LAST DELHI BLOG 

I can't believe there are now only five days left living in India! How time has flown on this wonderful, amazing adventure!!!

 February was spent travelling: firstly with good friends over from the UK touring around Rajasthan and then the rest of the month saw us visit two other continents; Dubai in the Middle East and South Africa. Dubai was glitzy, flashy and awe inspiring

in the range of amazing glass buildings of all shapes and sizes that rose up out of the desert. The God of Dubai is definitely money! Cape Town on the other hand was astoundingly beautiful , not because of what man has built but because of the majestic mountains that tower over the city and the Indian and Atlantic oceans that wrap themselves around it. We were really taken aback by the glorious golden , clear light that made everything look bright and sharp – probably the contrast seemed greater to us after having lived under the white smog filled haze of Delhi skies!

So we returned from our travels to the last three weeks in Delhi. Gradually we have been selling off all the possessions that we

have acquired since we've been here and the house has now taken on an empty , forlorn look .The weather has been amazing, especially in the early mornings when it still feels fresh. I've taken to going out early and walking around the small park at the end of our road. The trees are laden with bright pink and white blossoms and the park is filled with flowers. It's surprising how many people are up and about early, jogging , power walking, gossiping, doing yoga or martial arts – the park is a hive of activity at seven in the morning! Outside the park gates street children scavenge for recycling material amongst the rubbish, large white sacks slung across their backs and women gather firewood dropped from the trees, carrying large bundles of it down the road on their heads. How I will miss scenes like this when back in England!


 Amazingly all the items we needed to sell went and the kitchen cupboards were empty again! Soon we were standing , keys in hand looking at the empty shell of our flat. Despite it's ill -fitting windows , its rain stained walls and insect inhabitants, this house had become our home and leaving it was very sad. We padlocked the gate for the last time , taking one last look at the busy street, the shady trees full of chattering birds and chipmunks and drove out of the sector and away from Vasant Kunj for the last time!

 Later on , in the plane , I craned my neck to look back at the city .We rapidly left behind the maze of dusty roads , ancient ruins, modern malls and squalid slums as we rose up through the smog haze and entered the blue sky above! India has a way of getting under your skin and working it's way deep into your heart so that leaving it is physically painful!! It's like being separated from a loved one !!! It is also a very addictive place , once tasted you need to return again and again so I know that although we have to leave now it won't be forever.

WE WILL BE BACK!

A Sunday Outing

Last Sunday the smog cleared and sky was the bluest I'd seen it for a long time! The temperature headed for a balmy 22C so we decided it was an ideal afternoon for a walk. An Indian friend of mine looked at me in astonishment “ why would you want to go for a walk when it's sooo cold??” she asked. “well, walking will get you warm for a start” I answered, “Oh no, far too cold to go out! I'm going home to drink hot chocolate !” was her reply. Some other 'more hardy ' Indian friends of ours decided to come with us and we headed westwards to the ruins of an ancient fort known as 'Tughlukabad.

Even though this fort is now just ruins rising from the plains and forest areas of Delhi, it still impresses with it's ancient yellow stone walls and crumbling towers.
It was built in the 14th century by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq and is known as the third of the seven cities of Delhi. It was so well built that the 4 mile perimeter walls still survive intact! It was lovely walking down the dusty paths, clambering over the stones and climbing up the crumbling steps to stand at the top of some of the towers to look across the city. We could look down and still see the grid like patterns of the house walls and palaces built inside the fortress. With a bit of imagination you could imagine the once bustling streets, bazaars, armouries and stables of the king's fighting elephants.There seemed to be no other tourists around – just a few indian families wandering around and groups of young boys playing cricket on the dry open patches of ground. A few wild donkeys searched in vain for grass and one or two stray dogs lay sleeping in the sun. We were still in the suburbs of the city and yet here you could hear no traffic noise – it was so peaceful!!!


STORIES FROM THE NEWSPAPERS!

Don't read if you are squemish!

Indian daily newspapers are mainly made up of corruption stories, Bollywood gossip and horror stories , usually involving road accidents, murders or hospitals!! At the moment they seem to be concentrating on government hospital stories involving rats!! One was about a paralysed patient who was attacked by rats whilst the night guards and doctors slept! The rats managed to eat a lot of the person's face and bite through tubing whilst the poor person was unable to raise the alarm! There are similar stories daily involving rodents or stray dogs entering hospitals and eating patients! If you have money to pay then hospitals are great in India but the vast

majority of people here are reliant on hospitals with the most basic of resources. Yesterday I read about a poor pregnant lady who was turned away from several hospitals because they didn't want to admit her and she had to give birth to twins right outside on the pavement and bled to death. I must remember to never complain about the NHS again !

Christmas in the UK

Having spent last Christmas in India, this year we returned to the UK for three weeks to spend the festivities with family.
The first thing that hit me, as I came out of Terminal 5, was the cold, fresh air! I inhaled deeply! How good to fill my lungs again with relatively clean air compared to smog filled Delhi! Having acclimatised to the Indian weather the English weather seemed perishingly cold to me even though it was above freezing!

There is nothing like spending Christmas in your home country! It is such a time of family traditions and where strong memories are evoked so that, in my opinion, spending it abroad is never quite the same! So this Christmas was wonderful ! What did I love about it ? Well, a whole week with the extended family, carols by candlelight on Christmas eve, mulled wine, Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, presents round the tree, warm central heated houses with soft carpets underfoot (rather than the hard marble floors of Indian houses), satsumas, pavlova with raspberries (oh how I've missed rasberries!!!), the delight and amazement of my 16 month old granddaughter at all the sights and sounds of Christmas and the general family banter that you miss when apart. It was a great time all in all.

England did strike me as a depressing place to be however. It felt quite oppressive and the people in the street appeared glum and weighed down by life. India, by contrast, is a very positive place to live in..... the economy is booming, the people seem very positive , even amongst the poor there is an air of optimism. they might live in appalling conditions but they haven't given up!!!


BACK TO DELHI

January 3rd saw us return to India for our last stint before our move back to the UK. Only 12 weeks and we will have to pack everything up and say goodbye to Vasant Kunj! What an amazing adventure we've been on and how I will miss this place …. but I don't want to think about leaving yet!!!!

We had forgotten how cold our house is in January!!! The days are foggy with faint hazy sunshine and the cold air seeps in through all the gaps under the doors and through he ill-fitting windows. The marble floors are icy and as you sit still the chill creeps into your bones! Hopefully it will only be for a few weeks and the warm spring weather will return. It's crazy to think that only a few months ago we were wilting under the intense heat, with hot water coming out of the cold taps and unable to sleep with even a sheet over us! Now we huddle under duvet and blankets , walk around in jumpers and scarves and hope that there are no power cuts so we can heat up water to wash in! At least my house is now free from all rodents and cockroaches, for the time being anyway.