First impressions of New Delhi

After an overnight flight from Istanbul, I arrived in New Delhi at 5:15 am yesterday. My OAT tour, Heart of India, officially begins today, but our trip leader, Ashish, gave those of us who arrived in time a short intro to the city. Here, then, are my first impressions of New Delhi.

Noise, traffic, crowds, pollution, smells

New Delhi is a big city. There are close to 30 million people in the metro area. So I was not surprised by the throngs, the traffic, or the noise. I do find the constant honking of horns to be fascinating, almost a ritual for drivers. Sometimes it seems to be a courtesy, as in “Look out, I’m passing.” And sometimes it’s an exclamation, such as “Get the hell out of my way.” Our tuk tuk driver, Shiva, loved demonstrating how the name of his vehicle was onomatopeia for the sound of his horn.

The photo up top is a market we walked through yesterday afternoon. It’s was even more crowded than it looks in the photo. And on the street walking through the Connaught Place shopping district wasn’t much better. Not a good place to be if you’re claustrophobic. 

Tastes and smells

There are a lot of smells here. Some good, some not so good. But some just take getting used to. In my hotel, the hand soap smells like curry or some concoction of spices. The shower gel smells like fennel. On the street, there are many food smells coming from restaurants and from street food.

And for dinner a group of us went to Daryaganj, which is supposedly the restaurant that invented butter chicken. Which was delectable!

Colorful

Of course the women in saris are a big part of the colorful character of this city. I asked Ashish, and he said this is everyday clothing for women. (Not all women wear saris, of course, but many do. It’s closely associated with Hinduism, but it’s not a religious garment; it’s cultural.)

Friendly

People are so open about making conversation. Sometimes I worry they are trying to lure me to their shop or worse. (I plan to keep both my kidneys, thank you very much.)

When we stopped for street food and I popped the gol gappa in my mouth, a man who was eating something else gave me an approving look and said, “That’s the right way to eat it.” I asked him what he was eating, and he offered me a taste. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever taken a taste of food from a stranger. But whatever it was, it was even better than the gol gappa!

As we were walking, we passed a woman sitting at the side of the road. I asked her if I could take her picture. I don’t think she spoke English, but she smiled as I held up my phone.

Later in the evening after dinner, I went for a walk to the shopping area called Connaught Place. As I was crossing the very busy street, a guy who was also crossing told me to be careful of the traffic. We got to chatting as we walked, and he didn’t seem to be luring me anywhere. He just seemed to be making conversation. I ducked into Uniqlo and a woman working near the entrance welcomed me. When I went to pay for a shirt I was buying, there was a line, but a worker caught my eye and beckoned me over to another area to pay.

Friendliest of all was the server at Daryaganj. His name was Sagar. He’s from Nepal. He spoke with an accent that was challenging to understand, but he was so charming I had to take his picture.

Different

The overwhelming sense I’ve developed from my first couple of days here is that this is the most different experience I’ve ever had. Almost everything about the culture here is unfamiliar. And that’s a good thing. My mind, my heart, and my soul are getting stretched and broadened in ways I couldn’t have predicted. I’m sure I’ll have lots more to say about it in upcoming blog posts.

I have a photo album, and I’m happy to share it now, but I still have a lot to do to get it organized, so you might want to wait until later to view it. And of course, I’ll be adding to it in the next few days. If you want a sneak preview, go for it.

Oh, and also…

The toilet paper has no perforations. It’s just a continuous sheet.