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India. Incredible India. Incredible indeed, but in what way? Time for another adventure.
When it was time to leave Dubai I got picked up in an unmarked private taxi, a Lexus packed with all the features required to make a journey, regardless of its duration, as pleasant as possible no matter how hot the weather. When I arrived in New Delhi the journey from airport to apartment was slightly more chaotic and definitely a lot less comfortable. The black mini van, or mini mini van, had exposed wires hanging down from the console. Better yet, half the steering wheel was missing and to top it all off; somehow the backseats were stained with oil. Goodbye new shirt.
Needless to say the van had no air-conditioning, but luckily the rain coming in through the windows provided some sort of relief. If only there was a way to block out that horrible smell. Still, I survived and in the meantime got a quick overview of what to expect. The short taxi ride highlighted the chaotic, almost anarchistic, traffic where animals, cars and pedestrians all occupy the same space. The taxi ride also showed the slums, the excess of trash everywhere and an absolutely awful stench.
New Delhi is the most polluted city in the world and you can’t only see and smell this, you can taste it as well. It’s as if the pollution gets a hold of your tonsils and contaminates everything you swallow. And in a country where getting food poisoning is more rule than exception for travelers, that’s quite an unsettling feeling.
So why India? Why Delhi? Why leave behind luxury and pristine cleanliness for an experience that’s almost the complete opposite? It’s quite simple, actually. Experiencing a culture with such a visible divide between rich and poor, where true poverty can be found around every corner, is an invaluable learning experience that will hopefully make me more grateful for what I have. This journey is not necessarily about chasing sophistication, but more about appreciating it.
