In 2008 just after I arrived back in the UK one of my closest friends, Michael, moved out to India. He must have got some dirt on one of his bosses – possibly some compromising photos that he may or may not have also been pictured in – and he had been promoted to oversee some shake-ups in the New Delhi department of Fraud Prevention for First Data. As a result of this and my own various absences I saw him only a couple of times over several years. I won’t say that I missed him – I’m not prepared to admit that to him – but I did make sure I was able to fly out and see him in the first couple months of 2009.
When I arrived in Delhi I was instantly hit by the contrast between this developing country and all the other places I had visited. When I went for a walk through a market on the first afternoon I was amazed by what an assault on the senses the place was. It had been a ride on an auto-rickshaw to get out to the market, which is an experience in itself; the wind and fumes blowing in your face, the thrum of the two-stroke engine under the wooden seat, the reckless abandon with which the drivers swerve and race through the streets. It was exciting and a little terrifying!
When I got to the market I was not prepared for what I saw, heard, and smelt. There was a ramshackle tarpaulin pulled over an area of rickety benches and a few street vendors selling samosas and daal cooked in steaming brass cauldrons. The smells were enough to stir an unknown hunger in me, so I quickly moved over to them breathing the air deeply. That was the first mistake I made. The smells in India can change very quickly with the slightest change in the breeze or the passing of an inconsiderate cow, and it so happened that despite my proximity to the delightful and delicious curried foods, it was a smell of raw sewerage that had had just filled my lungs. Not allowing this to put me off my food though I recovered quickly from the reek and was soon enjoying some lovely samosa and strong chilli dip, though I was careful for the rest of the day not to breathe in too deeply.
The sounds in Delhi were also as incessant and insistent as the changing smells, whether it was packs of dogs barking into the night or the constant honking from the auto-rickshaws and cars. As no vehicle appeared to have any seatbelts, mirrors, or effective brakes, and as the roads had no defined lanes or apparent rules, it was necessary for every person on the road to constantly sound their horns to let others around them know where they were. The colours of New Delhi are as bold and vibrant as anything else in the city, and whether it was the saris of the women, the plants and trees, the birds, spices, or fabrics in the markets – it was definitely a bright and beautiful place to walk around.
The other thing that I was struck by straight away was of course the tastes of India. Whether it was the samosas bought for pennies from a guy in the street and served wrapped in newspaper, a take-away of daal, curried goat, and breads, or a banquet in a world class restaurant – the food was consistently amazing. The flavours were often different to our Western interpretations of the same dishes, as the ingredients were often different. The herbs were very fresh and grown in a different soil and fed with different nutrients, the meats had different flavours, the pulses were types that we don’t get back home, and something like a creamy curried dish wouldn’t for example, be made with cream from a cow. I think that there are very few places I have been outside of India where the curries were half as good as the average I had in those weeks. When I could, I would have something tasty and Indian to eat four or five times a day, and only stopped when I fell foul to the expected ‘Delhi Belly’. I wasn’t surprised. In fact I was pleased that it didn’t afflict me for the first five days! And I would definitely eat everything I had again even knowing what gruelling two-day stomach upset I would have to endure. It was all too delicious!
As I was able to work remotely, I packed my laptop and flew to Delhi where I started work early in the mornings, explored the city in the afternoons, and hung out with Mike and his girlfriend in the evenings. I was able to see quite a lot of the place. I visited many markets, explored lots of parks, and spoke to people from all over India about their impressions and lives. It was exciting to hear about the history of the place and the hopes for the future, but also very upsetting to see how families live in the slums.
The contrast between the rich and the poor is so completely indoctrinated in the society that there is very little that can be done about it without massive national paradigm shifts and state overhauls. It was amazing to hear that many nice apartments came with a servant who might live in a lean-to on the roof or in a tiny box room on a different level of the building. Beggars lined all the streets and junctions, many trying to scrape out a living selling old editions of international magazines or packets of tissues, but with so many competing for attention most of them can’t have had much success.
But you help where you can. You buy a banana from a guy on a street corner, give a few grubby children some change from your pocket, and support the local businesses whatever they might be.
One of the other interesting places I visited in my brief time in India was the Himalayan foothills, and there we stayed in the town of Manali. At around 2000m (6500 ft) above sea level the climate is very different to that of Delhi. I had left heat in the thirties and whilst Manali was very pleasant on most days it did snow a couple of times! Although there was still a lot of evidence that this was India (the occasionally sound of a rickshaw’s horn in the distance, or a pile of litter by the roadside) the mountainous and wooded surrounding area is a truly beautiful place. The immense pine trees fill the air with their woodland aroma, the rushing river is a pleasant contrast from the rushing cars in the city, and the remote hillside temples are something quite different from the mighty structures in Delhi. Some of the temples and forts are incredibly ancient and give insight into a time where this area was a significant seat of power. The animals were much more varied and exotic, with monkeys and brightly coloured birds in the trees, vultures, kites and eagles soaring in the air above, and even the occasional sheep grazing on the side of a road.
The many shrines we visited were strewn with items meant to encourage the Gods to bring them success in their daily lives: tridents for fishing, tin houses for safety in their homes, rams skulls for the health of their livestock, and offerings of puffed rice and incense could be bought and immediately discarded in many of them. The people were friendly, the temples were humbling, the views were breathtaking, the food was wonderful, the fires were warm at night, and the weed was everywhere. It was a place I will definitely go back to.
Have a look at my pictures from Delhi or from the Himalayas in the photos section of his site.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!Tags: birds, curry, food, Himalayas, India, Manali, monkeys, New Delhi, snow, Travel