When I was a kid I wanted to travel the world and see all the beautiful places... After a few years of traveling, I grew tired of seeing places. Sometimes, in one of those EuroTrips, where you go 'round several countries in 2-3 weeks, the first week is really exciting, with lots of cathedrals, museums, castles and so on, the second is all right, with more cathedrals, museums, castles and so on, while the third week you feel that if you see one more church you'll go bananas!
Nowadays I no longer travel to see places, but to meet people. To understand them, to enjoy life as they do, to have a touch of the culture. Finding out, for example, that in India there are separate wagons for men and for women was much more surprising than seeing the India Gate, just a few minutes earlier. Even simple things, like the fact that in India there are gazillion types of electrical plugs amaze me more than the next temple.
In Delhi I live in Lajpat Nagar, a very colourful, dirty, noisy, crazy, busy, funny, lovely place. I enjoy every bit of it. I share an apartment with several wonderful people from countries awide the globe. I don't think the word awide actually exists, but it sounds right to me right now :).
Every day, when I get out, a dozen people are trying to sell me something or take me somewhere. Urban planning is very weird. Nagars (neighborhoods) are divided into colonies, and colonies into blocks. They all seem to have an address, but no one knows how to find one. It takes between 15 minutes and several hours to find an address anywhere in Delhi, no matter how experienced the cab or rickshaw driver.
When I go out, I see tourists, and I am so happy I am not one of them. As a tourist, I would probably never have got to walk in a colony, or to mix with the people here, to try street food, to see the real sides of life here. Tourists are confined to nice, glittery places, with high prices, and a façade of India. Working and living here is a whole different experience, full of flavor and life...


Lajpat Nagar, October 2010.