Silliness is...: ...Not seeing the trees through the forest

This post really pertains to the second day in India, though I will touch on some things that I have seen and learned since then.

On the second day of my stay in New Delhi we were able to take a couple hours and go sight seeing before the meeting rooms were up and running. On this trip we were taken around to the major landmarks of New Delhi including India Gate, and some of the local governmental buildings. I will post pictures of these below.

The truly interesting part came when we were taken to Old Delhi and were taken on a tour riding in rickshaws. Old Delhi is where the 'real' India can be observed. Here is where I wish that I could wave my hand and make the poverty disappear. I must say though, that I had more people wave, smile and say hello than I would have thought possible. Most of these people did not ask for money, items or anything else, so I can not attribute their happiness to greed or the want to take advantage of us in any way. I saw many small children playing in squalor, signs of abject poverty and just general poor infrastructure.

I said in my previous post that the people here are radiant; what I mean by this is that they display more happiness and positive spirit than I would think possible in this environment. This is truly remarkable and touching. I am a realist and understand that there are negative influences here, but the majority of the people that I saw and interacted with were more friendly and genuine than many I have dealt with in the United States.

We also visited some local landmarks and monuments, pictures below as well. I have also been enjoying the local cuisine, and am surprised that it is not as spicy as many of the Indian restaurants back home.

Here are some pictures, enjoy!