Delhi India – 2 opposite experiences

FIRST DAYS IN DELHI

Arriving at Indira Gandhi Airport in Delhi is very much like arriving at any ‘second world’ airport…it’s hot, easy and there are broken roads as soon as you step out of the building. We arrived at 3am and had a quick but long “cook tour” through the back streets of Delhi on our way to Wonghden House in the New Tebetan Colony at Majnu Ka Tilla, which involved lots of honking to let other vehicles know that we were passing . My impression was run down… light commercial/industrial areas with dilapidated buildings. Many appeared to be homes as well. This is similar to what we have seen in Mexico. I haven’t seen the downtown tourist areas yet, where the markets and places of interest are.

Delhi is a fascinating experience, not to be missed (I guess)… but not for the faint of heart! Getting around is challenging due to the chaos and our hotel was far from the city center so we had to take taxis, auto rickshaws and rickshaws. Everyone drives very fast between lanes rather than in them, even though the government puts up signs that say ‘stay in your lane, be sane’, and leads others with inches to spare while honking loudly (that’s recommended). ). Countless motorbikes and auto rickshaws crisscross between cars and loads of bicycles. All motorcycle riders seem to wear helmets, but not the bikers. Many women are riding behind motorcycles with the side seat, looking very relaxed in their saris or salware kameez (trousers and tunics) without helmets!

In the last week I have noticed an uncanny parallel between the news from Vancouver and Delhi about the public’s reaction to bus drivers running over or nearly running over people on the street. Quite a few people have been killed this year in Delhi by buses (over 70 I think) and the passengers rioted and tried to set a bus on fire a few days ago when a young man was killed on his motorbike. In Vancouver, many people have complained to the bus company about dangerous driving by bus drivers.

This first experience of Delhi is not particularly positive for me. Whenever we go to the heart of Delhi, there are vendors and shopkeepers constantly coming up to us to buy something or go somewhere with them. They won’t take no for an answer. It’s almost like we have a big sign in front of “newbies”. This, plus the heat and traffic chaos, has been overwhelming at times. We left after 4 days and went to McLeod Ganj (Upper Dharamsala) where the Dalai Lama has his home, then we came back for a couple more days before moving on to Varanasi.

5 WEEKS LATER – BACK IN DELHI

Well here we are back in Delhi after a long day of traveling yesterday. We left Kochi at 7:30 am for a 10:30 flight, but the flight was delayed until 12:15 (it actually left at 1:00 pm). I think all our domestic flights have been delayed.

We arrived at Delhi airport at 5pm, bought a government taxi ticket to Paharganj, the district our hotel was in (these fixed price tickets are about half the price of private taxis). But these drivers don’t speak English and we didn’t have the address of the hotel, just detailed directions. There are so many hotels here, especially in the Paharganj area near Connaught Circle, that many of them are not known to taxi drivers. Our driver did his best, stopping along the way as we approached Paharganj to ask other drivers and people on the street. Most of them didn’t seem to know much about it! So, like a small miracle, we stopped to ask a stranger on the street. This man read our extensive instructions, understood them perfectly, said that he wanted to go that way and asked to be taken. He directed us a block or so from the hotel, then headed out to his destination.

We drove through a crowded and extremely narrow market street for at least 3 city blocks. The street was full of people, all the stalls were open. There were a few cars speeding through, lots of motorcycles and bicycle rickshaws. It wasn’t really wide enough for a street of cars, but that’s the way it is in India. The overflowing market with its multicolored lights and products looked very magical. It was a great introduction to our last day in India!

Our hotel is good, quite retro, with the room freshly painted in turquoise, quite clean. The Paharganj area is an alternative to the expensive Connaught Place, which has many exclusive shops and hotels (eg Benneton). However, it is closely adjacent to CP. We have seen many young hippy-looking travelers on the streets, but also many middle-aged people, mostly Europeans and English.

We had the most amazing morning. He wanted to go to the street children’s center, a place where they get off the street for a while, eat, wash clothes and receive tutoring. We asked for directions at the reception and they told us that the hotel owner works with street children. We were taken to his office in the basement where he told us all about his volunteer work and explained about ‘giving back’ to others to pay off bad karma from past lives. He said that a 27 year old daughter, an only child like our daughter, who is born rich (his opinion of her) to loving parents in a country like Canada has good karma.

Brij, the owner, belongs to a volunteer organization. He is a former auto rickshaw driver from Paharganj (but an unusual one in that he is college educated) and supports many, many charities for the poor. He took us to 4 of us in the basement of the hotel…tutoring for young children, computer training for men and women, sewing training and a doctor’s office!

He then took us to the orphanage at a nearby Hindu temple; she showed us to the babies’ room (the other older children I think were in school; they live in another part of the temple in an ashram). There were 8-10 babies and a 10 year old girl who has a mild mental disability. The babies are rescued after being abandoned; the police call the association and someone immediately goes with a nurse to pick them up. One baby had very white skin and I think that may be the main reason for abandoning her in a park. They were mostly girls because people don’t want them.

Babies are lovingly cared for by paid nurses, with good medical care and food. They are then adopted by Indian families unable to have babies of their own. The youngest are only given to couples whose ages do not exceed 90 years; if they are older they have older children. The babies were so beautiful and seemed so peaceful; the energy of the entire temple was like this.

We met a Dutch woman who is a volunteer for 6 months. She is making the website for the children’s center, since that is her job and she also works with the children. She doesn’t go every day because she gets too attached and then they leave. We may want to do volunteer work through this organization.

Our afternoon was a stark contrast to the morning seeing the facilities for poor people in

Paharganj. We took the tube one stop to Connaught Circle because my partner wanted to see what an Indian tube looked like. (Subway stations and toll booths resemble Bart in San Francisco in appearance) and are 5-6 years old. They help alleviate congested bazarly traffic on the roads we were told). Connaught Circle is a very exclusive shopping area, as I think I mentioned above, and expensive hotels and restaurants. We walked around, had a pizza at Pizza Hut (my choice, I’m starting my re-entry!), then had dessert and coffee at a new chain of Indian cafes. I wanted to take a cycle rickshaw back to our hotel for one last ride, but they are not allowed in that area, so we took an auto rickshaw. After returning, we walked through the busy streets of Paharganj bazaar again for an hour… our last time… and took some pictures in the waning light.

I am now in love with Delhi… especially the Paharganj district in the heart of the city. I can not wait to return!

Copyright 2008 Ellen Besso