I am not fully qualified to call myself a Delhi-ite. Neither was I born here nor have a I stayed here long enough (albeit my wife has often remarked "you are one of them" - for reasons that may not be share-able). In some short spells of stay (coming home from my MBA college in Pune etc), for good or worse, I never had any great attraction for the city. My wife on the other hand is by birth a Delhi-ite (and I must state that she loves Delhi); that said, read "just by birth"; atleast she doesnt fit the bill of the Delhi girl stereotype I always had in mind. On a slight detour, my love for her grew so much when I found her inroads extremely pleasing in my life, without any airs or attitude and the real sensible and simple side of hers, which I never thought a Delhi girl could have!
I have been brought up in Jaipur, and always had a type of ABCD personality when I was young. I always found Delhi and Delhites to be preposterously gaudy, flamboyant and ostentatious (for lack of better vocabulary) and for long I could never imagine that I would think of settling in Delhi. This is by all means was kind of awkward considering the liberal nature and the unfettered upbringing by my parents. Interestingly it was by God's wish or by density, after living for more than 5.5 years in Bangalore, I finally moved to the capital with my wife. It was possibly like Delhi calling in fate for me! Better still (or I yet have to decide) my parents moved to Delhi after half a decade stay in India's financial capital to join my better half's parents who apparently also stay in Delhi. For personal and (more so) professional reasons I too moved to Delhi with a very forthcoming and open mind.
On some aspects (pre known) there is nothing to beat Delhi. The gastronomical food affair and salivating array of cuisines served in Delhi is perhaps incomparable. The best part of Delhi is the fact that you get a rainbow of food ranging from the very cheap to the one of the world most expensive, all at one place. The infrastructure that Delhi boasts of, is by far the best in India undoubtedly. The roads, the metros, the flyovers, the facilities take you by awe. Shopping in again at its best to Delhi; right from Janpath flee market to SouthEx and CP which resemble the shopping icons of India. Apart from the materialistic factors, there are things that money cant buy! The pleasure of being with parents, at times when they really need you is priceless! The joy of celebrating festivals with a whole gang of relatives changes the meaning of festivities all together.
But i never did think about these things when i thought of Delhi. It was just perhaps people. After staying in Delhi for a little more than 3 months, that perception has also changed considerably. Delhi is like any other Indian city, it has its own share of problems and the kind of people you would never want near you, but are around everywhere. But like any other city, you also have some extremely nice people. The warmth and belonging-ness you feel being with Delhiites is awesome. Safety - yes, that's a concern, but I wouldnt say that it is a concern with just Delhi. Like many other indian cities, the problems are universal. And I am not undermining the problems; I agree that problems are there but what I am really trying to come at is that you cannot judge the city by the number of incidents you hear about in the news. Unfortunately crimes like rapes happen a lot in many other cities of India but get highlighted due to the facts that 1) Delhi grabs he most media attention being the capital and 2) Delhi is just larger that many other states in India; and more the number of people, these problem look bigger than most cities.
If 100 days are enough to judge a city, I must say I like it! May be its still early days, but I wouldn't regret coming to Delhi. While I wind up, i remember a poem from my Hindi textbook in class 6 that exemplies a universal trust - Aap bhale toh jag bhala!
Delhi - I love you, just like I loved Bangalore and Pune!
I have been brought up in Jaipur, and always had a type of ABCD personality when I was young. I always found Delhi and Delhites to be preposterously gaudy, flamboyant and ostentatious (for lack of better vocabulary) and for long I could never imagine that I would think of settling in Delhi. This is by all means was kind of awkward considering the liberal nature and the unfettered upbringing by my parents. Interestingly it was by God's wish or by density, after living for more than 5.5 years in Bangalore, I finally moved to the capital with my wife. It was possibly like Delhi calling in fate for me! Better still (or I yet have to decide) my parents moved to Delhi after half a decade stay in India's financial capital to join my better half's parents who apparently also stay in Delhi. For personal and (more so) professional reasons I too moved to Delhi with a very forthcoming and open mind.
On some aspects (pre known) there is nothing to beat Delhi. The gastronomical food affair and salivating array of cuisines served in Delhi is perhaps incomparable. The best part of Delhi is the fact that you get a rainbow of food ranging from the very cheap to the one of the world most expensive, all at one place. The infrastructure that Delhi boasts of, is by far the best in India undoubtedly. The roads, the metros, the flyovers, the facilities take you by awe. Shopping in again at its best to Delhi; right from Janpath flee market to SouthEx and CP which resemble the shopping icons of India. Apart from the materialistic factors, there are things that money cant buy! The pleasure of being with parents, at times when they really need you is priceless! The joy of celebrating festivals with a whole gang of relatives changes the meaning of festivities all together.
But i never did think about these things when i thought of Delhi. It was just perhaps people. After staying in Delhi for a little more than 3 months, that perception has also changed considerably. Delhi is like any other Indian city, it has its own share of problems and the kind of people you would never want near you, but are around everywhere. But like any other city, you also have some extremely nice people. The warmth and belonging-ness you feel being with Delhiites is awesome. Safety - yes, that's a concern, but I wouldnt say that it is a concern with just Delhi. Like many other indian cities, the problems are universal. And I am not undermining the problems; I agree that problems are there but what I am really trying to come at is that you cannot judge the city by the number of incidents you hear about in the news. Unfortunately crimes like rapes happen a lot in many other cities of India but get highlighted due to the facts that 1) Delhi grabs he most media attention being the capital and 2) Delhi is just larger that many other states in India; and more the number of people, these problem look bigger than most cities.
If 100 days are enough to judge a city, I must say I like it! May be its still early days, but I wouldn't regret coming to Delhi. While I wind up, i remember a poem from my Hindi textbook in class 6 that exemplies a universal trust - Aap bhale toh jag bhala!
Delhi - I love you, just like I loved Bangalore and Pune!
