*What to do if you have time to kill in Delhi… Stay at a
hostel, make some friends, explore the city and generally have fun!
This weekend was shiny and sunny and it appears that Delhi has
transitioned from Winter to Summer without much of a thought for Spring. I no longer
shiver in the shower and have indeed begun to seek shady sides of the street.
I had made tentative plans to leave the city this weekend-
another girl from the hostel, Akshata, was interested in going to Amritsar or
Agra with me. Not having seen the Taj, we were both somewhat curious to see it
despite my misgivings of overly touristy areas where the touts are aggressive
and tourists are over-charged. I had a nap on the couch (overnight) and was
ready to go on Saturday morning but my friend had gotten ill overnight and wasn’t
up to it. So instead I napped some more
and we decided to see the Old City with two other ladies. It turned out to be full 5-hour gastronomy
tour. We stopped for amazing parathas at
one of Delhi’s landmark hole-in-the-wall eateries , ate pani puri on the
streets (pani puri are these funny little ‘puff-balls’, to borrow my friend
Athena’s expression, that are filled with tamarind sauce which gives them a
salty-sweet taste – rather addictive.). We had ice cream and shopped all around
Chadani Chowk for a wedding outfit for one of the ladies, who had recently been
invited to attend her first Indian wedding.
Then another night at the hostel watching movies, and a day
spent exploring the street art festivals of Delhi. We went to the industrial/container city of
Oklha where graffiti artists had put some time and thought into beautifying old
containers. I think my baby brother would have enjoyed it, there was even beat-boxing and hip hop dancing. There was a real “hipster
vibe” at the street art festival, a world away Old Delhi. It did feel a little strange being there in
Okhla- I guess most of the people working there are men earning a few hundred rupees
a day (maybe 200 rps = about 4 CAD) so the sight of foreigners walking around
attracted some attention (frank stares from the locals is pretty much a given in Delhi). But it was a
relaxing Sunday nonetheless and I had a lovely time- stopping for delicious
watermelon and honey melon on the side of the street, dancing around, taking
pictures, being a real goof and enjoying the company of new friends.
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