Humayun’s Tomb
National Museum of India
It is election time in the state of Delhi, so there was a note in our room that they, by law, must stop serving alcohol 2 days before the election. Fortunately, that will not impact our welcome cocktail party tonight.
All over town for the last few days we have experienced the marches and bullhorns of the election. I doubt that politics in Delhi are any more exciting to the general public than they are at home. They have about a 50% vote rate in the cities but it drops to as little as 20% in the countryside. They say that people are fed up, but that they expect better turn out because the candidates are promising a clean sweep…..yeah right.
Today was Sunday, the mornings were very quiet as families tend to stay close to home, but as the day wears on they set out for family outings. By the time we hit our last destination the place was packed. Mom and I were approached by many Indian women asking us to join in their photographs. We have absolutely no idea why. They were sweet, friendly, and dressed so beautifully in their sari’s we really could not figure out why they wanted two old American women in their shots, but we happily obliged.
Today was a day where you could just sit and watch the parade of fashion. The saris and their varying colors and ornamentation are something to behold. Indians tend to dress really very nicely if they can afford to do so, and Sunday is the day to dress up and show off, so it was really a great day to people watch.
I have not entirely figured out what each different outfit means. Mostly, they are regional, but I haven’t developed an eye enough to completely understand.
The males that wear the turbans in Delhi are primarily Punjabi and usually Sikh, the colors of their turbans are significant, but again, I haven’t completely got that one straight. However, there are also turbans worn by other religions in other parts of India, they are simply tied differently. The male muslims wear a small Topi, or woven hat. I have only seen one man in what americans consider traditional Indian dress, the dhoti-kurta, most men are in jeans or suits.
The women, as I mentioned, wear sari’s, and they are really gorgeous, but they also wear what is called the Salwar-kameez or baggy pajama pants with a loose tunic. These are worn by women in Punjab primarily, but apparently has been adopted by most Indian women of today.
