Aminata, 11th Grader John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics & Science
We started off our day by going together to the Lotus temple which is a Bahái house of worship but all religions are welcomed. The lotus flower is the national flower meaning peace, purity, and prosperity. Inside we all sat down in complete silence to reflect and/or pray on just about everything. I personally took this time to sit back and pray to myself. In this temple there is no preaching or lecturing in order to maintain the silence within oneself.
While on our way to Old Delhi on the bus, Sanjay, our tour guide, told us the story of Ganesha and he even sang us the Ganesha song in Hindi. It was really interesting to listen to. We got off the bus and started to walk the streets of Old Delhi and we even got to go on the Tut-tut. On the Tut-tut I was with Isaiah, Tate, and Adam. This was my least favorite part because they drive pretty crazy on these streets and the worst part is they honk for literally everything which is the most annoying thing ever. But my Tut-tut buddies didn’t seem to be bothered by it.
We went to a spice shop which is known all the world. I bought mango green tea. It smelled very delicious. Then we proceeded to walk through the narrow alleyways where people were constantly pushing but I guess it’s a culture norm. Going through these narrow ways was so cool because there were so many shops, eateries, and it was so rich with culture. There Sanjay introduced us to these beautiful jewelry stores. I bought myself a ring and bought my mom a ring with real ruby stones.
After a little shopping, we went to go see the Red Fort. While Sanjay was explaining the history behind the fort, some Indian people were so fascinated by us that they started taking pictures and some even asked us for selfies. It was too funny. Adonis was having a blast taking pictures with them feeling like a celebrity. While we were walking through, Morgan and I noticed that three guys were following us only because they were intrigued by us. Ha! The whole time they were just smiling super hard it was funny. Later on that day, we went to a restaurant called Chobazzar where they served us more Indian food with a great dessert.
In the evening we went to visit the Mahatma Gandhi assassination site. We were able to see his final steps before he got assassinated. There was also a museum that we attended and I watched a video on his final minutes before he got shot. Watching that video made me feel sad and happy because he did so much good for people and he genuinely cared so much but unfortunately some people didn’t have mutual beliefs and so they took it upon them-self to kill Gandhi. He left a legacy that will never be forgotten. We continued the day by going to the India gate which was created for soldiers to make them feel honored.
As the sun was going down we made our way to a Sikh Temple to observe how the religion Sikhism is practiced. The whole group took off our shoes and went inside to where all the people were listening to the guy read scriptures on the microphone. It was really interesting to see all the people there doing what they do with a passion. Then we went to a big kitchen where bread was being made and we all even got a chance to participate in bread making. After that we went to dinner ate some more good food and shared some good laughs all thanks to Isaiah. On the bus ride back to the hotel we all were in the back just talking and enjoying each other’s company. So far so good in India.
