Delhi :: I

Delhi. Our beloved capital city. In my entire life, I had visited its exterior many times. Just by road, mainly to board flights or receive someone. While going to the Airport by road from Chandigarh it takes around 5 hours. As a child I always used to recognize Delhi by big traffic jams and smoke filled highways. The traveler in me always wanted to explore this city. And so I'd given a chance to do so. It was supposed to be a really short trip, of one day. But I was excited.

So me and the homie set out early in the morning. I was up at 5, one of those few days when I could wear that crown of punctuality. It was raining as both of us made our way towards the railway station. We had our fingers crossed, so that we could get our train tickets in the current slot, which rarely happens. And because this over populated country prefers to book its train tickets beforehand. As expected, we didn't get the tickets. There was a detour to the bus stand with a puking bag in hand. As a child, road travels haven't suited me. Even now, that childhood trait is revived sometimes.

Thankfully the bus journey was smooth minus the heat. After 5 hours we were in

D d d d d d dilli dilli dilli dilli dilli dilli dilli!

Welcoming us was a bus stand which looked like a graveyard. We got down and made our way to the metro station. Our hungry tummies were screaming out to our brains to find some place to eat. That's when we spotted a McD at the Kashmere Gate metro station. I liked the fact that they had a McD in the train station. Hungry peeps can hop off trains, take a bite and leave with smiles. We sat and started hogging like hungry elephants. We looked around and saw couples sharing their burgers. It was a little strange, I mean why not go for two burgers. What if your partner has bad breath? Gah!

As I looked around I saw this Chinese lady carrying her tray here and there, trying to find a place to sit. She looked like she was a backpacker. Dressed in hippie like attire with a back pack. I waved out to her as there was an empty table beside me. She smiled and said “Thayeenk you” in her Chinese accent. She sat there as me and the homie silently munched our burgers. I wanted to start a conversation but it was Delhi and there was tag hanging on me, which said “Rapist?” .Also; I’m very bad at starting conversations with random people. So, I just let her enjoy her meal. After a while I saw her taking out a journal and writing something in Chinese. I presumed she must be writing about me. Heh.

So, after the hunger satisfaction session. We were ready for our first metro ride. The long queue at the ticket kiosk was a bummer. We silently joined the queue. We were confused as to which route we had to take for Janakpuri West. We thought we’d ask the ticket vending lady once our turn comes. That’s just what we did. But she pointed finger at the map drawn beside her counter, in complete disinterest. We asked people behind us, they behaved like dodos too. So finally we figured it out ourselves and bought two ticket tokens.



We entered the metro station as we saw people flocking here and there. Students, working people, oldies everybody had that ”Big city” hurry. We figured out which train to board, all thanks to that little map you could spot everywhere in the metro station. It’s a savior.

The metro arrived, like it floated on something really silky. No noise, no screeching breaks. The automated doors opened and there was a frantic exchange of people. Two crowds of people moved in and out of the train. After a little pushing, you’re automatically pushed to your destination. Everything is automated here. Heh.

The metro made its way on the elevated rails. The station announcer sounded like Kumar Sanu, announced station names after an interval of 4-5 minutes. This metro is fast dude. Like really fast. But I had a tough time stopping my laughter when I heard station names like “Shaadi Pur” , “Pull Bangesh” , or the awesomest of them all “Jhande waala”.

I noticed people in metros. They were like people everywhere; just that they love to stare at you. I don’t know if I was noticing too much because I had come with a preconceived notion about the city being unsafe. But still, they just won’t stop staring at you. Click a photo. Stare. Talk with your homie. Stare. Laugh at a funny station name. Stare. Stare. Stare. Stare. I must say I started feeling like a chick. Yep.

Also I saw many kids in the metro with books opened in front of them. With earphones on, they continuously stared at a single page without turning it. Couldn’t make out if they were asleep.

A couple of minutes and four hundred stares later we reached Janakpuri. I had to enquire about a training institute. So after talking with this cute receptionist who asked us water and never really served it, we left. We had to find some place to stay for the night.

Thanks to my awesome twitter folks. I came to know about Paharganj. I’d researched a little about it. It was know to be a hippie and backpacker’s hub. We reached the place. I won’t say that the place had a scenic beauty. It was just like any other part of Delhi, but it felt like home. Why? Cheap hotels, Dhabas. My wallet was smiling already.

After getting a cheap room, we embraced our beds for sometime. Talked about our futures which don’t look quite bright at the moment. After an hour we hopped down to hunt for some food and booze. We thought of looking for some booze first. We walked the shop filled boulevard. Paharganj totally looked like the desi time square. We then encountered a severe disappointment. We couldn’t find a liquor shop. In fact all this while we hadn’t spotted a single liquor store! This was bad! And for guys like us it was the end of the world! I had found my answer. Men here are frustrated due to lack of drinking points, that’s why a lot of crime happens here. Yep.

We finally spotted one and we thanked the lord a hundred times. Homie got a bottle, after which we got some food and made our way to the room. The over spicy food sucked but it was okay, as we had a bottle to finish after it. After hogging the shitty food, we poured our drinks. After finishing the first round, we knew something was missing. We looked around and suddenly spotted the noisy TV. I did a good deed by switching it off. And after that, we were on trip down the memory lane. We talked our hearts out; it was like pushing the rewind button and reliving the twenty odd years again. Time had stood still. Some 90s music gave us company and we were having the time of our life. Memories, crushes, Old TV shows, movies everything was discussed. The talking session went on till 3 am. If it weren’t for this drinking session the first day of this trip would’ve been a total disaster. A memory was created that night, a memory which will last a lifetime. Yep.

= = = = = = = =

This concluded the first day of my Delhi trip.

In the next part, we’ll talk about more Delhi stares. How this kid roams alone in the big city while it rains and draw certain (harsh) conclusions about the city.

Cheers to my imaginary reader.

Later.