Day 1

So I wake up to a few things on my first morning in delhi- 1) my grandfather praying godly loud, 2) my grandmother singing to a song playing on the radio in the same room I'm sleeping in, and 3) a strong lemony fresh smell from this cleaning girl hand-scrubbing the floor next to my bed. I get up and realize all this happens starting at 5 in the morning. By 7, a lady on a bike delivers a bag of milk in the mailbox and by 8, men are screaming through the neighborhood names of vegetables and fruits that are for sale. You seriously never have to walk out of your house, everything comes to you! Actually it might just be the case in this neighborhood bc it's a colony especially for retired professors. Basically old people living alone because their kids are all in the US and europe. A lady, Maya, comes evreyday to cook for my grandparents (and about 5 other houses) because they are getting old and my grandmother can't see exactly what she's cutting. Labor is relatively inexpensive because there's not much work available. The milk lady is paid 100 rupees/$3 a month for delivering milk every day, cleaning lady is paid 700 rupees/$18, the cook gets 800 rupees/$20, the gaurd who sits outside our house from 8 pm to 8 am gets 200 rupees/$5. And all of those are monthly costs for people who come to work every day. I was way shocked.