Day 2 (New Delhi) - Part 1

Indian democracy sat upon the British Raj at the Presidential Palace, our destination Saturday morning. We instantly branded ourselves as stupid tourists when we arrived at the gates at the same time as the guard of soldiers arriving to take their defense shift at the palace. Only when we noticed that an irate be-turbaned man brandishing spear atop a horse was impatiently waiting behind our bus did we realize that we were blocking the entrance! As we let the guard pass by, we all pressed up against the windows to take pictures of the soldiers who couldn't decide whether to ignore us or laugh their heads off. We watched the Changing of the Guard ceremony in the full sun, baking at 7 am (today was one of the hottest days of the year!) The splendor was interesting but the procedure was long and opaque. This ceremony combined with the gallery filled with portraits of the British aristocracy created a much stronger British presence than we had expected. The paintings were beautiful, but didn't seem very Indian. However, the palace was absolutely stunning. The state dining room seats 104, while the swearing in chamber is a converted ballroom with a massive Persian carpet and an ornate Persian ceiling painting. We briefly considered trying to sneak into the President's apartments (she had just returned the day before), but decided that might be a bad idea....As we left, more than one person commented on the strong contrast between the palace and the situation we had glimpsed at Prayas.