We had read so much about the Delhi Arrival (scary, moist, dirty, smelling of humans and all their smells, full of touts and people ready to drive you anywhere but where you actually want to go) that we were naturally somewhat apprehensive. We arrived in at Indira Gandhi Airport at 1:15am tired but alert. We were ready. We had only carry-on luggage. We changed money. We went to the bathroom so as not to have to face the Delhi Arrival with potentially soiled trousers. We gave each other a final look, nodded tersely, and ventured through the gates to the waiting area. True, there were many many people for 2am. They were somewhat benignly holding signs with people's names on and smiling or looking profoundly bored. Ours was literaly the 3rd sign in, right at the entrance. Nobody was yelling. Nobody was particularly smelly. It wasn't even that hot. Our driver took us to our guesthouse where our cockroach-less room was waiting and we slept like babies.
However. Delhi is dirty. Not just dirty, but Dirty. Think of the different types of dirty and they are all there, all the pollutants in one miasmic soup of yuck. The air is thick with smog. I mean hard-to-breathe thick. The car headlights beam through a permanent smokey fog and the night sky is yellowish and hazy. During the day, horns honk non-stop. Plastic bags and other debris litter everything (no food, though, too much stray wildlife). Dust rises from broken roads. Water is unfit to drink. It saddens me and scares me. This land of a billion souls seems like an apocalyptic voice from the future. We are too safe in our homes in North America. Too safe and too complacent.
However. Delhi is dirty. Not just dirty, but Dirty. Think of the different types of dirty and they are all there, all the pollutants in one miasmic soup of yuck. The air is thick with smog. I mean hard-to-breathe thick. The car headlights beam through a permanent smokey fog and the night sky is yellowish and hazy. During the day, horns honk non-stop. Plastic bags and other debris litter everything (no food, though, too much stray wildlife). Dust rises from broken roads. Water is unfit to drink. It saddens me and scares me. This land of a billion souls seems like an apocalyptic voice from the future. We are too safe in our homes in North America. Too safe and too complacent.
Strange how things connect up. I am sitting in a very comfortable, sun-filled room, feet up and comfortable, amazed at how lucky I am to have all this, to be warm, to feel the light, to be secure. Having just finished a letter to our new sponsor child in Sri Lanka, I am especially aware of all that we have here, and the absurdity of it all in a world so filled with disparity.... And then I read your blog post.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to be reading about your experiences, to know that you are there now and it is happening at this moment, that somewhere out there India is not an image in a book or a film but a reality.
Yes, definitely we are too complacent. Thanks for sharing Sylwia. I hope you continue to post, and that you keep safe and well.
PR