First Impressions



After a few days of being in Delhi I feel I'm finally ready to write about my few first impressions of India and its culture, or at least the Indian culture in Delhi. First of all, for those who don't yet know, half of my life was spent in Maputo, Mozambique, and so it was quite surprising as to how much - at first! - Delhi reminded me of it, despite of how far more advanced it is in comparison. Now, it's 4h30am on a Monday and some of Allison's neighbours are throwing fireworks! She says they're probably commemorating the end of a wedding... it's been hardly a week and, from what I'm told, I've yet to have seen the core of Delhi and it's inner workings, and yet I've already seen enough that will change the way I look at life forever. 



Bara-Gumbad Tomb



            Wherever you are in the world, wherever you live, there are scents, sounds and sights around you, all of which you learn to either ignore or take for granted with time. Delhi, and the rest of India I am sure, is a place where all of your senses seem to come to life and take control of you. The air here is filled with a mix of scents! One moment you'll be walking down the street and the putrid stench of sewage and sulphur fills your nostrils and a second later you're suddenly struck by an odd mix of sandalwood, cinnamon and a number of other sweet and spicy scents that are pleasing and tickling to the nose. While this happens your eyes are drawn away from the scrawny and malnutritioned people, the shabby looking buses, taxis and tuk-tuks, the dust covered everything, and you notice a group of Indian women dressed in exotically coloured sariis, sometimes with intricate henna drawings all the way to their shoulders, or a couple of Sikh men, their turbans balanced beautifully with a cross of Indian and western clothing and, in any case or gender, be they lower or higher class it all seems to fit in and suddenly the surrounding sights take on a new depth and importance. The same goes for Sound, but before I can explain exactly how I’ve regarded the phenomenon of Sound here in Delhi I need to explain a little about the streets here.

The streets of Delhi are run by chaos, however a “Coordinated Chaos”. One of the first aspects that you come across, of what I'm guaranteed is a behavioural phenomenon witnessable all throughout India, once setting foot outside Indira Ghandi International Airport in Delhi, is Indian traffic. Imagine a group of free agents roaming around at their will and peril all concentrated within the visible and invisible limits of the framework of society, and you'll have an understanding of how I have – so far – perceived traffic here. Roads in Delhi are communication lines that, infrastructure wise, seem to belong in most Modern cities, with all the regulatory signage – to an extent – required to ensure the fluidity of traffic and security of all forms of vehicle (we'll get to this in a bit), perfectly understandable to any foreign driver and, in India's case, simultaneously ignored by most - if not all - national drivers in all forms of varied transport that may or may not belong there.



Now before all else, please understand that my intention is not to criticize India and its people on their driving habits. As a citizen of a country that until recently had one of the EU's highest road death tolls I am actually astonished that, since arriving almost a week ago, I have not yet seen an accident, and herein lies one of the key aspects of my earlier description of Delhi's Coordinated Chaos.



Tuk - Tuk



Apparently in India all one needs to obtain a drivers license is the money required to buy one and, as such, the drivers here drive according to what I can only imagine is an unspoken agreement to constantly warn every vehicle and person, in the visible and non-visible vicinity, of one's impending approach, which is done by Honking. Today, as Allison's family and I walked alongside the road to Qutab Minar I noticed that on the back of many buses they actually have written "Please Horn". This constant orchestra can drive one insane if you're not willing to accept that this is how things work here and, odds are, it will not change. If Delhi is in fact a city of senses, car horns are unquestionably what you would choose to describe Sound. I don't mean to send out the idea that car horns are what will solely fill one's ears here, there are of course sounds which are extremely exotic and natural to India such as Bird calls. At any given time during the day, if you find yourself in a more sheltered area from the traffic, you're bound to hear three or four different types of bird chirpping away as they either fly by or simply perch on a branch. Come the end of the day though and you need only pass by a tree, to hear dozens of birds chirpping madly, giving any passerby quite the musical treat.



Khan Market



As to what you can find on these streets, seeing as Allison's parents live in one of the more suburban areas of Delhi, I've so far been spared and sheltered from the plethora of pack animals that one can find in most city centers, towns and roads throughout India. However, on my first day here, on our way home from the Airport at about 7am, Jim - Allison's father - and I saw an elephant being ridden on the road. This served as, not only a source of great amusement and laughter but also, a clear sign that I was in India.

Taste is obviously a predominant sense here in India and since arriving I’m quite pleased to say that this particular sense has been pampered. On my first day here I was treated by Allison’s father to a quick lunch, at the equivalent of an Indian fast-food restaurant in the local bazaar – renowned throughout Delhi – Khan Market.

Once famous for having been among some of the most expensive real estates in the world, the shops that make up this market today cater to just about anyone looking for anything. The market is also home to a number of little cafés, bars, and obviously some restaurants. The one mentioned earlier is called Khan Chacha and specializes in Indian “wraps” which are unsurprisingly delicious! Overall the food tends to be quite spicy, as one would expect, but the spices here are different and the experience isn't unbearable, much to the contrary! As your taste buds are hit with an explosion of different flavors, all concentrated in one forkful, you feel your mind letting go of all other thoughts and worries, concentrating solely on the gastronomical wonder that you've been presented with. Believe me when I say that "food for the soul" would be quite the understatement. Another great advantage to this mixture of spices is that it seems to fill you up a lot more than what you might regularly be used to. Just one of these small wraps managed to keep me satisfied for half a day!

As the date of the beggining our travels approaches, Allison and I are getting quite excited about what we'll be able to see and experience. As I said earlier, so far we've seen only a small sample of what India has to offer and yet it's already been a worthy cultural experience on its own! I'll be writing more about these later on tonight, with more pictures to share, but right now I have matters that I must see to... dinner time!