Introspection: Travels: New Delhi, '98/99

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New Delhi, '98/99

San Francisco, '00

New Delhi, '98/99

I was in New Delhi, India, twice for the same competition: Modem II at Modern School, Vasant Vihar in New Delhi. Both times I went in the cold, dry winter of northern monsoon India, and both times I enjoyed myself immensely.

A Different World

The first thing that struck me upon reaching the place was how different a world we had stepped into. There were hardly any skyscrapers around, with the tallest buildings we saw being less than 10-storeys tall. There were neither squeaky clean streets, gleaming glass structures nor smooth traffic on well-paved roads.

The roads were littered, the buildings looked drab, dull and depressing, and the streets were dark, with trees drooping over sidewalks looking sickly. There was a lingering smell of diesel in the air, and a haze hung over the city. It was not Singapore for sure. Nevertheless, there was an air of adventure about the place, something enigmatic and mysterious that promised great fun.

The inefficiencies of the public services in India proved to be very much of an amusement for us too, rather than a stickler. The first time we were in India, we got trapped by the customs officers who'd stamped our passports with a wrong date. As a result we couldn't check into our lodging and were forced to head back to the airport to get it fixed.

Rustic, Romantic Charm

There was an air of romanticism about the city, with it's many old colonial-style buildings and the slow pace at which life went by in the city as Indians went about their business. There seemed to be little entertainment and the city looked austere and sterile. Nevertheless there was vibrance and life pulsating from the street markets, the honking cars on the warm stuffy roads and the people bustling about.

The many historical artifacts added to the charm of the place. The Taj Mahal was a depressing sight; no doubt it was majestic, but it was a real pity that the marble was already yellow with pollution. The sprawling courtyards and gardens in the Taj Mahal made it terribly endearing a place. Then there was the grand Red Fort in Agra, and the huge India Gate.

Driving in the countryside from Delhi to Agra, too, was a very, very joyful experience for me despite the crampness of being in a backseat with 4 other people haha. The countryside was beautiful: the rolling pastures, lumbering buffaloes, and people with their slow ways of life, as the cool 15 degree celsius winds swept the countryside.

Antediluvian Experience

Being in New Delhi was like being in Singapore in the 1970s. No doubt, I may not have been born then, but it really resembled Singapore of the 1970s that I've seen before in films and pictorial depictions. Being in such an antiquated place gave me no sense of repulsion at all; instead, I got a very magical and mystical feeling about the place.

Gustatory Grandeur

The food that we had in Delhi was fantastic. On our first trip, we ate pizza almost every day because it was so terribly cheap. We paid only 40 SGD for 6 large pizzas and two pitchers of Coke, and there were 7 of us, so it was a real steal.

The local fare was fantastic too: there was this very cosy Naan restaurant in Agra that served delicious Naans of all sorts with all kinds of stuffings or whatever you want to call it.

India was really an adventure for me, and it's a beautiful place that I wouldn't mind going again :-).

[At the Taj Mahal in Agra, India in 1998]

[The team representing TCHS at Modem II in 1999]