As a typical South Indian (think- half Saree and jasmine flowers) with a love for filter coffee and curd rice, it came as much as a surprise to me as it it to my friends that I love Delhi so much. Yes, Delhi is filled with Punjabi snobbish types, yes, Delhi is a rape capital and makes you feel extremely unsafe, and most definitely yes- I am seen as a "Saawth Indian" by most Delhi-ites ( Most of whom think Cochin is in Tamil Nadu and that we eat dosa and zaambar for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But not to sell them short- for the longest time anyone above the Vindhyas was "Hindi" to us and Sardarjis were all fools . I am glad to say I have changed my opinion about one at least :P ). Most of the stereotypes about Delhi are unfortunately true- it is every bit a City of Sperms and most of them cant think of/imagine that there is life outside Delhi.
Having lived near the city for a couple of years however has made me see things a little bit differently though- it helps that the city is so beautiful. Most of my earlier memories of the city are from my campus days when we used it as a transit point and therefore all I remember are the sweaty dirty railway stations, the creepy men around the Delhi stations and the general poverty. But most of the rest of Delhi is so beautiful and so bloody green- it would put certain parts of Bangalore to shame ( the Bangalore of my childhood and the Bangalore of my imagination, mostly. Real Bangalore is beautiful in parts too, but not half as much as I imagine it to be). Delhi winters in morning is definitely amongst the most beautiful things I have seen- So much greenery shrouded in fog gives a sort of a mystical fairy tale quality to the place. Even commuting in this city seems like traveling.
Delhi to me is spending afternoons wandering through Dilli haat and looking at beautiful handicrafts. Delhi to me is meandering through random markets and coming across exotic spices, randomly beautiful pottery, heavenly roadside tea and brilliant paranthas and pani-puris. Delhi to me is the bustling madness of Chandni chowk- insanely great food and sweets and a view of the Red Fort. Delhi is the colorful summer markets of Sarojini which transforms into a more solemn winter market by October. Delhi, to me is the luxury of space- roads are wider than in most cities, homes are so spacious and there are parks in every streetcorner that would be bigger than Sanjay Gandhi national park.
And the best part of Delhi is all the history it has soaked up without making such a big deal of it. There are monuments and old ruins everywhere- here you see one tomb of some poet where the neighbourhood kids play street cricket, few blocks away is another ruin where middle aged men chill out with their drinks. There are so many many ruins that pop up unannounced as you drive, with no one to care for them, no one to brand them as tourist spots and charge a few bucks to enter. One of the best spots I have been to in Delhi is a tomb of some obscure Khan oposite the Qutab. The place is on a level higher than the road, so at once you are in an old structure from where you can see the Delhi traffic but should you choose to not see it , you can look straight ahead at the beautiful Qutab and the greenery around. That is the image I carry when I think of Delhi. William Dalrymple ( whose book I have just started reading, which is the inspiration for this post) compares the city to Rome and Istanbul- modern cities which so much of history in them. While I wouldnt go so far as to compare it to Istanbul ( despite never having been there) Delhi does have enough crumbling ruins and monuments to keep you interested and intrigued. And the residents have taken it in their stride- Lodhi gardens - the summer palace of some king- has a water body right in the middle of a vast expanse of garden cum forest, a tomb right in the middle of the greenery and what do people do with it? Use it for morning walks. There is an Agrasen ki baoli which is right in the middle of connaught place- A damn stepwell in a shopping district. The sheer numbers of monuments which are neglected makes it even more interesting for me than if they had been protected and wrapped in tourist-friendly packaging.
Even the tiniest and most obscure of them give me so much happiness and a sense of joy- almost enough for me to overlook the straight haired "Delhiness" of the people.
Having lived near the city for a couple of years however has made me see things a little bit differently though- it helps that the city is so beautiful. Most of my earlier memories of the city are from my campus days when we used it as a transit point and therefore all I remember are the sweaty dirty railway stations, the creepy men around the Delhi stations and the general poverty. But most of the rest of Delhi is so beautiful and so bloody green- it would put certain parts of Bangalore to shame ( the Bangalore of my childhood and the Bangalore of my imagination, mostly. Real Bangalore is beautiful in parts too, but not half as much as I imagine it to be). Delhi winters in morning is definitely amongst the most beautiful things I have seen- So much greenery shrouded in fog gives a sort of a mystical fairy tale quality to the place. Even commuting in this city seems like traveling.
Delhi to me is spending afternoons wandering through Dilli haat and looking at beautiful handicrafts. Delhi to me is meandering through random markets and coming across exotic spices, randomly beautiful pottery, heavenly roadside tea and brilliant paranthas and pani-puris. Delhi to me is the bustling madness of Chandni chowk- insanely great food and sweets and a view of the Red Fort. Delhi is the colorful summer markets of Sarojini which transforms into a more solemn winter market by October. Delhi, to me is the luxury of space- roads are wider than in most cities, homes are so spacious and there are parks in every streetcorner that would be bigger than Sanjay Gandhi national park.
And the best part of Delhi is all the history it has soaked up without making such a big deal of it. There are monuments and old ruins everywhere- here you see one tomb of some poet where the neighbourhood kids play street cricket, few blocks away is another ruin where middle aged men chill out with their drinks. There are so many many ruins that pop up unannounced as you drive, with no one to care for them, no one to brand them as tourist spots and charge a few bucks to enter. One of the best spots I have been to in Delhi is a tomb of some obscure Khan oposite the Qutab. The place is on a level higher than the road, so at once you are in an old structure from where you can see the Delhi traffic but should you choose to not see it , you can look straight ahead at the beautiful Qutab and the greenery around. That is the image I carry when I think of Delhi. William Dalrymple ( whose book I have just started reading, which is the inspiration for this post) compares the city to Rome and Istanbul- modern cities which so much of history in them. While I wouldnt go so far as to compare it to Istanbul ( despite never having been there) Delhi does have enough crumbling ruins and monuments to keep you interested and intrigued. And the residents have taken it in their stride- Lodhi gardens - the summer palace of some king- has a water body right in the middle of a vast expanse of garden cum forest, a tomb right in the middle of the greenery and what do people do with it? Use it for morning walks. There is an Agrasen ki baoli which is right in the middle of connaught place- A damn stepwell in a shopping district. The sheer numbers of monuments which are neglected makes it even more interesting for me than if they had been protected and wrapped in tourist-friendly packaging.
Even the tiniest and most obscure of them give me so much happiness and a sense of joy- almost enough for me to overlook the straight haired "Delhiness" of the people.
