delhi day #2

yesterday was amazing. the best way i could have spent my first full day away from sarnath.

jojo and i spent most of the day wandering around connaught place, the fancy shopping area in the middle of delhi, then we took a rickshaw outside of the main part of the city to see a new film called "banaras: the eternal love story." the film itself wasn't that great, and the songs were mediocre at best, but the entire thing was shot in varanasi and sarnath. throughout the entire film, jojo and i kept smacking each other, whispering, "hey! i know where that is! hey! i was inside that building last week!" it's not a great movie, but i really, really recommend it to anybody who has spent some time in varanasi. it's pretty exciting to see aarti on dhasasvamedh ghat, or the stupa at sarnath, or the steps down from assi ghat, portrayed on the big screen in a big bollywood film. the greatest part of the whole film, however, was right after the intermission. there's a scene in sarnath, at the archaeological ruins next to the stupa, where a tour guide is leading a group of people around. for about two seconds, a tibetan girl's face popped up on screen. it was my friend pamo from the institute! she lived 3 doors down from me all year. when she came on screen, jojo and i simultaneously jumped out of our seats and screamed, 'oh my god! pamo!' i'm sure that everyone else in the theater thought we were idiots.

after the movie, we stopped in a swanky lounge next to our hotel for a drink. the evening's entertainment was a skinny indian boy who played covers of guns 'n roses and the eagles on his electric guitar. the scary part was, he was actually really good.

today i'm leaving for shimla at 8:00, and hopefully before that i'll get to meet up with my smith friends, marilu, tatjana, and aditi, before i take off for the cold white north.