Dehli, India

If you would rather view a video of this trip, instead of reading a blog, it is available on youtube. 

Before we started this trip, we were asked many a time, "Why are you going to India?" Here are the primary reasons: First, we like to explore different cultures. India is the second most populous country as well as the largest democracy, it is also the birthplace of three of the world's major religions: Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism, the latter two older than Christianity. That qualifies as an interesting culture. Second, people who have been  to India, told us how interesting the country was and that it would assault our senses. That stimulated our curiosity. Finally, we like to visit places with ancient history and wildlife. The culture of the Indian subcontinent is about as old as Egypt's, everyone should see the Taj Mahal in their lifetime, and we included a trip to a tiger reserve to possibly see a tiger in the wild. All good reasons for "why go to India".
Our trip started with an early rising to catch a 6:00 AM flight to Chicago. From there we caught a 13 hour flight direct to Delhi. It was a comfortable 777 with lots of leg room and a wide screen monitor, but 13 hours takes a toll on anyone. Upon arrival we were greeted by our bags (yeah!), our guide, then a dust storm and rain with hail. (This turned out to be the only bad weather of the entire trip.) Prashant, our guide gave us a quick tour of the neighborhood market and the opportunity to go the last day of the festival of Durga Purja. We declined out of exhaustion.
In the morning, Prashant set our expectations for the trip.

1. While Indians keep their indoors clean, outdoors is a no-man's land - junk piles, dirt, ruts
2. While we may be wary of Indian's because of outsourced jobs, they generally are a friendly people, for instance, they may want a picture with you to show their friends. (Indeed this happened quite often during the trip.)
3. Communication may be difficult, while 20-30% speak English, you'll only understand 10% of them and only 5% will understand you.
4. Vendors are everywhere, children will hang on to you, you will encounter beggars and extreme poverty. At the same time, the rich will have many servants and even the middle class may employ part-time servants.

Qutab Minar

In the afternoon, we did our first touring. Delhi is a state (one of 27 in India) of 17 million people with New Delhi as the country's capital. The city is about 1200 years old, originally the capital of a Hindu kingdom. Muslims from Afghanistan have invaded the city many times, destroying many of the original Hindu temples. 
Our first stop is Qutab Minar, home of an ancient mosque and tower built in the 12th century by qutub-ud-din Aibak , a Muslim govenor. The original mosque was built from the stones of a former Hindu temple. Built by local labor, who didn't understand that Muslim art shouldn't depict living things. They violated these rules resulting in a mixture of Arabic letters and designs as well as Hindu vines, flowers, and figurines.
The tower, built from 1199-1212, from sandstone has passages from the Koran written in Arabic girding the tower as well as five picturesque balconies. At the top, marble was used to repair the tower after a lightning strike. The tower was built to symbolize that the Muslim religion was powerful than the Hindu religion. In the courtyard of the mosque is an iron pillar at least 1500 years old, which is a testament to the metallurgy of ancient India, since it resists corrosion. These pillars are often found outside Hindu temples.

Memorial to Mahatma Gandhi

 Our next stop was a large park of Raj Ghat (the state funeral ground) where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated. Gandhi was well know for his version of non-violent, non-cooperation as a way to further his cause. He used this to gain freedom from British rule as well as to protest the caste system. Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by Hindus because he allowed the separation of Pakistan and India., leading to over one million deaths between the factions. Our final stop just after sunset was the India Gate, a memorial to Indian soldiers in World War I and the British Afghan War.
Throughout the day, we were surrounded by families, since today is a Hindu holiday, Vijavadashami, which celebrates the victory of Rama over the ten-headed demon king Ravana. The families were taking as many pictures as the tourists were. And, of course, many women were dressed in their colorful saris. 
The day ended with a delicious India dinner - naan, the traditional bread, several vegetarian dishes as well as chicken dishes. Prashant  pointed our that the vegetables, chicken, and bread will constitue most of our meals. The vegetables will be what is fresh for the season and each restaurant will try to provide uniqueness to the meal by the spices and sauces they use.