Corey writes:

On Thursday, Gina and I, along with a group of our fellow vols made a trip to Nizamuddin (Neez-aah-moo-deen) Dargah to see a Sufi qawwali (kah-vah-lee). The trip was led by Liam, a VSO vol working in Delhi, who is the resident expert in all things awesome in the city. It was an unforgettable experience.

We left the ISI residence around 5:15pm and took a short car ride to Nizamuddin West. From there, we walked through yet another amazing market with people selling anything and everything and arrived at the entrance. Shoes aren't allowed in the dargah, so we had to leave them there under the watchful eye of a kind gentleman. At this point, we also donned our head-coverings, another polite cultural observance. One of the unique things about this experience is that the Nizamuddin Dargah is actually a whole complex, so we had to make our way barefoot through a short maze of corridors to get back to the actual tomb.



Just as the sun was setting we spilled out into a plaza already full of people milling around. We explored a little, and then took our seats just as the qawwalis were setting up their instruments. Everyone made a circle around them and they started playing and singing some amazing music. We listened for a while and then made our way out of the tomb.







Following this experience, Liam took us to a restaurant with some of the best nan I've ever had, which was just around the corner. Here was also one of the great surprises of the trip so far. The restaurant had beef curry! Of course, this made sense given the fact that we were in a Muslim neighborhood. Completing his hat-trick of host-itude, Liam then suggested we grab a few Kingfishers at 4S, one of the best bars/restaurants near ISI.

Although I miss my TND buddies, I have to say, this was one of the best Thursday nights I've had in my life.