The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in Delhi

The Good
Last Wednesday was my last day in Delhi. An amazing day with Seth, a 22-years old American who studies and speaks Hindi (local language). Master of the city, he took me to some really cool temples (not included in any guide that I know) using public buses. If I had to choose one that would be Nizzamudin's Mosque, a supersacred place in the heart of a slum. As Seth explained to me, religions in India are as diverse and pintoresque as its people. A good example is that mosque, where muslims benerate the tombs of two dead gurus (note that the gurus are a hindu concept).

The Bad
Our way back home turned into a living movie. In a previous post I mentioned that Delhi's Metro is one of the cleanest and safest that I've used. Nonetheless that doesn't exclude the presence of random pocket pickers on the overcrowed trains at peak hour. And so Seth underwent the unfortunate experience of getting his wallet stolen. A very neat execution of a well-designed plan: (1) one guy stands behind the victim and leans forward over him, (2) a fellow picker extracts the wallet from the pocket; (3) the victim, blocked by the crowd cannot turn and therefore has no clue about the person who took his wallet.

Unfortunately for the pickers, Seth and me are not easy victims. As soon as he noticed the happening, we started shouting: Keep the money, throw the cards and the wallet! The rest of the passengers did the same. Seth catched the guy behind him (PC#1 or potential criminal #1) while I scanned the floor among the crowd. When the train stopped I suggested that we should remain on the train, Seth disagreed he was sure that PC#1 was involved and so he would not let him go under any circumstance. The three of us Seth, me and PC#1 got off the train and proceeded to warn the authorities. PC#1 remained quiet and confident which arouse some doubts in me. The chief of the station took us to his room and started questioning the guy. Although there was no proof and he claimed to be inocent, there was something intrigating. PC#1 described himself as a university student on his way home; nevertheless his age, look and the lack of any student gear was quite suspicious...

The Ugly
After one hour of fruitless questioning, three officials of Delhi's Police Department got on the stage. The first one was quite scary, like an Iraqui soldier having a bad day. He threated PC#1 but didn't go beyond a strong foot overstep. Then, officer #2 took over. He was supposed to be the good cop but no, there is no good cop in India. The man, on his 50s, walked PC#1 to a corner and started whispering to his ear. He offered him some sort of deal, I guess. At first PC#1 didn't accept, but after 5 minutes something happened. Suddenly and after officer # 2's request they switched off the lights of the room. Officer #2 dropped a couple of sweet kicks (not very hard) on PC#1 (unfortuate Nepal's son from now on). He confessed everything, and in no time the officers were negotiating the randsom on the phone. Two long hours of calls, lights going on and off and a loose belt flying over PC#1. Seth got his wallet back (not the cards though) and the unfortunate Nepal's son is facing some months in the hole before being kicked out of the country.

There is one actor that I haven't described yet. That is officer #3. He was the toughest of the three. I challenge the audience to envision a 2-meters tall policeman wearing casual clothing and a turban with a huge stone around his head. He was Sikh. One day I'll go in details with the Sikhs, in my opinion the most amazing ethnic group in India.


Interesting things I've learnt:

1. When on board, passangers are requested to hit gently the side part of a public bus to stop it.
2. Every Sikh man wears a steel ring around his wrist. They put it on when they're teenagers and wait until the wrist grows to wear it for the rest of their lives (no removable).
3. Male homosexuality is forbidden in India, lesbianism is not. If catched in fraganti, only the 'taker' would be prosecuted. Transexuals are considered a separate cast and porters of bad luck.

PS: I uploaded new pictures to Delhi's Pic'n'Vids

---

El Bueno, El Feo y El Malo en Delhi. En mi ultimo en dia en Delhi estuve visitando unos cuantos templos de diferentes religiones con Seth, un americano de 22 años que habla y estudia indi ademas de religion. Fuimos en autobuses publicos hasta una mezquita de uno de los barrios mas pobres de la capital. Impresionante lugar de contrastes. A la vuelta, en metro, alguien le robo la cartera a Seth (que es un poco feliciano, todo hay que decirlo). Un plan perfecto si no fuese porque ni Seth ni yo somos presas faciles. Cogimos al tio que estaba detras suyo y le bajamos al anden en la siguiente estacion. Le llevamos a la sala de maquinas donde le interrogaron, primero los de la estacion y luego la policia. Tras 3 horas de negociacion y un par de patadas y cinturonazos, el pobre nepali confeso y sus compinches nos trajeron la cartera de vuelta (sin tarjetas eso si).