We went to Delhi and mostly did a lot of sweating. It is unfortunate then, that the only drawing I did the whole time was of the inside of our (pretty miserable) hotel in Paharaganj.
We also visited the incredible, ancient Jain temple opposite the Red Fort. Those Jains have it pretty nailed. Most interesting is the Jain principle of non-absolutism. It is the view that any belief, opinion, thought or sense of identity exists not as a truth or falsehood, but rather along a sliding scale of reality. Any one person or view is just a section of the whole truth, and in order to gain some understanding of reality, every perception of it - from each human’s beliefs and comprehensions - can be combined to form a complete picture. This includes all sentient beings, and the Jains refuse to even eat a yoghurt or leavened bread through the belief that the bacteria is as equally alive as a human being. It is - from what I can make out - the last word in empathy at the heart of an organised religion.
They don’t half put their money where their mouth is, either. Inside the temple complex is a ramshackle, modern-ish building, with bright paintings of colourful birds around the outside. This is the city’s only bird hospital, where anybody can bring an injured animal to be rehabilitated or made as comfortable as possible. Hundreds - if not thousands - of birds are resident here. From parakeets, to doves, pigeons, sparrows and sparrow-hawks.
The man at the front desk read me some poetry he had written (terrible but very nice) and we saw various people of even more various religions bringing injured birds in from all over the city. There was so much kindness here it brought me to tears. And yet, stepping back out onto the streets of Delhi and all the pain and poverty that exists there… People are truly baffling.