India: Old Delhi in adjectives
Sensory overload in the oldest part of Delhi.
Describe Old Delhi in one word? Impossible. Let’s try ten adjectives: fragrant, daunting, beautiful, alert, atmospheric…haunting. Surprising. Comical. Puzzling and vivid.
Nearly a year ago I travelled to India, which, from my perspective, might as well have been eons ago. Since, I’ve seemingly lived a thousand travel lives: amongst a multitude of other things, I’ve seen the pyramids in Egypt, moved back to Hong Kong, lain on the beach in Thailand, and gotten engaged in Germany. Sadly but predictably, the minutiae of the India trip is long forgotten. I don’t remember the situation of the sights, how much the visa cost, or how long the train ride was from Delhi to Agra. Par for the course for a rolling stone like myself, I guess. But luckily the impression India left on me is long lasting, as are the pictures.
Old Delhi is:
Fragrant- Cardamom and incense linger in the air (there’s exhaust, too, but let’s focus on the positive).
Daunting – The unfamiliar food, strange smells, and intense stares from locals can unsettle you. But I found that a disarming smile and openness to discover new eats served me well.
Beautiful and vivid – The people, the textiles, the ramshackle buildings. Just stunning.
Alert – I felt hyper-aware of my surroundings, and truthfully not always in a good way. What did I fear? The crush of people coming at me from all sides made me clutch my bag and large camera tightly. Irrational? Perhaps.
Atmospheric – This is India. I felt like I was in India. There were saris and chapatis and Mughal architecture and 24 karat gold.
Haunting – Faces like this are indelibly etched in my psyche.
Surprising and puzzling – I’m a well-worn traveller at this point but the rows of food stalls with scores of men eating outside suprised me. I’m used to seeing locals at work and leisure, but what struck me was that they ate and socialized all while in the squatting position. Effortlessly. No chairs, no tables. As if it were the most natural thing in the world. How do they do it? I have bad knees, so only looked on from my chair in an adjacent restaurant in awe.
