Delhicious Dillli

The capital of India, Delhi, is not only one of the biggest metropolises, but it is a place that has typical Indian flavours to offer. Between slithering six and eight lane fly-overs, crossing each other like the relations of a polyamorous and gulleys that are as narrow as a staunch mind’s acceptance quotient, Delhi is a place that has several elements to offer. Culturally rich, the city also has beautiful places to visit and cherish the memories of.

A truly cosmopolitan, multiethnic and multicultured Delhi has its own Dehlicious culture. The city is blessed with many such monuments that spread their grandeur and make you time travel to the past when Moghuls flourished in India. Giant structures like Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb and many others have their own charm which is intact even after so many centuries. Each stone in Delhi has history etched onto it :) There are stories, which have made their ways to public and there are secrets that probably these stones would narrate the day they will get a language!

A city, where ‘run’ is the command. People keep traveling from one end of the city to the other as Delhi has an expensive streak associated with pleasures of life. Many have thus chosen to stay out of the core city and prefer commuting to their work destinations early in the day! For them ‘Qutub Minar’ has become just a Metro Station! :)

For a traveler like me, who has much time to herself and less of pressing timelines, Delhi comes across as a city that is way different. Every five minutes one would encounter a huge, well maintained park, which is quite unique when you look at other metros! The areas where of Parliament and other Bhavans are located and the roads leading there can only make one pinch oneself to believe that it is the same Delhi, where, in some parts, wires weave the sky! Yes, there are colonies where UV rays don’t even reach the earth because they are so prevented by the cable meshwork that works almost like an ozone layer! This part of the city experiences a laid back life style, which is quite contrary to the ‘go-catch-a-metro’ one! The best is that one finds such narrow by-lanes with some Gurudwaras and temples or masjids located in the neighbourhood of an extremely noisy, busy, metro station! Indian paradox at its best!

However, what you find in common between these two contrasting lifestyles is the love for food a Delhiite has. And so, Delhi has been blessed with several food joints from the elite most to the itsy-bitsy, liliputian ones. In the latter type, one literally shares even the plate area with the group on the other tables:D Road side cheap and hygienic food ranging from Coconut slices to Chanaa Bhel to Parothas can keep you walking and exploring the city giving you required energy shots! Chholey Bhaturey has never tasted so yummy anywhere else!

The pulse of the city is felt moment you manage to sneak into the gulley called Chandni Chowk. The pulsating heart of Dilli, where Gurudwaras, mosques, shops, temples, food stalls everything is fixed like a jig saw game on the sideways, yet allowing enough room for taxis to park and walkers, vendors and even beggars to carry on with their activities. What one cannot do easily is drive through! :) 

A small inconspicuous bylane called ‘Parothey wali Gulley’ in the Chandni Chawk has a series of outlets offering 30 odd different varieties of parothas flavoured with Bhindi, Karela, Rabadi and what not!

After returning back to Ahmedabad, from the Heart of India, my ECG definitely had an extra peak, the ‘D’ peak, that throbs every time I think of metro veined city having wire- meshed skies, gigantic monuments, tasty paratha & lassi joints and majestic Qutub Minar by night of Delhi.

And I somewhere now justify the race to Delhi that predominates the political scenario in India :D

Delhicious it is!