Can anyone give me some inspiration regarding spending time in Delhi? Having read so many dire warnings about being ripped off / thieves / health concerns / dangerous driving &c., the idea isn't exactly filling me with unmitigated joy.

To be frank, India isn't high on my list of place to visit, and while I've enjoyed holidays in Tunisia and Morocco, I'm not the most intrepid of travellers, having rarely ventured outside Europe. However my partner has just learned that he's being posted to Chanakyapuri in New Delhi a year earlier than expected, and will be there for two years.

It is possible for me to visit him there for holidays, maybe even to take a sabbatical and live there if it works out. Unfortunately, despite my realising it's a great travel opportunity, right now the whole idea is feeling pretty negative.

So, can anyone tell me some positive things about being there? I'm not after a list of things to do, more like something along the lines of "India / New Delhi is worth visiting because..."

India is not for everyone, and you can’t really know that unless you go there, IMO. You also can’t go with preconceived notions, but have to form your own opinions based on your own experience. I think a lot of people would have no desire to go to Mexico or Morocco for many of the reasons you have stated about India, but your own experience taught you differently.

I can only say from experience that living someplace and being a tourist there are two completely different things. I think for many tourists with only 2-3 weeks for traveling in such a huge country, Delhi can be unattractive because it is a city, and people are more anxious to get out into the countryside, and see what they think is the “real” India. I can understand that, as many people live in or near cites of their own and want a different experience. So for tourists, they don’t like the experience of a city as it is not different enough, and moreover because they don’t have enough time, IMO to really see what is there. They see only the surface, and sometimes it is a rushed and negative one. I live in Hong Kong and see this place from a completely different perspective from the average tourist who is here for 2-3 days and thinks it is all skyscrapers, shopping malls and fake Prada bags. To me, it is green hiking trails through jungles of bamboo full of bird life with stunning mountain and sea vistas, or little ferries to tiny islands with nothing but Tin Hau shrine on them. I think you might have a very similar experience if you spent some “real” time in Delhi.

As for rip-offs, listen to the stories of tourists in any city or country (including your own) and you will hear them for sure. I am from the New York area and stories of taxi drivers ripping off tourists are pretty common, and I have to say that living in Asia for almost 20 years the only place I have myself ever been a victim of crime have been in the US. I also have to say I believe that I read about fewer scams in Delhi and India generally than I read about tourist being ripped-off in Beijing with the tea scam, or getting the “Grand Palace is closed” dodge in Bangkok.

All that being said, here are some things I like about Delhi:

Delhi and Bangalore are the two cities in India I would consider living in. Delhi is one of the greener cities in India (and Asia), the centre areas of New Delhi especially have lots of low-rise green areas. If you are lucky enough to live in one of those areas, it is very pleasant, indeed. I believe Chanakyapuri is in the middle of this area, which is generally referred to as the Diplomatic Enclave. This is really a lovely area of Delhi.

Delhi is a centre for the arts, you can always find dance, music, etc performances on offer. As it is also the nation’s capital, you get visiting performances as well from the world over. There are several very good museums as well. Engish books are plentiful and dirt cheap. There are dozens of excellent Indian authors (Arundhati Roy, Vikrem Seth, V.S. Naipaul, R.K. Narayan and Rohinton Mistry just to name a few; not to mention the legions of non-Indian authors who have written about India, like Kipling, EM Forster, Jan Morris, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and William Dalyrumple), but you can find the latest best sellers (often in leatherbound editions) and classic authors as well. I believe satellite TV etc is readily available. Indian movies are a cultural event in themselves (Amitabh Batchan leaves Geroge Clooney in the dust, IMO), but you can also see and rent Hollywood and European titles as well.

The history of the city of Delhi reminds me of being in Rome, as in both you can be driving and come to a roundabout where there is a 2,000 year old gateway. No one thinks anything about it, and traffic careers around it. In Delhi of course, a family may be living in it, complete with goats. Like the Romans, the citizens of Delhi live check-by-jowl with their ancient and modern history in a way which I find fascinating. (Indians and Italians remind me very much of each other, it is no surprise to me that an Italian woman married Sanjiv Ghandi and ended up as leader of the Congress Party.) I think there is a lot to explore in Delhi which the average tourist (including me) really does not have time to do, and if you have an opportunity to live there for an extended period of time, I think it would be a great one. I would not say I would want to live there forever, but a few years would be endlessly fascinating to me.

The faith of Indians, not matter what religion they profess, is amazingly strong and a huge, huge part of their culture. Delhi is a good place to be able to observe the myriad mix of faiths which are followed in India. From Hindu, to Sikh, Bahai’, Muslim, Parsees, Christians and Jews, you can find communities in Delhi and again, this would be so fascinating to observe. There is a festival going on every day somewhere it seems. And then you have wedding season, with elephants and horses and bands in the street escorting grooms to their weddings.

Delhi has a numerous choice of good restaurants, and the list grows every day. These include Western and all sorts of regional Indian. You could also take the opportunity for cooking lessons in various Indian cuisines.

The air pollution in Delhi is certainly one of the lowest going in Asia, beats any Chinese city by a mile, including Hong Kong. Better than Bangkok and Jakarta. (Japan is of course so clean you can’t compare it to anything else but Switzerland.) They are have an underground metro that is rapidly expanding, and while the bus system is still something I would probably not venture too much on (too crowded), the subway is perfectly fine generally.

The weather in the winter is quite lovely. I will admit that the summer months leading up to monsoon seem brutal when I have been there, but I imagine with air conditioning you will not really have to bear too much of this. You could also arrange your schedule to perhaps go in the best months, generally mid-October to late March, or travel to cooler areas in the Himalaya during the hot months.

Driving in Delhi does not so much concern me, certain highways concern me, mostly at night, but city traffic in Delhi is really not an issue to me for safety reasons. (And you won’t be doing driving, you would either go by taxi or you may have a driver, it would take some time and practice to drive yourself)

If you are a basically healthy adult, I would not really have issues on the health side. You can’t drink water from the tap, but you will get used to that. Otherwise, IMO, the “hygiene” issues in India are extremely over-blown. Get immunizations for Hep A, Polio, update Tetanus etc (as ou should have in general anyway) and use normal common-sense precautions like you (should) elsewhere. Other risks of serious illness are not really significant, IMO, and no more than Mexico or Morocco. Private hospitals in Delhi are pretty good, and if you had serious concerns, you can get to Bangkok or Singapore in a few hours where there are excellent hospitals.

The opportunity to travel from Delhi cannot be underestimated, by rail or car or air, it is a hub and you can get easily to many other parts of India.

You might want to read some books on living in India, I find that the "Culture Shock!” series of books is quite helpful and that the "Culture Shock!” India" books gives a fairly comprehensive and in my view accurate picture of culture and customs in India. The books are part of the Culture Shock series of books published by Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company. You can buy them on line from Amazon or your local bookstore can order it for you. The Indian one may be particularly helpful to understanding India better. Some of the authors mentioned above may also be helpful, you may especially enjoy City of Djinns, A Year in Delhi by William Dalyrumple. These are great stories about Delhi, he is an excellent travel writer.

I would also suggest you take a look at the website for the American Women’s Club of Bombay at http://www.awcbombay.com/ . There is no Delhi branch of the club, but the Bombay website has info and links to Indian sources and you can post questions. I have belonged to similar organizations in Singapore, Zurich and Hong Kong, and find them invaluable in getting a realistic view of what it is like to live in a country. Below are some boards on expat life in general which might be helpful
www.expatexchange.com
www.expat-essentials.com
www.expatforum.com
www.expatnetwork.com
www.escapeartist.com/expatriate1/expatriate1.htm
www.outpostexpat.nl
ebusinessnomads

I can't oost a long reply at the moment....I am packing up to go to India on Wednesday!!this will be my fourth trip.

Even though I wanted to go to India, reading the guide books really made me question my sanity the first time.

The reality though, was that India is a fascinating country and if you are prepared, you are no more likely to get ripped of than in any other country. I actually feel a lot safer that in many European cities.

You may love it, you may not. If you liked Tunisia and Morocco, I think you might not find India so bad!

Cicerone has posted a lot of the good stuff above. Good Luck! I wish I had the opportunity to live there for a while!

Hi,

This is not related to the main thread.

Just wanted to make a little correction to Cicerone's post.

It is actually Rajeev Gandhi(Former prime minister of India) and not Sanjiv Gandhi whom Sonia(Italian woman) married to.Not sure if there was any confusion because of the name Sanjay Gandhi.

Sanjay Gandhi was brother of Rajeev Gandhi who married to Maneka (Gandhi).

Both Rajeev and Sanjay were the sons of former prime minister of India,Indira Gandhi.

Since all these are polytically high profile figures in India,thought of correcting it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks and Regards,
P.

Sorry, paryatak is correct, I often call my own <i>sisters<i> by the wrong names too….typing too fast as well.

In any event, one final more mundane “reasons I like Delhi” is the shopping which is very good. Rugs, local handicrafts in a huge variety, textiles (esp for the home like table linens and also furnishing fabrics) are easy to find, generally good quality and not expensive. Things like cotton napkins are about US 50 cents or so, I have a huge collection and never use paper napkins even for buffets and picnics (I also don’t have to iron them, see below.) You can also find excellent silks like Benares silk in bolts or in sari lengths, very good quality silver work, and Indian wood furniture. And then there is the jewelry which is quite stunning and at very good prices. You can have pieces made in to your design. You can have clothing, shoes and handbags made. You can have furniture custom made or buy antiques or reproductions.

One final thing you may enjoy with more long-term stays in Delhi with your partner are the live-in servants for cleaning, cooking, shopping, etc. In India it would not be unusual to have 2-3 in a household for various tasks, esp if you have a garden. I only have part-time help here, but I would say they are extremely easy to get used to. You can have a dinner party and about do almost no cooking and certainly no cleaning-up.
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cicerone says it all .In its simplest form to me it is excellent food , smells , contrast , shopping ,history ,architecture , warm people and exotic.

I have travelled all over the world and I have to write that Chandi Chowk Market in Delhi is one of my most cherished experiences. Take a rickshaw ride through the market--teeming with a cast of THOUSANDS like a Cecil B DeMille epic--and investigate the sights, smells, colours, and sounds of India.

You can find anything you can think of in Chandi Chowk. I especially loved the &quot;street of perfume,&quot; where you can buy all kinds of unguents, creams, lotions, perfumes, soaps, and insense.

It is beastly hot, sweetie darling, from April to July. I would only travel to India during the cooler months.

Thingorjus

Thank you so much for these words of encouragement and resource suggestions. I cannot tell you how much I've appreciated reading so many positive points, my negativity about visiting is decidedly waning!

Cicerone you're right, the prospect of being in Delhi (ie a city) was definitely a minus point for me, as I've never had to live in a large city even in the UK, but I am relieved to hear that it's a nice area with low rise / green spaces - i.e. space to breathe.

The merging of ancient and modern is one of the things that captivated me in Tunisia, it was useful to be reminded of that, and I'm now wondering about the photographic opportunities a visit may bring.

Any further words of inspiration are still welcome!

If you are a photographer, IMO, there is really no better place than India. The bright colors contrasted against the colours of the desert (as Diana Vreeland said, <i>pink</i> is the navy blue of India), the Taj Mahal at sunrise, the flowers used everywhere in ceremonies, the myriad of races and religions that come together, the geographic breadth of the country from rice paddies to Himalaya. It really is amazing from that standpoint, and I am not a photographer. If you simply sit in the New Delhi train station for an hour or so, in my experience you will see basically the entire Indian subcontinent pass before you and then some.

One other thing I would like to mention, and I am ashamed that I did not before, is the warmth and kindness of the Indian people. In my experience living and working in Asia, they have been without fail, welcoming to me and tolerant of my stupidly about many things when I am sure offended them by doing or saying something wrong, yet they did not say anything. (As I have said before, they are the only vegetarians I know who will sit at a table with you while you eat chicken and they won’t say a word, you do your thing and they do theirs, they don’t feel the need to convert you; I actually believe that they are hoping that you are enjoying the meal.) They are also the only people who routinely invite me into their homes for meals and celebrations, I have not found this to be the case in any other Asian country where I have worked (or even where I live). They are quite eager to get to know you and in my experience very friendly.

One needs to get used to staying in a metropolis like Delhi. Imo your first impressions of Delhi may not be too flattering. I will take a few negatives first:
a. There are simply too many people &amp; vehicles on the Delhi roads, at all times. You are spending too much time on the road if your place of work is not in a reasonable distance. The congestions become acute during the festival days, when you yourself want to go home quickly &amp; take your family out.
b. You may find the housing cramped. Luckily you will probably not travel with a ‘baggage train’, hence a smart apartment, in a good locality will be fine. But be sure to find a modern housing complex, like the Heritage City in Gurgaon etc. that is segregated from the commercial area &amp; infested with all sorts of nondescript characters.
c. You may not enjoy the privacy as you do living in a sprawling bungalow.
d. During the peak summers, power cuts &amp; water crises build up. Modern housing societies do have back ups, though.
e. On the other hand, you have fine restaurants, markets etc. already commented on, pertinently, by other posters.
f. Delhi has some very good schools / colleges that may equip your kids to face the best competition any where in the world. Though, one really needs to keep a sharp eye on the ‘values’ being imbibed by the youngsters. Delhi is a place inhabited largely by migrant refugees from west Punjab. Some of them have grown together with Delhi &amp; inculcated extreme sophistication. Others may not have been so fortunate.
g. If you are sport loving, you have fine opportunities to keep yourself fit. There are some fine golf courses in Delhi, including the Delhi Golf Club. I do not know what the position is today, but a few years back it was already difficult to find a slot. If you covet, like I do, your English double, you have a fine skeet range at Tughlakabed!
I know some people, who just can’t live without Delhi…you curse it when around &amp; miss it when without.
Welcome to Delhi, the ‘City of Djinns’…ha…ha!