Rev. Danny Fisher

I have arrived in India safely. I’m currently in New Delhi, and have been here for three days. The group I am with heads to Bodh Gaya tomorrow by train.

It’s wonderful to be back in India. It’s not as intimidating and unbelievable as it was the first time. It’s more familiar this time. In fact, it feels a bit like a homecoming. I’m totally jazzed to be here again.

This morning, we went to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in South Asia. To say that it vibrates with holiness doesn’t do it justice. It’s breathtaking, and the people you meet there are extraordinarily kind. One man who works at the temple gave us a private tour of the reliquary which houses a hair from the Prophet Mohammed’s beard, one of his sandals, and a piece of marble with his footprint in it. He asked all to touch the footprint with our hand and then touch our hands to our head. It was a powerful moment. Some small boys also showed one of the people I am with how to get in without having to pay an outrageously high fee for her camera. When she tried to give them some candy as a way of saying thank you, they refused. They just wanted her to enjoy herself in the mosque and learn something of the true spirit of Islam. As we took rickshaws through Old Delhi on our way to the Shri Digambar Jain Lar Mandir (a Jain temple), some of us reflected that this felt like quite a special thing to have done today, on the fifth anniversary of 9/11.

After visiting the Jain temple (which was also quite striking), we took a bus back to the hostel we are staying at and got caught in a traffic jam of truly spectacular proportions near the Lal Qil’lah, or the “Red Fort” (the palace of Muslim Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan). It was actually kind of fun, though: a lot of school children were being dismissed and would wave at as and make faces. This never ceased to be entertaining, and we hardly noticed that it took as an hour to go only a couple of miles.

I’m off in just a few minutes to go traditional Indian clothes shopping, so I must sign off for now. Next time you hear from me, I’ll be in Bodh Gaya.