I think i have kind of started settling in Delhi. It is radically different from Bombay and it takes a while to come to terms with how this city functions.
With more than three thousand years, Delhi is the longest surviving capital city in the world. Starting with Indraprastha, its oldest version, this city has been built and rebuilt at least seven times (maybe eight, don't remember the exact number). And each time a ruler has rebuilt the city, his/her empire has crumbled; the latest being the British who built New Delhi (also called Lutyens' Delhi - it was designed by British architect Edwin Lutyens). The sun set on the Empire, soon after Lutyens' Delhi was built! I'm reading William Darymple's City of Djinns, which demystifies, page by page, this city's many layers.
As rich as this city's history may be, it is juxtaposed with its nouveau habitants, who do not inherit it. The habitants - most being partition migrants - date back no longer than a mere sixty-odd years in the oldest surviving capital on the planet. So, on the one hand you are in the midst of rich heritage, and on the other you experience aggression, sometimes violence, naked consumption, bling and excess. The lines of malls in Gurgaon make one think if we, as a people, have come to believe that consumption is the only way to happiness.
But then, it is not all gloomy and sad. At the other end of the tunnel are the youth - activist, armed with information, with the will and the platforms to articulate our ideas and seek the change we seek. IYCN, the recent queer pride parade, the Delhi High Court ruling decriminalizing sexuality minorities, SPIC MACAY events, the diverse universities in Delhi...
As antithetic Delhi may be within itself, at the fulcrum of its antithesis is hope. And that is a great thing.
With more than three thousand years, Delhi is the longest surviving capital city in the world. Starting with Indraprastha, its oldest version, this city has been built and rebuilt at least seven times (maybe eight, don't remember the exact number). And each time a ruler has rebuilt the city, his/her empire has crumbled; the latest being the British who built New Delhi (also called Lutyens' Delhi - it was designed by British architect Edwin Lutyens). The sun set on the Empire, soon after Lutyens' Delhi was built! I'm reading William Darymple's City of Djinns, which demystifies, page by page, this city's many layers.
As rich as this city's history may be, it is juxtaposed with its nouveau habitants, who do not inherit it. The habitants - most being partition migrants - date back no longer than a mere sixty-odd years in the oldest surviving capital on the planet. So, on the one hand you are in the midst of rich heritage, and on the other you experience aggression, sometimes violence, naked consumption, bling and excess. The lines of malls in Gurgaon make one think if we, as a people, have come to believe that consumption is the only way to happiness.
But then, it is not all gloomy and sad. At the other end of the tunnel are the youth - activist, armed with information, with the will and the platforms to articulate our ideas and seek the change we seek. IYCN, the recent queer pride parade, the Delhi High Court ruling decriminalizing sexuality minorities, SPIC MACAY events, the diverse universities in Delhi...
As antithetic Delhi may be within itself, at the fulcrum of its antithesis is hope. And that is a great thing.
You don't say much about the antique dilli, chandni chowk, and jama masjid... dilli has its excesses and it has its antique charm.
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