2nd Avenue Delhi

“It is so crowded!”
“The city is way too hot. Much hotter than Mumbai.”
“There is nothing to do there.”
“I just hate Delhi!”

These were some of the warning comments we were given before departing for Delhi. I would say that not a single one came true. We loved Delhi!

We found Delhi to be:
a) Cooler in temperature
b) Much more organized than Mumbai
c) Larger streets/boulevards and fewer crowds
d) Many more trees and parks
e) And so much fun!

Will’s amazingly brave and gracious parents – Amy and Bobby – came to visit us this past week and they certainly deserve the purple award of courage for coming to a third world country. We are so grateful to have had them here! Despite a few challenges along the way, we all had a great time together, and the highlight of their visit was certainly our trip up north to Delhi and Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located (see below for more on the Taj Mahal in a blog by Will).

In Delhi, which can be compared to Washington DC since it is the capital of the country, we visited government buildings, several mosques (Muslim, Sikh, Bahai, and Hindu), beautiful ancient forts, and enjoyed a choir concert in Central Park (that’s actually what the centrally-located park in Delhi is called!!).

To be fair to all the Mumbaians, Delhi certainly is more of a working city, and not a great place to be a young urban professional. There is not much of a night life, the city is very spread out and is more segregated, and it does not have the sort of forward-thinking modern and diversity-lauding perspective of Mumbai. On the contrary, Delhi’s architecture and culture seems to still reminisce on the days of British colonialism. All in all, I think we are glad that for our internship we are based in the “city that never sleeps” but were pleasantly surprised how much we liked the “nation’s capital”.