India gets its fair share of natural disasters like droughts, floods and earthquakes. At the moment it is a heatwave, which claim human lives. Over 1000 deaths were reported in Andrah Pradesh due to extreme heat. In parts of the south eastern state temperatures up to 52 degree Celsius were recorded. Also in Delhi it's unbearably hot. Our rooms air conditioning doesn't seem to be able to cope with maximum temperatures of 46 degrees and minimum temperatures of 32 degrees.

07/06/03 Old Rajender Nagar

About five months later than originally planned we pick up some photographs of Lalaji's parents at Mahatta Digital in Old Rajender Nagar (near Karol Bagh). Just around the corner is a little make-shift tea stall, whose straight backed owner makes very nice chai. His kids and their numerous friends are fascinated by our digital camera and pose to have lots of snaps taken.

08/06/03 Palika Bazaar

Palika bazaar is the air-conditioned underground market at Connaught Place. Surprisingly the AC even works; though temperatures there are still above 30 degrees Celsius it makes a good refuge from the soaring heat above. Late afternoon, early evening the grassy area above the market is popular with Indians (and us) sitting, chatting, eating snacks, having their ear cleaned and their shoes polished, and drinking overprized chai. Every time we are here we look for Parvind, a smart boy who earns a bit of cash by selling chai from a thermos flask.

09/06 - 09/07/03

One month in Germany.

10/07/03 Monsoon time in Delhi

As usual (with all international flights) we arrive in the middle of the night. Contrary to all our expectations it's pleasantly cool, since the monsoon has started; just before we arrived it had rained 106 mm within two hours. Roads are flooded and the taxi driver has to navigate around huge puddles - or rather lakes - which cover up all the nasty axle breaking pot holes. The taxi driver doesn't make life easier for himself by not listening properly and therefore driving us to Janakpuri (in the north west of Delhi), where we definitely don't want to get out!

11/07/03 Old Rajender Nagar again

We have to go to Mahatta in Old Rajender Nagar again; a good opportunity to drop some of the pictures we took of the chai stall owner and kids a month ago. They're thrilled; only Nirmala, the daughter of the chai wallah, is disappointed, because she doesn't appear on any of the prints. So, it's time for her "minute of fame", she seems dead chuffed to have her picture taken all on her own on the cycle rickshaw.

12/07/03 Delhi's nightlife

Delhi has ludicrous drinking laws, officially the minimum age for consuming alcohol in a bar is 25! Not only that, but bars shut as ridiculously early as in the UK. Some bars, as Volga at Connaught Place stop serving beer at 11 pm, others like Nirula's (whose big plus points are the complimentary nibbles like crisps and peanuts) have licences till midnight. After 12 o'clock at night Connaught Circus looks deserted - not really like you'd expect the night life of a capital to be. After a number of beers at Volga we go to the Jama Masjid area - wow, and it's here where people go at night if they can't sleep. It's busy, lots of small cheap restaurants open; best of all: the air is filled with the smell of kebabs, the road is lined with stalls selling excellent spicy kebabs (officially made of buffalo meat...). I don't know about the drinks though...

13/07/03 Delhi Metro ride

Delhi's traffic jams are not as bad as Bangkok’s. Though with 13 % of families in Delhi owning a car and monthly car sales shooting up, the future for Delhi's roads look bleak. To counter - or at least alleviate - future traffic problems, the construction of the Delhi Metro overground and underground system was started a few years ago. December last year saw the inauguration of the small overground stretch from Tis Hazari to Shahadra (including 6 stations). We are curious and take a 50 Rupees auto rickshaw ride to experience a 7 Rupees Delhi Metro ride, and we are impressed, trains and stations look flash, new and clean.
read more - Delhi Metro article

Kirsten jul 2003	<< previous next >>
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