Delhi Haat

On Saturday I visited the warehouse for the first time. My hopes were to see the monkeys running around, but it was too hot for them to even come out. To me it felt like the coolest day so far, but it was still about 110. I will just say I am glad I am not working in the warehouse.

At the warehouse I met up with Gary and Jay from the US operations that are in town for another 2 week stint. Jay is originally from India and has lived in the US for 17 years.

After the tour of the warehouse I went to the Delhi Haat (Hut), in south Delhi with Gary and Jay US. It is a market place where people come to sell their various crafts. It is kind of like a big outdoor craftshow that is open everyday. It was mostly fabrics, art work, jewelry, and wood and stone work pieces. The government owns the lands and gives the spots out for free to the vendors for two weeks at a time. The prices are less expensive and there is bargaining to be had. Plus most of the clothing, artwork and other crafts were all made by hand and hand stitched.

An interesting site there was a roundabout area where all the women were getting the hena type artwork done on their hands and arms.

I was thinking of starting a side business by importing some of the purses from there. The most interesting were lizard skin purses. I did a group project for my MBA Marketing class a couple years ago. In the US, there is a big markup on some of the purses.

Being the cheapskate I am, I did not buy anything this time around, but I am sure I will be back again. There were a couple interesting pieces, but I do not know if I could get them back to the US in one piece.

After walking around for a couple hours, my clothes were completely drenched from sweat. It is bad enough that it is so hot out, but I was also wearing pants. Going outside in shorts is kind of a taboo.

After the trip we went to an area mall. Last year it was the largest mall in India. We went up to the fourth floor and ate at TGI Fridays. I had the Jack Daniels burger. Instead of beef it was lamb. It tasted very good and was a little leaner meat. The interior of the plcace was exactly like the US.

We walked from the mall to their hotel. A little kid followed us for about 3 blocks of the walking holding a red rose. He was poking and holding the arms of Gary and I looking for a handout. Finally Jay said something to him in Hindu and he left. The kinds are persistant.

About another block down the road Jay stopped at a little vendor. For 5 rupees (10 cents), he had a snack made which consisted of a banana leaf and 12 ingredients spread on it. He said the flavor would be too strong for me to take.

Earlier in the day Jay showed me the area around his hotel. It was the narrow little roads that you see on tv with shops on both sides. He took me into a back alley and showed me where he gets his 35 rupee (70 cent) hair cuts. I haven't had a hair cut since being here, so I was debating whethere or not to get out, but the barber was sleeping in his shop. Walking around there were many tailor spots. Basically 8 person sweatshops with sewing machines. Jay asked how much to tailor a combination of shirt and pants. It was 200 rupees, but you would have to buy the fabric from a different store. $4 to completely tailor however meters of fabric into an outfit.