Picto Diary - 06 January 2016 - Delhi Sights
Above: Bishop observes Jama Masjid Mosque. Delhi, India. Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe in the foreground. Note ubiquitous pigeons. Delhi, India. 06 January 2016.
The Bishop was here last week, but couldn't get in as it was Friday. That day, Delhi's chief Imam also visited the mosque which was surrounded by elite security forces.
Above: Heat and Spago, members of the Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe. Jama Masjid Mosque, Delhi, India. 06 January 2016.
Piously clad as is required for ladies by mosque authorities.
Above: Montage and the bullock. Chandni Chowk. Delhi, India. 06 January 2016.
Traveling in India with the Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe.
Above: Spaghetti wire. Chandni Chowk. Delhi, India. 06 January 2016.
When there's a power problem, how do they figure out which wire goes to which user?
Touring India with the Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe.
Above: Barber "shop." Chandni Chowk, Delhi. 06 January 2016.
Shave and a haircut six bits.
Touring India with the Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe
Above: The Admiral and Montage. Red Fort Archaelogical Museum, located in the Mumtaz Mahal of the Red Fort In Delhi.
The museum contains paintings, artifacts, calligraphy, fabrics and other objects dating from the Mughal era.
Here The Admiral and Montage discuss the Volvo IPS propulsion system on the Admiral's Riviera 53 EB boat.
The Admiral and Montage are touring India with The Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe.
Above: Parrot. Silver plate ceiling. Hall of Private Audiences. Red Fort. Delhi, India. 06 January 2016.
Traveling in India with the Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe.
Adept story teller Ajay relayed the following story as members of the Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe stood, rapt, by the Hall of Private Audiences:
Medieval Folklore - How a blinded Prithviraj Chauhan shot down Muhammad Ghori.
Prithviraj Chauhan (1149–1192 AD) was the ruler of Ajmer and Delhi in the 12th century AD. During his time, Afghan ruler Muhammad Ghori invaded India. Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Ghori in 1191 AD in the first battle of Tarain. However, Prithviraj released the vanquished Ghori and let him travel back out of India. However, Muhammad Ghori started to regroup his forces again and returned to challenge Prithviraj at the Second Battle of Tarain in 1192 AD.
In an epic battle, Prithviraj was defeated and captured by the Afghan forces. Muhammad Ghori had the captured king's eyes burnt with red hot iron rods and took the blinded Prithviraj back with him to Gazni. Along with the king went his trusted poet and advisor, Chand Bardai.
In Gazni, Prithviraj was regularly brought to Ghori's court and taunted and insulted by Ghori and his courtiers. To avenge his insult, Prithviraj and Chand Bardai devised a plan for retribution. Chand Bardai told Ghori that Prithviraj, a renouned archer, was an expert in "Shabd-Bhedi Baan", ie, could hit a target blind folded just by hearing the sound it made. Ghori was immediately interested in seeing such skills and called for an archery display in his court. The blind Prithviraj was brought in and handed a bow and an arrow. A goat was tied to a pillar and Prithviraj was told to display his skills by killing the goat.
Instead, Chand Bardai skilfully told the king the seating position of Ghori through the following couplet:
Char Bans Chaubi Gaj, ungal asat parman;
Ta upar sultan hai, mat chuke Chauhan.
(Four Bamboo lengths in front, then twenty four hands and eight fingers in height, the sultan is sitting. Don’t miss him Chauhan)
Prithviraj Chauhan, based on the directions of his poet friend, lined up his arrow and shot Muhammad Ghori through his throat. Before the Afghans could capture both the Rajput warriors, Prithviraj and Chand Bardai stabbed each other.
Above: Members of the Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe listen to Ajay at Raj Ghat, cremation memorial of Mahatma Gandhi. 06 January 2015.
Could Gandhi-ji have saved India... prevented its partition in 1947?
Ajay says yes.
Either Jinnah or Nehru were willing to preside over an undivided India, but each insisted on the partition option to prevent the other from running the whole show.
Could Gandhi-ji have been more persuasive to Nehru that he back off of his demand for leadership, allowing Jinnah to take command, knowing that Jinnah, terminally ill, would have been dead in six months anyway? Nehru would surely be head of a united India after Jinnah's death.
Gandhi was assassinated 30 January 1948 by a HIndu nationalist who felt Gandhi didn't do enough to keep India united.
Above: TIMDT and Maui. Piously clad. Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Sikh Temple. Delhi, India. 06 January 2015.
Traveling with The Margaret Taylor Dance Troupe.
Addendum
Are you sure this isn’t Delhi?
Jack Aroon, Mahwah, NJ
What was next on your itinerary after you loaded the kid on a plane in Delhi? Anxiously awaiting next chapter of travelogue.
Country Boy,
Greenwich, CT
Speaking of OSHA, "accidents" wouldn't be called that if you could always avoid them. And that's also why, here in the U.S., we have building codes and electrical codes (presumably, your home meets these).
Don't slip in the hotel shower.
FeeNix
Phoenix, AZ
Have a safe and fun trip!!
Don and Audrey
Las Vegas, NV