As the title suggests, I have been in Delhi, India about one month.  I am here working and will be here until early 2020.   It has been a very positive experience.  I am writing this from Tapovan near Rishikesh, but decided to separate my notes on this into a separate blog post.

Almost all of my time so far has been spent in Delhi, the capital.  Delhi is extremely crowded, hot, congested, and polluted.   But don’t be put off…. there is much to like about it as well.  It is safe, there is good food (from all over India), there are nice city parks, and getting around is relatively easy.  And there is an energy in the atmosphere; it’s hard to put my finger on.   I have enjoyed getting out and exploring a small percentage of the city on foot, and have taken an interest in Indian and Hindi culture and history.  In fact the three books in my bag right now are Delhi Darshan (a history of Delhi through its architecture), Soldier Sahibs (a history of the British in the conflict in the Northwest Frontier), and a translation of the Bhagavad Gita.  This all helps put what I see day in day out into context, and they’re good reads. 

I won’t give an overview of Delhi, but instead a few observations and accounts of things I’ve gotten to do since arriving.  Unfortunately, until this weekend in Tapovan, my camera game has been pretty weak, so I don’t have too many pictures to show for this month.  I’ll try to do better going forward, but no promises.

 

Traffic and People

The first thing a new arrival will notice upon arriving is the pseudo-anarchy on India’s roadways.  For those accustomed to vehicular order, staying in lanes, adherence to norms, and maintaining a healthy 3-4 foot buffer zone around your car, driving in Delhi (and I assume India in general) is a bit of a shock.   I will say – on a positive note – that there is a general but loose adherence to the principle of driving on the left side of the road (likely a remnant of India’s British colonial past), but this apparently taken as a suggestion rather than a hard rule.   In fact, the only hard rule seems to be this:  don’t hit each other, or cows.   Beyond that, the governing principle seems to be that the right of way always goes to he who doesn’t yield.

In addition to the traffic, one notices the sheer crowds and size of the city.   As of the last census, seventeen bujillion people live in Delhi.   And they’re all mixed together.   We live in a middle class (maybe even pushing upper-middle class) neighborhood, in a simple but nice apartment.  Some houses in our neighborhood enjoy “baller” status.   However, walk one block out to the main road, and one sees poverty at a level that most in the U.S. do not regularly observe.  

While there are poor homeless individuals in many of the cities of the U.S., they tend to be adults who have lost their way, fallen on hard times, or have debilitating substance abuse and dependency issues.  I don’t think that’s the case in Delhi.   There are what appear to entire extended families literally living on the ground under bridges.  What is most heartbreaking are the small children and babies.  I am told that the children are trafficked various panhandling spots to evoke pity and more donations, but that fact doesn’t take much of the edge off (in fact it may make it worse) the difficulty of seeing a filthy 4 year old sitting on the median of a busy intersection clutching an infant – no adults in sight.  The 6-10 year olds move through traffic with reckless abandon, and hone in on our white faces and tap on our window asking for money or food.  So do skinny mothers carrying tiny babies.   All this absolutely tugs on your heartstrings….I hope that seeing it daily for six months does not make me callous or numb to it.  Recently I began carrying a few small bananas with me when I travel around the city, so at least I can give something, and know that it’s not going into the pocket of a manipulative overseer.   Regardless of the motive or the back story, maybe these small tokens – ones that give someone a few minutes of respite and maybe enjoyment – and maybe these over time add up to something meaningful.  I do know it makes two people feel good – the giver and the receiver – if only for a few moments. 

I think by American/European standards, Delhi would also be considered a bit dirty.  Some areas are dirtier than others, but trash seems to find its way onto the street and into the waterways, where it mixes nicely with the cow and dog shit.  There’s  probably human shit thrown in the mix too, for good measure.  The creeks and rivers that run through Delhi have over the years turned into stagnant trash swamps, but the pigs don’t seem to mind.   Pigs in shit are – as the saying goes – happy.

So the traffic is crazy, there are a ton of people, and there’s some filth.   But like I said upfront, it’s kind of invigorating in a different kind of way.  It feels real.  People seem generally in a good (or at least not a bad) mood.  In order to experience it more directly and regularly, I’ve been walking/running to work once or twice a week, about a 5k trip.  This is good exercise, and I feel it puts me in more direct touch with the city.  I’m sure the bad air is killing me slowly, but that’s ok.

Have to say though….I could definitely do without the incessant honking. It’s almost like white noise, there’s so much of it.  Many drivers just hold down their horns as a standard practice when they pull into intersections.  I don’t drive here…we Uber or take taxis.   I wouldn’t be a good Delhi driver, cause I’m not much of a horn honker.     

Animals

Lets start with cows.  Cows wander freely throughout the city, and always have the right of way.   Those of use raised in and accustomed to European/Western culture are not used to large animals having total integration into and free reign within the hubbub of daily life.   No shit – the cows and bulls will walk right through the middle of busy intersections, down the middle heavily congested multi-lane roads, and sometimes decide that middle of a busy road is a good place to lay down and take a rest.  I saw one yesterday taking advantage of the shade in the entryway of a storefront.   There are also pigs (not quite as common) running around, and many many stray dogs.  I like the dogs, they are scruffy but friendly.  They often run up to me tails wagging and looking for some attention or affection.  Good looking dogs too.  In old Delhi there are monkeys, crawling around the power lines, balconies, and rooftops above the alleyways.    I hear they’ve been known to get aggressive sometimes, but I haven’t seen it yet.

Old Delhi

I went one Saturday afternoon down to Old Delhi – which is the large market district in the center of the Mughal district of Delhi.  (Note: the term “Old Delhi” is perhaps misleading, as the oldest extant sections of the city are well south of Old Delhi, well within what is called “New Delhi.”  However, Old Delhi is still in fact old, and may be the section that has been continuously in use the longest.)

Old Delhi is an experience.  First:  I expected it to be touristy, but it was anything but.  In 4+ hours there, I saw one other westerner.  It is an absolute maze of narrow alleys jam packet with small shops, people, mopeds, food stands.  Amazingly, mopeds and the occasional vehicle make their way through these alleys.  I wouldn’t think it was possible except I saw it with my own two eyes.   I hired a bike rickshaw driver to take me around, since I figured I would see more and avoid getting too lost in the alley maze.  He was a nice man name Shubham who spoke decent English, and he took me to the many different sections of the market.  Despite the chaos on the surface, the market is organized in such a way that items are all grouped together in different sections/districts.   There is a jewelry section, wedding section, card section, fabric section, clothes section, book section, shoe section, etc etc.   But the most noteworthy and sensually stimulating by far is the spice section.  Shop after shop after shop with barrels full of various spices, nuts, and teas.    The aroma is intoxicating.   Very strong cumin/cardamom/cinnamon smell.   I don’t really know how describe it, nor do know enough about spices to discern what is what (most of the writing was in Hindi).  Also, Shubham brought me up a back alley staircase to a rooftop above the spice district, where we enjoyed 360 degree views of old Delhi, and enjoyed the company of some monkeys.

After a full afternoon there, I thanked and paid Shubham, and went home with a few fabric items and some bags of Masala Chai and green tea.  My only complaint with Shubham is I’m pretty sure he took me to some expensive shops, shops where he probably has a deal going with the owners.   They were nice places, but for sure on the higher end of the price spectrum.  It’s all good, as I was simply taking his recommendations this trip.  But next time I’ll drive the agenda a bit more.

Other random notes:

• I did manage to get down to the Taj Majal (or as my computer’s autocorrect prefers: the Tan Mama) one Sunday as part of a group trip.  As expected, it was much bigger in person than in the pictures.  And the symmetry of the place is impressive…the Taj is exactly the same when viewed from any of its four sides.  But in 45 minutes I think I saw all I needed to see.  Big-ass white building with cool designs on it, surrounded by people taking selfies.   

• I mentioned the parks.  There is one a few minutes walk from our apartment, and I head over there often early in the mornings or early evening.  It’s a nice little sanctuary.  There are other bigger ones around the city, most notably Nehru Park, which has several miles of paved and dirt trails that wind through manicured gardens, groves, and lawns.

The park near where I live

• Cricket:  all the kids play cricket.  If there is a clear space in a junkyard, there’s a good chance some kids are there playing cricket.  I haven’t played it yet, but I’ve talked to some folks in the local expat league, and they say it is extremely addicting.   In the meantime, I’ve taking up the middle-age-non-athlete sport of men’s softball (second probably only to golf).
• Delhi belly: I came out here for a week in early June, and by day four I was laid up with four strains of Ecoli in my gut.  It put me down hard for about 24 hrs, then a few days of not-quite-better-yet.   Luckily (knock on wood), I haven’t come down heavy with it since, though I’ve had a few false alarms.    Is it safe to say my body is now fully immune?  I vote yes.

 

What is my big takeaway from my first month?   I’ve been mulling over it, and I think I have an idea that answers this.  It’s a hypothesis in development and I plan to try to put into words in another blog post, but here is the sneak peak.   The attraction to me of this culture is the very fact that it is rough around the edges.  It feels less domesticated than what many of us are used to.  And undomesticating ourselves is good.    Rather than try to control everything,  there is something to be said for – once the right conditions are set –  just “letting things be” and then letting whatever happens flow from it.   Delhi is wild, chaotic, and rough around the edges, but it doesn’t feel off the rails.   Stray dogs, cars going the wrong way on the road, extreme poverty alongside affluence, cows sleeping in traffic, the crazy alleys of old Delhi.   Love it or hate it, Delhi just lets it be.

More to follow on all this….