My India - Delhi

I have been constantly chatting with you all about various things - stories, poems, recipes, jokes and what not! Are you still with me? :-)

Now, I would love to take you on a tour of India - places of interest (to me? ;-) Maybe...all those little and big places I have seen, and would want to visit some day...in this life time.

India is a great country - beautiful and diverse. It has unveiled beauty, unbeaten paths, and a million secrets all hidden in it's belly! If only we had the opportunity and the good fortune to even touch or see an atomic part of it's grandeur!

For me, every place has some weightage due to it's history. It has to have some character associated - that's when it makes it to my list. Just plain metros don't attract me :-)

I want to start with Delhi - for obvious reasons! The capital of India and also it being a place that holds special memories for me! Me, who stayed in this place for the first few years of starting my life with my hubby. It's a great place, with a lot of history and culture associated with it! The people are a happy lot - they have a motto in Hindi "Mast Raho" - no tensions be happy!

Very friendly but at the same time you learn a lot about dealing with people! Very diplomatic and very sure about what they want. Money - plays a very important part in this society. People are big on luxuries! This philosophy gets extended to their marriages, the way they live and everything else that touches their everyday lives.

Food! A very important part of this place and culture! My mouth waters just thinking about the million varieties of 'Chaat'...'aloo chaat', 'fruit chaat' etc. etc. One should not miss eating one of each of all the types of 'Paranthas' that are available too..."Ande Ka Paranta', 'Mooli Parantha', 'Aloo Parantha'....Yummy!

Come Summer, and the roads are filled with "Kulfi Wallahs' till late in the night. And surprisingly you will see people roaming around till midnight eating by roadside from the street vendors, also called "thelawallahs'. Lassi, milk shakes and fruit juices are very popular too...

Every stree corner has 'Halwais' who have big huge woks (kadais) full of milk that they keep stirring to reduce - to make the delicious 'rabdi' or 'masala doodh' - it is sinfully delicious!!!

Summer and the winter are equally severe in this city. It is very fog on most winter mornings, so much so that almost every flight taking off or landing from this airport is either delayed or cancelled during this time. Even driving around at least till the Sun isn't fully up is very dangerous. To all, is the added pollution and smog! But, Delhi has cleaned up it's act and the pollution is considerably lower than what I had seen a few years ago - good news there!

Sight seeing can be very exciting and time consuming at the same time. The best way to see Delhi is to take a guided tour. There is the India Gate, Qutub Minar (the world's tallest free standing minaret)etc. The one place a lot of people miss is the Lotus Temple (Bahai temple). I used to work about 5 minutes from there, but never got to see it while I was there...it is very beautiful - do not miss it!

While in Delhi, don't miss the shopping :-) A great place for clothes, leather and other goodies.

There is so much more that I possible can never cover here....check out more information on the web...and if you ever get a chance, don't miss going there in person. You'll never regret it!