A trip into Old Delhi is definitely not for the faint-hearted. It'll tear to shreds the most stubborn of curtains that had painstakingly been drawn in front of your eyes. A couple of hours here will probably leave you in a state of wonder at the sheer grit and determination of human beings. It'll make you sorry for ever having felt sorry for yourself.
The industrious nature of people here has to be seen to be believed. We were driven back to the Red Fort by a cycle rickshaw driver with a clubbed foot. These people are struggling day in and day out for a glimpse of a life that you and I take for granted.
The history of this place is phenomenal. We had lunch in Karim's which first opened in the early 1900s and still runs to this day with the help of the fifth generation. You could probably buy anything you could possibly imagine in these shops. Eat possibly everything under the sun; including chicken feet, goat brain curry, goat heads and list goes on.
I thought it was going to be gory sights at the butcher shops that would make me lose my appetite (I'm contemplating becoming a vegetarian now!). But it was the stark divide between the rich and poor which really got to me. For example, on one side of the road you'll see the majestic Red Fort with its manicured lawns and just across it; you have glimpses of the sheer poverty afflicting a startling majority in this country. Like a friend of mine put it, "I guess some things never change".
The fact is plain and simple - there is something terribly wrong with the world. It's only right that we take a leaf from the lives of our friends in Old Delhi. We have to change things, foremost, by accepting that we may not see the results come through in our lifetime and therefore, that cannot be our excuse to stop trying.
6 comments:
Lol..your writing never ceases to surprise me. One minute you sound like a chick on adrenaline and the next minute it's a philosopher-analyst at the desk.
Keep up the quality output :D !
@m - good to hear from you again :)lol..don't tell me I didn't warn you about the contradictory nature of Ms.RV
heh heh.. U know what this is exactly what a tourist who's never been to India will think.. this exact train of thought.. but being here since birth we accept it much more easily.. :) :P
@rvn- ya..true :) We all have our own ways of dealing with it. Just because we accept it more easily, doesn't exactly make it right :P
Lol..suppose the person has been here since birth, but wishes to examine trains of thought which are easily accepted but whose impact are not fully understood?
Just a thought :)
i see the analysis being rubbed on to you mithun!!!
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