01 LA CHICA'BAHAR
I'm Bahar Fakhraie, an iranian teenager , I"m the only girl in the family among many brothers hence I was named Bahar meaning spring . My Dad Karim Fakhraie ,a translator for european firms , affectionately calls me La'Chica Bahar meaning my girl Bahar.
Girls don’t have the right to choose the major they like to study. The government decides for them based on the score one get from the overall exam for the university admission entrance.
Since there are more applicants than actual spots in the colleges, the government will determine what who will study and therefore the government will decide what the person will become.Everybody studies hard to get into the university and then get accepted to the major of their interest. Thanks to my uncle Farzad Taghaboni's relations in India . I came to know about the foreign student cell in Sam Higginbottom Institute of Technology and Agriculture a deemed University, uncle Farzad Taghaboni's son who lives in california , his father in law was the head of chemistry department before he migrated to US. I have got admission in SamHigginbottom Institute of Agricultureand Technology for Masters in physics session. I celebrated my birthday June 14 in Tehran and took the Emirates flight via Dubai to Allahabad , international port was Delhi .
I was recieved at the airport by Rita Richards and her husband Edwin in early hours of the morning at Allahabad airport.
Allahabad named by mughal emperor Akbar as the city of Allah , you can see here the Triveni sangam the confluence of the rivers Ganges , Yamuna and underground river Saraswati . nearby is the old fort built by Akbar .I visited the museum and learnt a great deal about the ancient history of india. The ancestral home of the Nehrus where Mr Gandhi [ Father of indian nation] often stayed who had adopted Feroz Gandhi
One of the best things about Allahabad is that it is a very laid back town quiet and life here is much more comfortable ,less traffic and ample greenery.The new Yamuna bridge is a great place to hang out on a cool evening when the cool breeze just blows through your hair .You can sit on the sandy beaches and enjoy a great sunset. Allahabad is the hometown of ''Amitabh Bacchan'' The star of the millenium.
The Sam Higginbottom university is away from the hustle bustle of the city, situated on the bank of Yamuna , right opposite to it on the other bank is the Ewin Christian college.River Yamuna which flows down from the city of Agra and Delhi meets the river Ganga in a grand merger at Sangam in Allahadad
If you happen to visit the old city of Allahabad which is called sheher (Ironic ! Isn't it?) by people living near the university campus, you can know it yourself that bad state and poor maintenance of infrastructure and basic public amenities have reduced the city to a little over a village.
In contrast, the roads, drainage system and proper town planning do really exist in and around the University area. The lush green Sam Higginbottom campus is a visual treat for morning walkers/joggers who are found strolling/jogging/running on the campus roads. I'm a ninja, often practice in the early hours before anyone wakes up as I staying with the Richards.No one is aware of my past .Every one was impressed to know that I practised the Japanese ninjutsu martial arts , ofcourse they never guessed that I was a full fledged Ninja . Japanese ninja focuse on the development of self-control, patience and self-respect including unarmed self-defense and the use of weapons.
A lot of women that train in ninjutsu in Iran. The reason is simple: ninjutsu requires a full-body keikogi, a traditional uniform that must be worn during training. Since the training gear covers the whole body, ninjutsu classes attract women of all ages, including those who follow the strict Sharia rules.
Dr Rita Richards had a meeting in Delhi ,so she decided to take me along for somesightseeing. From Allahabad we headed to Delhi by overnight train. I was surprised to find that despite the fact that it took almost 18 hours to get to Delhi . I actually quite enjoyed the train ride. We were in the third AC class, and each had a sleeper bunks. The beds were three high, with the middle one folding down to become a seat during the day. I slept surprisingly well though the night. The train was about an hour and a half late, which was not bad as they are pretty frequently delayed a lot longer than that. We spent the early afternoon touring around Delhi, stopped by the house of Rita's college friend of from high school in Connaught Place, and then took the metro to Old Delhi.
We walked along Chandni Chowk, an old market street that they found rather crowded with a lot of people hassling us as foreigners, stopped by by a Jain temple, that housed a bird hospital. It was rather odd walking around the bird hospital without shoes on (you took them off entering the complex) but there were some pretty interesting birds, along with some quite sick birds, that were being housed there.
I saw Jama Masjid which is apparently the largest mosque in India. As it was Friday they were actually there during the call to prayer Namaz , and it really reminded me of Tehran seeing hundreds of men bow down to pray.The crowd exiting the mosque after prayers
The Mosque was huge, but unfortunately didn’t get to go up the towers since I were carrying cameras and didn’t want to bother getting tickets to take them in. We did get more stares than usual, and people trying to sneak pictures of us which was rather annoying.
From there we drove around the Raj-Path, Parliament, Presidents residence and the giant India Gate. they were staying with an iranian family who are friends of Rita's family’s from allahabad . I must say it was incredibly nice to in some ways step back into an iranian lifestyle for a couple of days. We had a delicious spaghetti dinner complete with Garlic Bread.
I went to the Gandhi Museum, had lunch in Kahn Market and saw the National Museum,saw the ashokan peace symbol at the Gandhi museum
I really need to read more about Mr Ghandhi, I know very little about him but he really was an incredible man. The museum is in the house that he spent his last 140 odd days before he was assasinated in the back garden. Although there was really too much to read it was a pretty cool museum. There was kind of an odd interactive section on the top floor- but there were guides that led you though and ended up doing most of the inter-active stuff for you which was rather odd. Dr Rita and I had lunch in the upscale Kahn Market, really great Pizza and pasta. I ended the day at the National Museum of modern art which had some cool exhibits along with a few odd Indian touches. There were several main exhibits that you had to walk though empty rooms to get to, and then several exhibits you walked though in succession, and then had to walk back though them all to get out. The third floor also didn’t really have lights turned on in the hallway, but there were some cool exhibits. They had a bunch of old coins and did a good job of explaining the different methods of coin making. There was a massive collection of miniature paintings, some stunningly beautiful crafts and decorations, an exhibit on the history of the maritime force/navy and a cool exhibit on textiles. I was surprised to see a Egyptian statue of a pharaoh from 2,000 bc chilling in the hallway, and some random French and Thai stuff. Beautiful chariot outside the National Museum in Delhi
The local guide informed me that Delhi had once been the a part of the ancient Mughal kingdom , the Red fort was the imperial residence . He told me the Red Fort in Agra is more impressive and I should go to see the Qutubh Minar which we did,situated in the mehrauli area and saw ancient wonder.
I feel like I am starting to get to know Delhi a little bit- and am still incredibly impressed with the efficiency and wide reach of the Metro. It’s a really great way to get around the City. I don’t know if I’d want to spend a whole lot of time there, but it wasn’t a bad place to visit, and there are still a couple of things I’d like to see there.I also liked old Delhi even though it was extremely a crowded ,noisy and the most polluted city
Well, that’s it for travel week- although it was a great trip it’s also nice to be back home in Allahabad. This week I have a couple of papers and presentations to finish up, It will be busy but interesting. Time has really been flying- it’s hard to believe I’m enjoying my time in India.
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