expat India

After 6 years I have finally returned to India.  When I left here in 1998 I remember wondering if I’d ever return.  Now my brother and his girlfriend have moved to Delhi I’ve found the perfect excuse to come back.

It’s great to see the city as a ‘resident’ this time, rather than a backpacker.  I arrived at the ungodly hour of 4am and we decided to go straight to the wholesale flower market, which had been recommended to Eric.  It was beautiful: rows upon rows of colourful flowers.  Whole sections for roses, others for sunflowers, artificial flowers, bamboos etc. Paula bought armfuls of flowers to fill their house.  I enjoyed little things like getting my chai from the street vendors and stopping by a Hindu shrine, all within this flower market.

Traffic in Delhi is notoriously bad but we had clear roads at sunrise so we made the most of visiting the Red Fort, India Gate and the Prime Minister’s residence.  The air is murky (probably pollution, rather than fog) but we still managed to have a nice sunrise.

We also stopped at some of the markets on Connaught Place where all manner of things could be found from clothes to jewellery and electronics.  Having started the day with all the shopping we decided to have a long, leisurely breakfast at the Imperial Hotel.  This is one of the older hotels, built in a colonial style.  We sat on a terrace that overlooked what could have been the crochet garden…

Eric and Paula are living in an apartment complex which is part of a commune of 8 apartment buildings, a pool, tennis court, gym, shop etc.  The ‘commune committee’ had organised a Diwali Party to get all the residents together which Eric and Paula wanted to attend, to ‘meet the neighbours’.  It was fun to go.  Everyone was so friendly and keen to say hello.  We were the only non-Indian people there, it looks like the buildings are inhabited by Indian professionals.  Following this party we were constantly greeted by neighbours during our day, and also invited to come to their homes.

As Eric is at work Paula and I did a number of things together.  We went to the markets at Dehli Haat which has stands selling goods from different regions on India.  There’s also a food court area with different dishes from the country.  You pay to enter this market area and then bargain accordingly with the stalls.  It’s like most markets but the interesting thing is to see the variations according to the regions of India.  They rotate the stalls every fortnight so it’s worth returning over time and see new things.

We also went to Qutb Minar which is a ‘victory tower’ representing the arrival of Muslims to Delhi.  It also had the ruins of a mosque.  It was set in a nice grassy area and very relaxing to walk around (especially following the traffic noise that is never far away from you in Delhi).

We then went to Old Delhi and had dinner in one of the many restaurants in Chandi Chowk before taking a tuk tuk back to the Red Fort.  We had intended to go to the sound and light show there but through lack of communication, and not really knowing where we were going, we ended up going around Chandi Chowk on a tuk tuk for an hour, which was a great way to see it (even if it was inadvertently).

One of my colleagues in Dubai has returned home to Delhi and so we met up with him and his family too.  I enjoyed seeing them and also where they lived, as it is so different from what I’m used to.

On my final night we went to a Diwali Party at one of the neighbours’ houses.  Apparently people enjoy playing cards during these celebrations and so we joined in.  It was good fun even if I did manage to lose tragically. However, on the last game I managed to score high and recoup all my losses (and pay my debts!).

I really enjoyed my stay in Delhi and was glad to have the opportunity to return to India.  I hope to be back there again in the next few years, whilst Eric and Paula are still living there.