There are sections of the city which date back to the British occupation, the Moguls and before that. As the capital, it is a center for cultural and historical artifacts. In some ways, it reminded me of Jerusalem because there are so many new and old things next to each other.
The old city is full of temples from different religions - that even in ancient times Indians lived together - in relative harmony. The history professor that spoke to us said, the miracle of India was that it was still a democracy 60 years after British partition. The diversity is so great that the fact that people get along at all was amazing.I focused a lot in earlier blogs on transportation and I’ll just say here – Delhi has the best roads that I’ve seen since I’ve been here and in many areas (although the locals refuse to believe it—they seem better than NYC). I also think the traffic moves better than in NY because most of the roads were designed in New Delhi after the car was invented. You can go from one side of the city to the other on roads that are more like highways with ramps instead of streets with traffic lights. From what I saw, the traffic moves better than NY (and I'm sure that the Delhi drivers don't believe me when I say that, but it never really stopped completely). That said, and remembering that cars tend to be less wide – the rickshaw are only about 4 feet wide and multitudes of motorcycles and scooters – it was not uncommon to see 4-5 vehicles across on two lanes of road, plus the shoulder.
While I consider myself an experienced jaywalker by NY standards, Delhi brings the contest to a whole new level. Outside the apartment complex the volunteers lived in there was a highway which was four painted lanes in each directions. This translates into 6-8 vehicles on each side.
The light is about seven minutes and doesn't turn red on both sides at the same time. There is a small island partition you can stop on in the center. The first time I tried to cross, I watched for about five minutes and then offered a rickshaw driver 10R ($.25) to take me across. Following his natural instinct, he told me 30R (which was enough to go halfway across town). I refused and continued with our game of charades until he finally figured out what I wanted. When he finally stopped laughing, he called over a local guy and asked him to help me out. I thought I was being ridiculous, but more than one of the other volunteers had also considered it.
Shopping in Delhi is one of my favorite activities, although it’s exhausting because everything is negotiable. There are markets with different specialties all over the city and there are great deals to be had. It was also an excellent way to explore the limitless and varied neighborhoods in the city. In the old city of Delhi, the spice market is said to be the largest in Asia (and probably the world) and there is a gold street where bride’s family’s go to buy their dowry jewels.
Along side the grand, old British hotels and houses there is a Tibetan market where Tibetans would think they were getting a good price, and short rickshaw ride away a market with stunning antiques and hand made fabrics of silk, wool, pashmina that are the best in the world. But shopping is not like it is in the US – where things have pricetags, instead it’s a game where you start with a huge disadvantage because the store owner has been bargaining since they were in a cradle, they know you probably don’t have time to comparison shop and you have no idea what the “real” price (or value) of something should be. Luckily for me, since I didn’t usually have the patience to wait out the owner, we’d be arguing over a relatively insignificant amount (and still paying a premium relative to the locals). Actually, I don’t ever think the tourist wins, no matter how good you are at negotiation. The negotiation is more or less a stamina test with the store owner not really having to go anywhere for the whole day. Walking away is necessary at least once, but you’re never allowed to go far. I think playing "no-rules" monopoly with my nephews was my best preparation. They'll be great at it someday.Another example of the negotiation was the rickshaw drivers. If you’re not Indian, they tell you it’s 200R to go anywhere you ask about in Delhi whichis about 2x the price to go from the two furthest points in of the city—its about 4-5x the price for most rides. I kept thinking what it would be like to have the drivers in a micro-economic class and explaining supply demand theory. They would laugh because they live the practical applications of the theory on a minute by minute basis. Aside from the premium charged to tourists, the price adjusts for the same distance if there were other rickshaws around, but also realizing there was a certain amount of unspoken collusion. None of them were willing to undercut their fellow drivers unless you had clearly walked away.
The city residents also have a higher level of tolerance for noise than I do coming from New York. At our apartment complex, the security guard use to blow his whistle and bang the night stick on the walls as he walked around, all night. I asked one of the residents why they allowed this and they said, “I don’t notice it anymore, but it makes me feel safe because everyone will know the place is being guarded.” Having been awoken many times, I thought this was absolutely absurd. Also at about 6:30 in the morning, the vegetable man starts screaming that he is selling fresh vegetables. He rides around the complex calling out in a high-pitched voice which I was sure meant “help, I’m dying” the first time I heard it, until his vegetables are gone. That combined with the tendency of all drivers to beep whenever they pass another vehicle, animal or person adds to the noise level in a city with 15 million people. There is also the Muslim calls to prayer, five times a day blaring from the mosques and the Hindu temples blaring competing prayers. Finally, maybe because of all the other noise, Delhi residents listen to music and television at decibel levels that were uncomfortable for me when walking by on the street. But it does add to the feeling that the city is alive and always awake.
The city also has a lot of pollution and dirt. The first thing I did when I came home at night was wash my face and the dirt that came off was visible. I also felt like I was looking for a trash container for the entire month in Delhi (and every other city I visited). Everyday, when I returned to my apartment I had something in my bag that I'd carried because there was no place to put it. The locals sadly, but typically would throw it into the gutter. It’s accepted because there is no alternative. There is also a tragic shortage of other basic services. I did not see an ambulance or fire truck even once. Clean water and basic sanitation are problems all over the country. One of the things you have to get use to are the public urinals on the side of many streets, which aren’t as discreet as I, as a passerby, would have preferred – but they exist because most people don’t have bathrooms in their houses. There are several areas the city has room for improvement.
Finally, while it sounds like I have a lot of complaints, I had a great time both because of its history and because the people are amazingly friendly—especially the people who are not trying to see you something. They all wanted to make sure I liked and was enjoying Delhi and India -- and they didn't complain about any of things I noted, (except the traffic). The weather was sunny every day and I always woke up excited to be there.
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