Where concrete meets the jungle

New Delhi can be an ugly city. There is a thin veil of dust on everything, right down to the leaves of the plants that grow along the roadsides and in gated little parks. At night, a heavy brown cloud of foul-smelling smog settles in as the city sleeps. Sometimes, it fails to lift in the morning, grounding airplanes and causing accidents in the streets. The buildings, from housing complexes to historical landmarks, are crumbling after years of neglect, covered in graffiti that's been carved into the brick and concrete, the red stains of paan that men spit into whatever corner is available, and the empty plastic soda bottles, chip bags, and cigarette butts that people can't bother putting into a trash can.

Then the monsoon comes, and the city continues to be ugly. The water pours from the sky, creating puddles that become pools that become rivers that flood the roadways and cause traffic jams. The garbage that collects along the sides of the road and in empty lots become sodden piles, leeching into the same water that's already in the street that people like me have to walk down. The giant brown puddles grow ever larger, making it even more of a challenge to get to where one is going on foot -- unless I don't mind soaking my feet as I'm forced to walk through them or getting splashed by a passing and inconsiderate car.


Today, on the first official day of my first official Indian monsoon, Danny and I ventured down to south Delhi, looking for a movie we never found. (It turned out we were at the wrong theater.) He was excited to show me what he called the nicest outdoor shopping center in Delhi. It did have lots of nice shopping: Benetton, Levi's, a clothing shop called Metal that was playing rap music, a bookstore called Fact & Fiction, a drugstore where I picked up some pretty-smelling shower gel, and several upscale restaurants. We had lunch at an Italian place called Sartoria, where we enjoyed bruschetta, a green salad served with baked mushrooms, and a veggie pizza with a Roman-style crust. It was really delicious, although the quality of this "ethnic" food was reflected in the price, which was comparable to a meal back at home.

The sad thing about this place, which was in the Vasant Vihar neighborhood, was how run-down it was. I wouldn't have believed that it was a nice shopping area by just looking at it. The bricks and concrete tiles in the walkways were crumbling in places and loose in others. There were McDonald's soda cups, plastic bags, and dog shit just laying around, getting water-logged in the rain. A huge fountain sat in the middle of a courtyard, and clearly, it had seen better days: it, too, was crumbling away, half-filled with gray rain water, and no longer running.



This is not how it is in all of India. In Jaipur, in the state of Rajasthan to the west, it was obvious that enough money was being put into the care and maintenance of its streets, shopping areas, and historial monuments. Bundi, also in Rajasthan, had forts that were hundreds of years old -- and yet they weren't littered with trash. Why Delhi is such a sad, disgusting mess, I don't know. They're currently trying really hard to improve the city's appearance, since they are hosting next year's Commonwealth Games. This seems to consist mostly of tearing down structures and facades that already exist, making large piles of brick along the sides of the road, and redirecting both vehicle and foot traffic, which causes traffic jams and inconveniences for all. In their effort to beautify buildings and create news roads which promise smoother flows of traffic, Delhi is just becoming more of a mess. There's a year to go before the games. Think they can clean up the mess they've been making of the city, as well as tidy up the filth that was there to begin with?


I don't plan on staying tuned to find out. By Sunday, we'll be off to Shimla, in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains. Not only is it less densely populated and cooler in climate, but they have laws against littering in their public areas. Shimla will be our home for the next two months, with brief jaunts back to Delhi, weekends in Manali or Mcleod Ganj, and trips to do research in various parts of Rajasthan. I'm looking forward to it.