There is nothing like a trip to Old Delhi for making one feel totally and utterly immersed in India.
The crowds, the incessant noise, the packed gullies, the rickshaws - it never fails to amaze.
I went today with my regular Old Delhi walking and shopping partner Pippa and her house guest Caroline. We shopped, wandered, walked, ate (Karim’s) and caused much amusement by all 3 of us piling onto one cycle rickshaw - wait, wait, we gave the rickshaw-wala double, so we are not completely heartless - but people did smile to see 3 biddies and their shopping bags crammed together all hugger-mugger. I took the rear-facing seat and ended up smiling and chatting to the drivers behind me, who were all about half an inch away in stationary traffic.
A noisy backward-glance-y type of experience :
Just standing and watching the incessant stream of noisy traffic makes one’s well-meaning worries about noise pollution seem so completely futile.
Pointless, rather.
Let’s face it - you will never, ever rein in such a free-wheeling country :
As we were sitting in our rickshaw, hardly moving in the traffic, just watching life go by, Pippa said something very true. She said that living in India is like living in a movie, because there is always so much going on, so much drama and action.
C’est vrai qu’il n’y a rien de mieux comme immersion !
Cela me rappelle, avec quelque nostalgie) ma visite dans le vieux Delhi avec Sheila : première fois de ma vie que je prenais un rickshaw et j’avais tout de même un peu honte avec mon poids. Mais bon, des grosses indiennes sans scrupule, il y en a plein !!!
Une chose est sûr si je viens en septembre (Et, oui…) je voudrais avoir une caméra car c’est encore autre chose que les photos. Mais bon, c’est encore des sousous…
Dis donc, au fait, tu n’as pas fait ton résumé annuel cette année. J’aime bien te lire et avoir les dernières photos de vos pérégrinations.
Bisous
Véronique