Travel to any new city comes with its share of experiences, funny incidents and adventures and a visit to Delhi last week was no different.
There was falling ill with the infamous Delhi Belly over the famous roadside Gol Gappas. The adventurous late night trip to Karim's at Nizamuddin to try their signature meat preparations and then having to call a cab because friends were worried that we weren't being cautious enough. The thousands of multi-coloured kites donning the skies on Independence Day while young and old took processions in their neighbourhood shouting the same old slogans of Freedom and Independence.
The conscious decision to not spend Independence Day at Red Fort but to be on the streets to capture the flavour of the locals. The blaring bollywood music with item numbers at Khan Market, biting into the Kakori Kabab at Khan Chacha inspite of the Delhi Belly and listening to comparisons with speeches made by PM and a particular CM made up our day. Fights over flag hoisting, slogans against out neighbouring country and watching a man go about his day of labour was the Independence I saw.
Being stupid enough to leave my debit card in the ATM Machine and thanks to the system of messaging my transactions, watching some of my wealth erode as a good Samaritan decided to use my debit card to buy chocolates and gifts before I could block it.
Spending a day in the notorious Delhi rains traveling from Faridabad to Connaught Place to JNU to Airport with a fascinating and very talkative cab driver from Rajasthan, Shiva. He started off complaining about the rain and how he has to take a passenger on a rainy day when all of Delhi roads are jammed and flooded to insisting on having coffee with me at Costa.
This turned out to be the most fascinating part of my day as he shared with me his story, his childhood, his dreams and how we got to where he was in life. Born in a Rajasthani Family, he didn't enjoy school because he found it difficult to understand what the teacher was saying, got into bad company and dropped out of school. Ran away from home to prove that he can be on his own and will come back only when he has done something concrete with his life. Met a mechanic younger than him who tool him in and taught him the trade and also taught him many a life lesson. He then asked him to leave and he has never met his Guru (teacher) ever since. He has gone looking for him but his Guru is nowhere to be found. That experience changed his life and he decided to reconnect with his family, get married and started working as a cab driver. He has no children of his own but has taken on the responsibility to take care of his brother's children as his own. He believes he wants to make the children skilled and talented and that will help them make the right choices in life. He believes education is needed but its not the most critical, skill is a bigger need.
He shared his views on politicians and the government and the general sense of anger, unrest and apathy that people have towards the government. His cynicism that nothing will change and it will just get worse for the poor people was disturbing and also telling of the sentiments of a population that has been betrayed a little too much and too often.
Catching up with many friends and missing some others, spending time being inspired by the finalists at the India NGO Awards 2012-13 and spending quality time with Suchetha as we shared our life together made our trip to Delhi a memorable one.
There was falling ill with the infamous Delhi Belly over the famous roadside Gol Gappas. The adventurous late night trip to Karim's at Nizamuddin to try their signature meat preparations and then having to call a cab because friends were worried that we weren't being cautious enough. The thousands of multi-coloured kites donning the skies on Independence Day while young and old took processions in their neighbourhood shouting the same old slogans of Freedom and Independence.
The conscious decision to not spend Independence Day at Red Fort but to be on the streets to capture the flavour of the locals. The blaring bollywood music with item numbers at Khan Market, biting into the Kakori Kabab at Khan Chacha inspite of the Delhi Belly and listening to comparisons with speeches made by PM and a particular CM made up our day. Fights over flag hoisting, slogans against out neighbouring country and watching a man go about his day of labour was the Independence I saw.
Being stupid enough to leave my debit card in the ATM Machine and thanks to the system of messaging my transactions, watching some of my wealth erode as a good Samaritan decided to use my debit card to buy chocolates and gifts before I could block it.
Spending a day in the notorious Delhi rains traveling from Faridabad to Connaught Place to JNU to Airport with a fascinating and very talkative cab driver from Rajasthan, Shiva. He started off complaining about the rain and how he has to take a passenger on a rainy day when all of Delhi roads are jammed and flooded to insisting on having coffee with me at Costa.
This turned out to be the most fascinating part of my day as he shared with me his story, his childhood, his dreams and how we got to where he was in life. Born in a Rajasthani Family, he didn't enjoy school because he found it difficult to understand what the teacher was saying, got into bad company and dropped out of school. Ran away from home to prove that he can be on his own and will come back only when he has done something concrete with his life. Met a mechanic younger than him who tool him in and taught him the trade and also taught him many a life lesson. He then asked him to leave and he has never met his Guru (teacher) ever since. He has gone looking for him but his Guru is nowhere to be found. That experience changed his life and he decided to reconnect with his family, get married and started working as a cab driver. He has no children of his own but has taken on the responsibility to take care of his brother's children as his own. He believes he wants to make the children skilled and talented and that will help them make the right choices in life. He believes education is needed but its not the most critical, skill is a bigger need.
He shared his views on politicians and the government and the general sense of anger, unrest and apathy that people have towards the government. His cynicism that nothing will change and it will just get worse for the poor people was disturbing and also telling of the sentiments of a population that has been betrayed a little too much and too often.
Catching up with many friends and missing some others, spending time being inspired by the finalists at the India NGO Awards 2012-13 and spending quality time with Suchetha as we shared our life together made our trip to Delhi a memorable one.
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