To delhi and back again..

Unidentified flying object files:
Declassified: Nov 3rd 2007.



Specs: 90 kgs, spectacled male
Identifications: male of homosapiens sapiens sapiens var. dravidus.
Start time: 1135 hours latititude longitude (over Bangalore domestic airport)
Flight path: take off easterly bank hard left and north westerly over Bellary to pune and onward to Delhi
Mean altitude at cruise: 39000ft, 914km/h,-15 deg centigrade outside, a pleasant 21 deg centigrade inside.
Life was a humdrum rollercoaster of ups and downs
Mostly in the comfort zone of what I had grown to be, here in Bangalore.
Acceleration: about a g and a half at take off.


Arriving here by the two take offs and two landings method.
I was amazed.

Fat man flying!!.

Enough said.

The Delhi experience
Well, the Delhi experience begins thus:

The experience began even before I set foot there. Sitting in the first window seat of the glittering winged bird that bore me aloft, I saw that big grey blue cloud hanging over the horizon. I expected a movie like –city, large and glittering, arising as we moved towards it.

That was not to be. All we could make out from the height was a city cloaked in grey blue smog. The famous Delhi veil.

Then Capt. Singh thanked us for flying spice jet.

The air was thick with the infamous ‘Delhi smog’ and the sun sinking at 1630 pm.
‘Alright.’ was the only expression I could muster.

The terminal was a thick hustle and bustle of taxi men and chauffeurs waiting for their passengers.

I really noticed was the gun toting police and army men everywhere.
Then onto the bus stop for the ISBT






It took me 4 hours to fly from Bangalore to Delhi(~2000km) and 4 hours to get from terminal to civil lines metro(~40 km).

Delhi had shown me what its traffic was capable of.
Already.

What is really important is what I felt than what I saw...

It is a truly big city. With a touch of impersonality, very conducive to the lone wolf that some people call me. What really struck me was - it is an all welcoming city, a deserving capital of the country. The uniformity that the language brings is so intense and practical. If you appear Indian they expect you to make an effort to speak in Hindi. Shopkeepers advertise that Hindi speakers will be honoured first, and they really mean it. I saw some fellow south Indians learning that that the hard way.


Public transport in Delhi is ubiquitous. DTC (Delhi transport corporation) running on eco-friendly CNG and ISBT (inter state bus transport) are efficient and numerous, they ARE effective modes of transport however foreboding and rickety they may look.

Roads are the pedestrian nightmare-large and ridden with fast moving ATTRACTIVE traffic (attractive to the auto buff, especially 4 wheelers. I saw many Porsche Cayenne and Audis, 1 murcielago, and 3- 911 turbo (996) s)
The saving grace from this onslaught was the subways, found almost everywhere.

The crowning glory in Delhi’s history of public transport is already here and in the making- a super efficient metro.

It’s almost half complete. It is very streamlined well maintained and supremely fast.
So much so that some driving junkies save their well tuned rides for the weekends.

Even though I lived at civil lines (at a private and well guarded installation), my daily commute took me an easy 45kms and in almost no discomfort.
Strangely though, I did hire the infamous auto rickshaw only twice. Rickety, noisy and extremely expensive, I would say they are better avoided except emergencies.

The city itself was a colourful, chaotic, impersonal, and patriotic.
Our Mecca of medicine- AIIMS Looks dilapidated but is a strong technical ground for finesse in each of its specialities.

After the exam, I shall not say anything except that it was an enlightening experience.
I went to see the Qutub minar; it is a simultaneously happy and sad. The engineering marvel that it is, the craftsman ship and the dedication overwhelm us.

The hall however contains pillars stolen from temples plundered by the invaders. It is a sad story of a fragmented India, looted and plundered by invaders. Of the misinterpretation of religious texts and the defacing of art that even now can move one to tears.

One always comes away feeling that the hard work and toil of a sect did not deserve that treatment, when right next to it, was built a tower that is also mirror to mankind’s craftsmanship.

Art- no matter who’s always deserves to live.

The penultimate evening I had my tryst with the gen x Delhi- Connaught place.

In all its commercial glitter and grandeur. With its well laid out plan of the inner and outer circle and a cleverly disguised metro underground station in the centre. It was the heart of Delhi. Truly.

On my return journey, I was missing Delhi at the security check itself.
One last spectacle from the air, with Delhi lit for primetime business, the glittering capital bid me a fond and reluctant adieu.

I want to go back.
Soon, if for good, better.

Three cheers to our capital
Three cheers to our nation,
Three cheers to the fat man flying.