The best thing I can compare Delhi to is Dubai. This was
something of a shock. I am unprepared,
underdressed and way too underpaid for this town. Still, after one full day I absolutely love it. Poverty in India, as I was
told, is something you learn to live with. I just never thought I’d be
the one feeling poor! But it’s a price I’m willing to pay for the general
awesomeness of this place.
I trotted out today with some people from my hotel; I wanted
to go to the market, they wanted to go to the mall so off we went. Yes, I
arrived in India, international capital of culture and went to The Mall. (I was
with Americans -and I wanted company). So off we went. By ‘’mall’’ I imagined a
little indoor corridor of shops walking distance around a nearby corner; (the kind you get in Tonbridge with 5 or 6
shops inside - one of them is usually a tacky pound shop or has closed due to
bankruptcy).
I had not reckoned with the Olympic village style complex
that rose up before us with all the grandeur of the new Wembley stadium. Except
bigger. Much bigger. My initial excitement on entering (‘’ooh air
conditioning!!’’) was quickly replaced by embarrassment when I realised how
badly I had misjudged this place. I brought eyeliner and extra make up from
London in case I couldn’t find it here. This
morning, I saw Lancôme, Estee Lauder, Tom Ford, in less time than it takes to
eat a 3 course meal. Delhi whups London’s ass in shopping. Delhi whups Londons ass, strings it up to a tree and
makes it cry like a baby at shopping.
We ventured from the mall to a coffee shop located up some
winding stares unobtrusively shunted away at the back of an unremarkable
building. It was quite a surprise that inside were plush soft furnishings, cool
edgy interior design and catchy mixes of Lady Gaga and other artists whose
names I don’t know because I’ve been out of Western civilisation far too long
to be familiar with anything current or trendy.
Later we met the explosion of enthusiasm that is Sid (thank
you Sumit for the introduction). I think he may be the most fun man in India
(if not, can the real Slim Shady please stand up and explain where he gets his
energy from?) After dizzying statistics involving millions of dollars all over
the place, I learned that a house in the expensive parts of Delhi costs more
than my budget for my project across South Asia. Hm. When he laughed
uproariously at my suggestion that I had hoped to save money while living in
India, I took this as Not A Good Sign.
Add to this the fact that here I am worth zero camels (men get paid for marrying women not the other way round) and my cashflow situaion is not looking quite as rosy as I first thought it might. Oh of course I could be frugal - but here why would you want to be when there's so much to do and everything from dresses to home furnishing is absolutely exquisite. So if you find me asking to please give generously to our charity (my employer), it is only so that I can live in the style to which I would like to become accustomed.
Still, we had an absolute blast of a day; three markets, one
mall, one restaurant, one bar, one lounge bar, one cute little sweet thing in a
leaf called paan that Sid introduced us too – add that all up and compared to my previous
existence, this is an entire month’s social life packed into one day (well,
except that to compare to Somaliland delete the bar, the mall, and the cheeky
afternoon mojito).
It might be pricey but I love this place already. I wanted
quality of life in a place where I can actually go out, have friends, have a
life, exercise and I can do all that
here (and in one day – although I might postpone exercise to tomorrow).
I might be poor by local standards but I love Delhi already.
x
