Paharganj; where all of the stereotypical scenes of India are set.
My hotel room is a little white box with one double bed, and a window that looks out into the hallway. The security for the room is a huge padlock and key and I have to duck to get through the door. The bathroom is a mangy looking toilet, a small hand basin, and a bucket and cup for washing. However, I feel extremely lucky as my toilet is a European toilet which means no squatting. Stoked!
On reflection of Delhi thus far, I have discerned poverty, filth, rubbish, population density, and the fact that people are living with this. I think to myself "why would you want to live at all?"
The question I keep coming back to is "how am I ever going to explain what I have seen today to my family?" Just phenomenal.
I am drained. It is 2.45am and I am going to lay down in my clothes under one brown, grimy looking blanket and try to sleep. I am better off than some. I don't know whether I'm looking forward to tomorrow or not.
I have tried to explain as accurately as possible the scenes, experiences and feelings I have received in just one day in India but it is all the seemingly small things that I have missed out that make this an extraordinary country. You have to see it to believe it. This is the real India.
To be continued…
My story about it is Delhi and Dostoevsky in Authspot and a few other bits and pieces too.
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