Delhi

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I believe my flight from KL to Delhi was preparing me for the my trip ahead. It started with a couple pushing in the line for boarding and yes, they were Indian and I'm sorry to generalised, however in my own personal experience, it is very common for Indian people to be the line pushers, can you blame them? in a country with such a high population, survival of the fittest. I had some self talk " Sarah you've gotta step it up, if you don't wanna get walked over", however I can't be something I'm not and wasn't going to start, just to be one ahead of another person. In these moments, I always think of Simon Sinek "the rule is you can go after whatever you want. You just cannot deny anyone else to go after whatever they want."

While waiting for the gate to open, I noticed there were several people in wheelchairs, a little Indian granny with jelly bean white hair, the contrast of skin and hair, reminded me of an oompa loompa. There was also, good looking fair Indian chap with purple crutches and a skinny, frail, darker skinned lad with a yellow and grey Adidas jacket covering his lap.

There was this familiar smell in the air, I couldn't quite pin point it, it had a finishing that stung the nose slightly. I thought to myself, ya know what, I'm flying into a country known for it's smell, this is just some pre-season training. 5E had a mask on so I felt it best to put mine on, more that fact that he might be immuno compromised, it helped with the smell. The couple that had cut me off sat in front of me, I got a feeling that they wanted to escape the smell, however the flight was full. A high voiced princess with a very accommodating prince, I love love. She was sweet enough to put her seat upright when my dinner arrived so they were back in my good books.

The smell got more pungent over the duration of the flight. 5E didn't speak english and pointed at my watch to ask for the time, he even pointed at my water bottle which I was happy to give up. He hadn't eaten anything.

3 hours into the flight, I could feel that the left side of my pants were wet and wondered what had leaked and I had an idea but didn't care what it was anyways, 5E and I were in it together, him worst off, he was sitting it. The game plan was to wrap my cardigan around my waist so no one else saw the stain, when I got up and get him help asap.

When the flight landed and it was time to get up, 5E was extremely accommodating with me getting out of my seat, I could see he felt bad, all I cared about was discreetly asking the air hostess to help him at the earliest convienence. I wrapped my cardi around my waist, cleared immigration, picked up my bags and went to the loo to change my pants.

I was pretty distracted with this and it didn't completely set in that I had finally made it to India. Plus, I had a few things to do, get some rupees. a sim card and find the Uber stand, made a tad more difficult because my sim wasn't working.

Eventually, I made it to my accommodation and crashed. 

My first destination in India was a place with two names, Guragon and Gurugram, to see an old friend.

My first room in India was cosy, furnished with almost antique like furniture and place so that the window was the focal point. I loved that my direct view from my pillow was this terrace.

I love hearing the birds in the brief moments of quiet and the familiar *I'm in Asia* beeping of horns and autos (tuk tuk/ rickshaws) motors.

I took my first pic to send to everyone and that's how the blogging came about. 

WELCOME TO INDIA friends and family, WELCOME TO INDIA, Sarah!

I decided to move into Delhi city...... or somewhere near, I still don’t know where the heck I am. Paharganj is the place for cheap hotels which of course means where there is a lot of tourist. When we arrived at my accommodation, my friend looked at me with the face of “WTF” and mentally questioned how I make my choices, does anyone else use “eeny meeny miny moe”? 

It was check in time therefore the reception was full of people, there was also a delay because the madam of the “City Empire” building was the only english speaking staff member. 

I hadn’t realised how white washed I was until I felt comfort seeing, familiar fair faces, 2 guys and one girl from some Dutch sounding country. There was also a blonde beauty with luscious locks at the desk, with the familiar, elephant pants and backpack. It was her golden locks that made me feel at home because for the past few days, I’d only seen the different shades of Indian faces and black hair everywhere, out in Gurgaon.

The madam had her lines so well remembered by the time it was my turn, I had heard the same things for the fourth  time, call 9 for reception, breakfast buffet on the 4 floor, 5 for the kitchen, later I realised it wasn’t written anywhere. Not even the WiFi code was written down, the hotel helper entered it into my devices and commented on how good my cases are. Just so everyone is in the know, I need life-proof cases, otherwise devices have no chance with me.

Anyways, I finally get to my room and I love love love, the big window. I don’t know what it is, I find the hustle and bustle of busy streets here, fascinating, I watch with excitement like a child at the zoo. I like looking at the older buildings, I wonder what stories they would tell, especially the ones with art.  This street has charm with it big letter signs, running down the side of the buildings. I’m opposite something that reminds me of an off ramp. I had a bit of admin work to do today so chilled for most of the day. Had breaky which was the saddest breakfast buffet, I’ve ever encountered, however, what she lacked in food, she gave in views. Love that angle of the road.

Its a road that only sleeps 3 hours of the day, the honking of horns is a constant. Unlike, back home, where you hear cats and dogs scrapping, I heard street cows scrapping. Yeah, I didn’t sleep too well.

After spending half the day indoors, I decided to get out of the hotel for a walk, get some spicy Delhi air. My lungs have only lived in clean air countries, so I definitely feel the spice. After about 10 mins, I get approached from this future doctor who loves NZ and wants to go sometimes. He wants to help me find my way since I look to be lost and recommends that I should jump on an auto, he also tells me about this really awesome place to shop and I’m like, that’s really great but I’m good. He even offers me to cross the road, again, I’m good. I end up crossing the road anyways and about 5 mins down the track, another good samaritan who knows of Australia and NZ wants to help me find my way. At this point, I’m in the mood for a ride, 20 rupees, that a decent price right, don't worry people I have some idea where I’m going.

We arrive at the "oh so familiar" clean 5 storey building, I have been to a very similar looking place in Jakarta so I know what’s up, I walk past a European couple and their shopping guide *suckers*, I walk to the door and turn around, the driver asks me where I’m going, I need an ATM which was the truth. He thinks I want to go back after, nope, I ask to go back to my road. Along the way, Mr handsome jumps in, trying to chat up a lesbian, good luck! Do Indian men not know, the last thing you should ask a woman is their age? The show “90 day fiance” popped into my head. Anyways, after a painful conversation about my martial status, jobs and tattoos, I walked out of the auto and chuckled to myself.

What a ruse!

I was struggling a bit, a couple days back, the empath in me was getting consumed with unfamiliar vibes and I did not want to leave my hotel room. The ruse day was my first outing, every step forward was bittersweet, good to be out and about, bad because I was in an unfamiliar place where I didn’t know who to trust. What impressed me and scared me at the same time about ruse was the language used and how these people knew the exact words to not just be liked by me but to gain my trust by making me believe, they had a personal interest in my safety and didn’t want me to be taken advantage. It made me sad for every other person before me who have had their trust broken because it is "nek level" of feeling cheated, yes its just business for them but for me, its personal, when you pull on heart strings (trust), it absolutely personal.

I needed a reset so I headed into Connaught place in a more homey accommodation with the price to match it, it was two floors up, stairs and I have become better acquainted here, my thighs appreciate it, knees not so much, yes there is a lift in some places but I’m opting for the stairs. My stay at Hotel palace heights was worth every penny, I was able to reset and Connaught place didn’t seem so bad compared to the other Paharganj, however, I had to sort out tours, things and stuff which of course can mean walking into ruse central. Does it even count as getting cheated if you are fully aware that it’s happening to you? My neutraliser, so I don’t focus on the negative is, as long as I get all need from the transaction, even if it costs me, a bit extra, its all good in the hood. Getting foreigners to book tours is a big business in Connaught place. I was transferred from one auto to another, Mukesh, my new driver wanted to show me around right away, so we ended up at a tour booking place that had b/w printed maps. What I came to know is that there is a India govt tourism booking office so I was keeping an eye out for that, you would think this would mean that's where I'd end up, almost. 

It all started with a morning stroll,I noticed this man talking to some backpackers and somehow he caught up with me, he was dressed in a white shirt and black pants, he told me he was headed to work and his work just happened to be in the direction of the sign of the India govt tourism office so we walked and talked. We ended up at an office that seemed like I was in the right place, I wasn't, again it was a ruse. Any who, as our conversation progressed, I noticed this booking agents hands shaking which makes me wonder whether I had said something to make him nervous. At the end of it all, I no longer have to do any booking and planning, mainly because I couldn’t decided, I now have clarity in my plan and am getting closer to seeing Shivali and family again. 

I found that Mukesh had every intention to attach himself to me and I kind of needed that, I just wanted to go for a random ride where I was out and about, amongst it without being out out, if ya know what I mean jelly bean. So I decided to go on a random mission to find Aku’s burger. My friend had shown me a burger she had eaten and I looked into the story of the Chef, always mad respect when Chef’s open their own businesses so I became a fan from afar so I wanted to support the cause. At that point, I didn’t understand how it works with getting around, Delhi is so big and the railway so vast that auto drivers know their part of town only. So if you are in Delhi, I highly recommend getting a metro card, then using an auto.

So, my auto driver for the day was Mukesh, he attached himself to me and I did the same, I needed a friend in Connaught place. We headed for Defence Colony, its just a burb of Delhi where the burger joint is. Mukesh offered to wait for me and drive me back, for a price of course, it worked for me so suuuureee. I prefer company so I made him have lunch with me and we became friends for a little moment in time, he sent a selfie to his wife and showed pictures of his kids. He even taught me some hindi. So, yes I pay for my friends and proud of it.