In continuation (see first part of this post) :
The traffic situation is better I think, although I don’t drive there; the honking has lessened. At times though it’s almost embarrasing to be following the law and actually waiting at a red light while all other traffic whizzes past nonchalantly. No one considers it a big deal to be going the wrong way (against the traffic on a one-way street), it’s prety much a free-for-all. I don’t see how they can combat that unlesss they start doling out like thousand rupee challans for traffic violations, and somehow getting the violators to pay it. Thousand rupees should hurt. Delhi is now chock-full of cars of different makes, there’s Honda, Toyota, Chevy, Ford, Hyundai, the Tata brands, Maruti etc. All small cars which make sense since parking and roads are in short supply. I did see a few large Mercedes, BMW and Land Cruisers, and I’m wondering how these people manouever these big cars, or find the space to park them anywhere ? I mean seen from the rear, the Maruti 800 is almost half the width of the Land Cruiser – you must really want to drive that Land Cruiser in India !
Didn’t do much sight-seeing, except for a visit to the Akshardham temple. The temple itself was very beautiful with the entire grounds and facilities being very well maintained and land-scaped. Plus it’s a very large complex with sprawling gardens, all very lush and green (no water problems here), and it took us almost an entire day t see it. The main temple is gorgeously carved and surrounded by water – very pleasant on a hot summer day. Besides the main temple they have other buildings which house the IMAX theatre, the “boat ride” and the exhbition halls. The IMAx theatre shows you a film on Lord Swaminarayan’s life, and the “boat ride” is a mechanized “boat” taking you through various mechanized scenes in early India/Indian culture enshrining Hindu achievements. iThe exhibition halls are animated in the sense that they depict Lord Swaminaryan’s life via scenes with moving/mechanized figures. Quite interesting.
Besides the temple, central Delhi is also very beautiful – I’ve always found it so. North and South block, Rajpath – grand old buildings with good roads, clean-kept surroundings, always a pleasure to drive thorugh. Also those beautiful grand Ministerial bungalows in the centre of Delhi – nice. Delhi is greener and cleaner now, however stuff is still cloaked in babu-dom. I’m inclined to agree with Tavleen Singh here.
Connaught place looks a bit run-down though, and grimy and there is garbage and filth lying around. But shopping is a pleasure as always, even on hot, hot days. Malls lie deserted during the week-days, and even on the weekends, when there are crowds, not many people are actually buying. Most are lounging around; the mall is a very comfortable and cool (literally) place to hang out, but that’s it. The people that are buying are buying are at Lajpat Nagar, or Sarojini Market or Chandni Chowk, because really the malls can’t rival those markets. Small, the shops are cheek-by-jowl, and the street vendors and little wooden shops do roaring business. And the variety is amazing.
Delhi airport also looks better, I hear they are starting to implement the privatisation process. There is some greenery, the TVs are gone, although there have been no overt face-lifts when I pass through. The rest-rooms are the cleanest I’ve ever seen them, with a lady inside handing out little strips of toilet paper (?) to wipe one’s hands. On landing I don’t see any of those ubiquitous louts promising to take you through immigration “quickly” for a price. However, during the security checkin on my way back (to the US), the man loading the suitcases on and off the X ray machines is surreptiously accepting money from passengers, for which he heaves the suitcases on and off the luggage carts. I don’t give him any money and have to heft the suitcases myself.
The immigration lines are not too long, and people seemed to be lined up approximately in front of each immigration official’s counter. Just as my turn comes, a man from the neighboring line steps in front to the official’s counter. Before I can say a word, the official is on his feet and is pointing the man away to his line and his immigration counter. In Hindi he explains that passengers must stick to their respective lies and counters and not attempt to move as they wish. The offender, heavy-set and untidily dressed, suitably admonished goes back to his line, to wait his turn.
Once immigration is done, we move ahead to the passenger security line. At the end of the lines, they have the security checks, where cloth barriers have been set-up tp screen the women as they are patted down. The lines are long, but they are actual lines, not groups of people, which is great. As we get to the end of the line (there are about 10 people ahead of me) after about a 30 minute wait, a few men walk ahead and stand in groups at the gate. When I ask one whether he is in the line, he tells me that since his flight is boarding he has been told to go the head of the line by someone. Now, I have seen various airline representatives working the lines for passengers with flights ready to take-off and none of them are around this group. So I can one of the airport staff over and ask them to get the people back at the end of the line where they belong. After much argument, the men are still there although they have moved away from me, some ahead and some back, and the airport official (a woman) is shrugging her shoulders and telling me that there is nothing she can do – that’s how people are.
So, all in all a good trip, although the next time I go it might be in the winter or atleast when the rains have started – might be less hot.
Categories : _travel
