A Day Out In Delhi

Being a citizen of India, one must pay a visit to the capital city of the country. I am lucky enough to have been born here. Its been 22 years now that I have been living in Delhi. However, it has been long since I have not visited any of the special attractions in Delhi. Hence, one fine day I decided to visit the places that I used to visit in the days of my childhood. I decided the day to be Saturday. The month was July.

But to my bad luck, it was raining heavily that day. While I was about to go and take a bath, my mother informed that there was no water supply this morning. I was advised to use it in a limited manner. I don't really know why was I feeling as if something bad awaited me. Well, all was fine till now and I took a bath, had my breakfast and was all ready to step out. But my intuition came true, it started raining heavily. I felt quite bad, however it as a lovely sight to see rain pouring in Delhi as things were getting really hot in here. Therefore, I had no other option other than postponing the plan to the next day, i.e. Sunday.

Somehow, I managed to spend the day, getting bored to the core. It was raining continuously since morning and I was worried if it it would continue till tomorrow. However, it stopped at around midnight, I was asleep by that time. But to my bad luck, there was a power cut at around 1 in the morning and I could not sleep till the morning. The show must go on, I was not i a mood to cancel my plan. Therefore, I got ready and left the house.

Ah, it was a fine and a fresh morning with sun playing hide and seek with the earth. To my surprise, the water woe was not solved despite of the relief that rain blessed us with. I saw a huge queue of people around a single water tanker that was sent to compensate the water woes. It seemed that they could kill each others for a single bucket of water. I continued to move. Pot holes in Delhi are somethings that cannot be ignored. You would find one or the other whenever you drive. My case was no different. As it is it rained quite heavily, the streets were waterlogged and the pot holes appeared without any warning. I encountered many mishaps due to pot holes on the roads of Delhi. MCD claimed that the drainage system is ready to work and there will be no problem in the monsoon. However, rain washed all these claims of MCD officials and the drainage system failed miserably. Well, its a part of driving in Delhi, I am accustomed to it. As a matter of fact, I have no other option.

My first destination was Qutub Minar. A very old monument, built by Shahjahan. While I was on my way to the same, I stopped at a red light. It was quite a sad sight to see that the motorists stopping their vehicles way ahead of the stop line, making the life of the pedestrians miserable. For the latter it was quite hard to cross the road. I even saw some of the people not even stopping and jumping the signal. Moreover, there was no one to check them. I wonder how can people be so reckless and careless. And its not only the motorists who are at fault. I found even the pedestrians to be impatient. Even after the signal was green, they did not stop, risking their lives. There should be a strict enforcement of the rules to check this. Anyways, I somehow managed to reach the destination and experienced the same at almost all the stop signals with the motorists being atrocious towards the pedestrians and vice versa.

The vicinity of the monument was pathetic. With commercialization taking its toll, the area surrounding the monument seems more like a dump. With a grave feeling, I entered the monument,parked the bike and was surprised to know the parking fee!! It was way more than what the normal amount is. As there was no other option, I had to accept it. While I was parking the bike, I saw the parking lot helper smoking a cigarette. Smoking in public places in Delhi is a punishable offense. I advised him not smoke as its injurious to his as well as others' health. I also added that this act is a violation of the law. To my surprise, he didn't know as to this was not allowed! Moreover, he added that if I have a problem, I can stand at a distance. Phew! I have no words to describe what I felt that time.

While I was standing in the queue to get the entry tickets, I saw a group of MBA students standing nearby. Overhearing their conversation, I got to know that they have bunked their classes and regretting their decision to come to visit the heritage of India. They wanted to go to a multiplex, instead. Gen X is becoming more and more "sophisticated" that instead of appreciating the heritage, they want to be in the comfort of a movie hall. The saddest part was that, they have bunked their classes and that too of a professional course that would help them get a good job and work for their country. Is this the future of our country? People sitting at the top managerial positions with a Bollywood or a Hollywood background? The thought itself is horrific.

The sight of the inside of the monument premises was delighting. I don't know what it was, but some how, my inner me, was feeling proud of my identity. Yes, I'm an Indian. I found many foreign tourist appreciating the beauty of the marvelous design. At one time, it makes us think of the intellectual level of those people who erected such beautiful and well planned monuments when there was little creature comfort. But these days, the education system is such that it fails to produce a good lot. a 40 percentee becomes a doctor or an engineer and a 90 percentee becomes an unemployed. Is that fair?

Now it was time for me to move. I had to take a call as soon as I took an exit form the parking lot. I stopped near by a bus stop. I overheard the bargaining between a foreigner and an auto rickshaw driver. The latter was asking almost 10 times the amount of the normal fare. And he was able to befool the former. I was looking at the driver, and he looked at me. He nodded at me and there was a devilish smile on his face. It looked like as if he succeeded in his mission. Well, all a part of Delhi.


Now I decided to move to the Red Fort. A red signal again, and this time it was a beggar that caught my attention. A young girl of about 5 years, was begging to a couple sitting in an auto rickshaw. She kept on blessing them with astonishing words that only adults and elderly people, in India, speak. I was quite surprised to see all this. A 5 year old girl talking like this! She must have been trained professionally. Begging, in Delhi, is banned, it is a punishable offense. And I spotted a traffic policemen, resting in his booth. All this was happening in front of his eyes.

Anyways, I reached the red fort and was quite happy to see everything running smoothly there. Nevertheless, I had a notion that all that I saw today, was still going on there and on almost in every street of Delhi. After the Red Fort, I decided to pay a visit to Chandni Chowk, yes the walled city. I had never been there. And to add to the difficulties, I had no idea about the way too. However, I managed to reach the place. And I was shocked. It was a jaw dropping sight!! Those loose and sagging wires clearly marked one of the reasons for the irritating power cuts. I bet that there is not even a single electricity consumption meter in even a single house. Though it is our heritage, we should still take care of out basic needs; here, basic needs specifically means the electricity. People here openly steal electricity and we are left with nothing! Talking about the traffic condition and the maintenance of the roads, the worst road that I have ever seen in my life. Rickshaw pullers flock the road and they hardly follow any road rules and regulations. They do not care if anyone is crossing the road or their life is at a risk. Additionally, cows can be found right in the middle of the road sitting and enjoying the honking traffic. Phew! The government has to do something to solve this mess. Now comes the cuisine. The famous "Paranthe Wlai Gali" has all the name-fame. I decided to go for it. It was quite funny that I kept on waiting for about 15 minutes for the complete order to come after I had a little bit of it. Then I realized that, that was all. I felt cheated. Moreover, there was nothing special in that Parantha. Disappointed, I decided to move on. I saw a famous tikki wala and realized that it is the same that I have heard a lot about. I had to taste this. I took one of those, not so good looking tikkis with bad presentation and an unfriendly behavior from the shop owner. Seriously, I found nothing special in it. Disappointed once again accompanied by bad mood, I decided to go to the India Gate. On my way, I saw a crowd of people surrounding a biker. He was badly injured and was in a bad shape. On inquiring about the situation, I got to know that he is victimized by speeding car. The car just rammed into the bike while the car driver was trying to jump the red light. Stupid people, they were looking at the victim and talking amongst themselves. No one cared about calling an ambulance or noting down the registration number of the car which had already fled!! Anyways, a wise person called up the ambulance and that guy was taken to the hospital. The sight was seriously frightening. Moving on, I spotted a traffic policemen wholeheartedly accepting a bribe from a violator. My heart was weeping inside looking at the pace that the corruption is becoming rampant in the society.


Finally I reached the India Gate. It was only here that I got some relief that I was looking forward for. After relaxing for a while on the lush green and admiring the glory of my motherland, I came across another site that made me feel low. A child, of the age group 5-10, was carrying a big sac on his back and was collecting empty bottles and the littered material. The so called fundamental rights of the government are being openly raped. Well, its more or less a part of the society. The rich become richer and the poor becomes poorer.

I could not sustain any more "revelation". I decided to go back. While I was taking the bike out of the parking lot, it started raining. I decided to take a shelter under a tree. It rained for about 15 minutes, and it surely was a heavy rainfall. I started going back. Delhi city came to a halt. The aftermaths of the rainfall were to be seen everywhere. Roads waterlogged, traffic signals not working, vehicles shutting down, people honking like lunatics. Traffic was literally crawling. At times I was thinking that at this speed I would reach my place the next morning! Anyhow, after 3 agonizing hours, I managed to reach home. I had a hard time in riding as it seemed that whole Delhi population has come out to flock the roads and the traffic police is hiding!!

Dinner time. While having my dinner, I happen to surf to a news channel. And guess what, the day did not end! I mean, I happen to know that a biker gang robbed a person out of the ATM and the police officials, instead of solving the mystery, were deciding as to which police station should handle the case. Another news caught my attention when I heard that a female doctor was caught and arrested who was indulged into female foeticide. That is completely ridiculous. How can a women be so hardhearted that she can kill another woman who has not even opened her eyes in this world. disgusting people and disgusting believes.Yet another incident narrated the sad plight of a girl who was gang raped on that day. A group of 5 people, turn by turn, raped her and then fled after having ruined her life. I had seen enough.

It was the time to go to bed. I could not sleep. Why? The horrific picture of Delhi, the capital city, haunted my mind. I was left thinking, is that all what Delhi is about? I don't think so. We surely have come a long way, but are we still free? The election manifestos of the MPs brag about the development that took place while their "reign". However, things remain, more or less, the same. They, sometimes, might get even worse. Its high time we've been tolerating this, its time for a change now. Its my appeal to all the youth to come out of the life of material comfort and all that pomp and show which they are so engrossed into that they tend to forget that something at some point in time needs their contribution. Lets join hands in making our society a better place.

28-08-2009
An Indian Citizen.