The day Paharganj closed

After an exciting morning of packing for our upcoming trip to Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, we headed out to grab a bite to eat. Instead of the bustling madness of a typical Paharganj afternoon, it was actually quite mellow along the Main Bazaar. We soon realized that this was because the majority of the shops and restaurants were shut, despite it being nearly two in the afternoon. We ran into Danny's friend Raju, who is a bike rickshaw-wallah, and he told us that shopkeepers were on strike today in protest of a raise in the prices of food. (Strangely, though, I haven't been able to to find an article on this in any of the online Indian newspapers.)

One restaurant was open, and it looked like it was doing good business, being that it was the only one up and running in the vicinity and there were many hungry tourists who wanted lunch. After a very reasonably priced thali (Rs. 40 or US $0.90 for a plate of veg curry, dal makhani, aloo muttar, rice, dahi, and chappatis), we went back out to find that the shops were beginning open. I guess the need to make money supersedes the need to protest having to spend more of it. Most of them, though, remained closed, their metal storefronts pulled down and the shopkeepers biding their time elsewhere – like the men who were playing cricket in the street outside some closed shops.

The strike actually made it almost easy to walk down the street. There were less people and less vehicles trying to make their way down the narrow lane. It wasn't any less dirty, though, thanks to a morning rain shower, and there were puddles and mud along the side of the road where we walked.

We also took a tour of the neighborhood which surrounds the tourist trap of the Main Bazaar. The streets become even narrower, as the buildings tower overhead. The architecture and quality of paint differ from structure to structure. Sometimes there are distinct differences between floors of one building. While much of the main street had continued to be closed, most of the small neighborhood chaat stalls and paan shops were open for business, providing the locals with their "daily needs" of cigarettes and samosas.

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Tomorrow Danny and I are headed for an 11-day journey to see the Taj Mahal, visit some monkeys who are friends of Krishna, check out the Galta monkey temple, and experience the Karni Mata temple. I don't know what internet access will be like while we're on the road, but if I don't get a chance to post while we're there, I will definitely do so when we get back.