people have a faith background than in America. I’m not sure entirely what factors into that, but it’s just an interesting note. Anyway, so long for today! 

New vs. Old Dehli

The model of the new Delhi Metro system

Today provided a great comparison between the districts of Delhi: Old Delhi and New Delhi. We began our day with an exploration of Old Delhi. We rode the metro, which was exceptionally clean and new!  After a few stops, we got off into a mass of people – this was our official welcome into Old Delhi. We walked to the Jama Masjid mosque in Delhi, which is the largest mosque in all of Asia.

Then, we took cycle rickshaws to the Red Fort of Delhi. Along the way, we passed a man who appeared to be in life-threatening shape – he was crumpled on the ground, not moving, not speaking. And everyone around him was passing by appearing to ignore his condition. When we passed on the rickshaw, our guides got out to ask if he was okay. We learned that he had apparently had too much to drink and was just blackout drunk. Although this story ended all right, it was a jarring and troubling site to see, especially considering how many individuals passed him without a thought to stop.

The Red Fort of Delhi

Government buildings and the rainbow!

Following the Fort, we walked through the crowded and frantic streets to the metro station. In three stops, we were in a different world, emerging from what appeared to be an outdoor shopping mall. Although I discussed contrasts in a previous blog, this stark different was oddly apparent. This again demonstrates the diversity of this country.


After some afternoon free time, we took rickshaws to New Delhi. We viewed the President’s Palace and government buildings, the Indian version of the Arc de Triomphe, and India’s equivalent of the National Mall in Washington D.C. There were many people out on this Sunday evening, following a brief rainstorm that produced the rainbows captured in the images above in this post.    

Delhi’s version of the Arc de Triomphe

We concluded with dinner at Haus Kauz market. This is the up and coming place with art galleries, cafes, restaurants, and apartments. We toured around for a bit and then had dinner at a swanky bar and chatted with ex-pats about their choice to move to India, their businesses, and their experiences in America.

This was a more relaxed day than previous, so that concludes this post!