Run by fellow expat chicks, it's an exploration of the seven original cities of the Delhi area. The participants all are broken up into smaller groups, who then take their city ... research, create a brochure, plan a lunch and off we go.
It is often advised that new expat arrivals wait until they are "settled" before embarking on a Seven Cities tour. Because I'm an over-achiever, I bit my tongue and patiently waited through the Fall 2009 tour ... and excitedly signed up for the Spring 2010 tour (probably one "tour season" too soon, but no one could tell ME that!).
Recently, when receiving our team assignments, I discovered that I was in the group presenting on Tughlakabad (worth noting is that even in internet research and printed material, the name is spelled differently ... as noted on the sign below).
I said "Tuk - gluk - a - what?"
Kushal - our driver - laughed at me when I asked him about the location and said "Ma'am .. that isn't how you say it."
Well ... SHOOT. I can barely say the name of some of the nearby markets.
My group of four consists of a smart historian, a smart journalist and a smart sweet gal from Korea. Then there's me.
I am not a lover of history and I fear it shows. Our group has met, we've discussed, we've researched, we've visited our site.
When I asked around to friends, hoping to find something similar to the "Dummy's Guide to Tughlakabad", I was told by more than one person "It's just ruins ... it's just rubble."
It's NOT just ruins. Even though I have such a very, very small desire to really absorb the deep history of this location, and this city ... it is BEAUTIFUL. It is amazing, awesome and oh so mysterious.
(Don't hate on me because I said that out loud. I have so little available spaces in my brain, that the history of a new city can't easily find its way in to root deeply into a hidden empty crevice.)
See, the girls in my group are talking about sufis, sultanate periods, mongols and such. I am completely 100% lost. I "did the needful" and nodded when it was appropriate ... and tried to throw in a couple of words that seemed to fit. I scratched my head when they started talking about how we'd need to stay away from over-discussing Nizzamuddin and Mohammad (huh?????).
I felt kind of like I do when hanging out with my bi-lingual and tri-lingual friends here ... inept. Wishing I could speak another language ... wishing I could rattle off the places we've seen, visited and the loads of information I know.
I was a bit frustrated at first, when wondering what on earth I could possibly contribute to our group. It's quite obvious I'm not too interested in really digging deep for the nuggets of history, am not the greatest public speaker ... and set out from the get go to NOT be a control freak (read : take the BACK seat to this project).
(Happy to report that it's working out quite nicely and we doled out our tasks evenly - except for the journalist who did 95% of the work!)
On our initial visit to the site for a look-see, we were accompanied (not by request, of course) by a tour guide. Even though there is much speculation about the truth and facts about what happened hundreds of years ago, there was still a simple beauty in the stories and the ability to imagine the history behind the stones laying on the ground.
Can you picture what this may have looked like during the reign of Giyasuddin Tughlak?
I'm not going to be a Seven Cities participant who gleans a wealth of knowledge during the next twelve Wednesdays ... I won't become an overnight history buff ... and if anyone asks me about the cities I visited, I'll likely have to refer back to the printed handouts that each group is tasked to provide.
But I will practice my photography (trying to only shoot in manual these days), enjoy the gorgeous weather, listen attentively and start exploring more of this city that I call home!
(If you're in Delhi and want to participate ... send an email to sevencitiesnewdelhi@gmail.com)
