Gandhi spinning in his grave

August 15 in India is Independence Day. The malls in Delhi, full of Western goods, are now decked out in the colors of the Indian flag. Somewhere, Gandhi and Nehru are spinning in their graves.

Geological time scales

It's easy to forget how old even some of the more recent buildings in India are. The Red Fort in Delhi, for example, was built by one of the last Moghul kings (before they lost their empire to the British). When it was built, water was pumped up from the Yamuna river and used to keep the palaces cool.

Now, though, the Yamua river is more than a mile away. The river has moved that much since the time that the fort was built.

Being pound foolish

Everything I'm seeing in India tells me that Krugman is right when he says:

Everything we know about economic growth says that a well-educated population and high-quality infrastructure are crucial. Emerging nations are making huge efforts to upgrade their roads, their ports and their schools. Yet in America we’re going backward ... the end result of the long campaign against government is that we’ve taken a disastrously wrong turn.

Don't eat alone in Indian restaurants

What happens when you walk into a slightly upscale Indian restaurant by yourself?

"You are here aah-looone?", asks the waiter, extending the word "alone" for a full five seconds and saying it loud enough for half the restaurant to turn around and look at you. He then seats you in the middle of the restaurant at a table meant for six. Determined not to be embarrassed, you pull out your e-book reader and start to read. At which point, the old lady at the table over leans over and asks if you are praying.

And that's when you decide you'll never go to an upscale Indian restaurant by yourself.

Inadequate profit

The kids sold lemonade and snacks at an Oklahoma City metro-area gathering on Saturday and cleared $10 each.  S2 fell asleep on the way back but S1 was full of excitement when he got back home at 11pm (at which time I talked to him over Skype).

He had ideas for how to make more money next year: (1) better stall location ("our tent was right at a turn and people couldn't see us"), (2) different products ("the tent that had plates and real food sold 300 dollars and some people went and bought from them a second time") and (3) a more enthusiastic sales force ("S2 would not ask people if they wanted to buy a bag of snacks").   The only thing that was missing was a PowerPoint slide with future expected revenues if these changes were made.

Unfortunately, the excitement turned to disappointment when he started leafing through a toy catalog to see what he could buy for $10.  It doesn't go that far, he quickly realized. I am afraid that he's going to shoot for that $300 product-line next time and that we will get stuck having to make it in our kitchen.

Pizza for Indians

The last time the kids came back from India, they came back hankering for "real pizza". The wife said that they'd had Domino's pizza in Chennai, so I wasn't sure what they were talking about. It's not as if the kids are gourmet pizza fiends or anything. They even eat the pizza I make.

When I saw a Pizza Hut in Delhi, therefore, I decided to go in. The pizza tasted just like Nan (the North Indian flat bread)! Nan with curry on top.

Ruins before they are sanitised

I was walking from Qutub Minar to the metro station (Delhi's metro system is being dramatically expanded and it's a very nice way to get around) and for a long stretch, the road goes past a walled garden. A really long stretch. At one point, the wall had broken down. To go in or not? Would I be trespassing? But all the greenery was tempting, so I went in.

Turns out that I was not trespassing. There were signs inside that said that it was "Mehrauli Architectural Park".

But the monuments themselves were completely overgrown. Know those pictures every historical site has about how the place looked when the first archaelogist/explorer was led there by a local shepherd? That's how the architectural park looked. Ruins everywhere, overgrown with greenery. It was very pretty -- and after the crowds at Qutub Minar ("more visitors than the Taj Mahal"), the lack of another soul in this archaelogical park was blissful.

It was when I saw the plaques that I realized what was happening. The plaques all talked about conservation efforts that had started in the late 90s. The conservation work had been started recently, and it being Sunday, there were no workers around. They mustn't even have gotten around to building a gate -- I'd come in through a construction entrance. Hmm ... may be I was not supposed to be here.

Was the park open to visitors or was it an archaelogical site in progress? I don't know, but I did have a nice look around. It's so rare that you get to see actual ruins, in a state of being ruined, that I was enthralled.

And just as I was about to leave, I saw a couple of teenagers. They were scrambling up on to one of the mosques. Maybe the place needs a gate after all.

P.S. turns out that there is a gate; the break in the wall that I (and the teenagers?) came in through was not supposed to be there. Here's a nice article on Mehrauli Architectural Park -- it's worth a visit before it gets all cleaned up and sanitised.