Delhi and the first impression of India

My adventure had an interesting start– my flight was delayed with almost three hours. I informed my hotel in Delhi about this as I had arranged a pick-up from them. I wasn’t sure to what extend you could trust those kind of arrangements but I estimated it to be pretty reliable this time. After a six hour flight and very little sleep I arrived in Delhi to find out that the driver was not there. I called the hotel twice and after waiting for half an hour the driver finally arrived. While waiting I paid attention to the fact how clean the airport and the surroundings were. There was no waste lying on the street, the floor was shining and no one was begging. It was a good reminder that you see what people want you to see, and that there is a hidden reality somewhere - probably not even so far away.

In the hotel I was treated as princes. A boy who looked like he should be actually at school on a Friday morning offered me drinking water, carried my bag upstairs and showed how the A/C worked. The hotel was located close to the airport so there was nothing to do in that area and I thought instead of sitting inside all day I might as well see something of the city. So I asked for a day tour in Delhi, as the hotel offered it. I had a private taxi driver for the day and he waited while I was exploring the most important monuments. I actually wasn't so much into the special treatment and the tourist attractions but more how the city felt and how the people are. On a day like the first day in Delhi was it was also extremely comfortable to have someone show places because I was so tired that I couldn't have done it on my own. 

Lotus Temple in the pouring rain.

I had to pay 25 times as for entrance to a monument of some sort compared to what the Indian nationals had to pay. After the second time, I told the driver to get me to the Hindu temple in Delhi and that was pretty impressive. There were in total some ten temples on both sides of the road, huge ones. The India gate, the house of the president and Humayun’s Tomb were nice but my highlight were those Hindu temples and the Lotus Temple which was build in the shape of a lotus flower and meant for all religions. 

Going to a place like India or Delhi, I hadn’t really any expectations - I just knew that it will be a lot of different emotions and many opposites at the same time. The first impression I got from Delhi reminded me of Tanzania in many aspects – how the streets look, the tuk-tuks on the street and friendliness of the people. Also the  heavy traffic was similar in Tanzania but here it is really the topic for discussion because it is INSANE!

A huge statue of Hindu god Hanuman.

What I had never seen before where the cows wandering on the street. Standing in traffic lights, children begging for water or something to eat. Apparently most of the cars have drivers because they always aimed at the people sitting in the back seat. Another observation was that there were very little women on the street, in buses and so on. It left me wondering where the women are, why aren't they going out and what do people think of those who are walking around alone. And I have never in my life been through so many security checks as I've done in a few days in India. To go anywhere, you need to pass a security check and there is always a separate room with a female inspector for ladies. 

Many people want to take a picture with me - do they think I am someone famous? Some people think it is cool and one western women even said to me “it is a good excuse for me to ask pictures with them too." But I don't understand it - why would someone want to take pictures of random people? And anywhere I walk, I am the centre of attention. At the Lotus Temple I went under a roof with lot of under Indians to stay dry in the rain when I realized I was in the middle, a decent distance to every side and people staring at me. I decided to go stand in a corner.

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