New Delhi-No Expectations, No Objectives

In the month leading up to my visit, I tried to “get my head” around India, or as my dad might say, “India of the mind.”

I couldn’t.

It’s too big, too vast, too complex. The scale is just so massive.

Still, I had 3 days on the ground (one of which was work-related), so I figured I’d just make the most of it.

To do that, however, I had to bring my longtime travel philosophy back and recognize that, even if I were in India for 2 years, I wouldn’t “see it all.” Instead, whatever I saw, I saw. Whatever I did, I did.

What’s more, travel is less and less about the sights for me and more and more about the people I meet and learning their perspectives.

This post will be a bit more of “what I did” and expect a few future posts will be thoughts and observations.

In a unique twist of events that proves my quarterly email to my “FOJ” list is actually a good idea, I discovered that a former neighbor of my parents, Katrin van der Vaart and her husband, Bert, were living in New Delhi for 6 months and would be there when I arrived.

She graciously offered to be my companion for the day and arrange for a driver. What’s more, she put together an itinerary for me, but her sole conclusion was “you’re going to run out of time.”

I replied that this wasn’t possible, since I had no expectations and no objectives.

I was staying in a part of Delhi known as Guragon, which one of the centers of the “new India.” 

From there, I was able to take a subway into central Delhi and it’s phenomenal. It was completed within the past few years and it’s immaculate (unlike much of the rest of India), efficient, and modern. My favorite part?

They have outlets on the train for charging your laptop or mobile device.

Speaking of mobile devices, there’s something like 20 million new cell phone activations PER MONTH and it shows.

Everyone has a phone or so it seems.

And they LOVE using them.

Meeting Katrin in Khan Market which, I’m told is the 19th most expensive real estate in the world (though you wouldn’t know it from looking at it), we did a whirlwind tour of a few of the highlights, including India Gate (which is the World War 1 memorial to the 90,000 Indian soldiers who died fighting in the British army) and the Red Fort which was built by Akbar the Great in the 1500s (he, being the hero of India for his “modernization” efforts and the egalitarian way in which he treated Hindus—he was Muslim, among other things).

The Red Fort then was taken over by the British and symbolized the Raj period that followed.

On August 15, 1947 when India gained her independence, it was there where the flag of India was raised for the first time.

(No links on this post since I am writing it in the car as we drive from Agra back to Delhi prior to my departure and while I have secured mobile Internet on my phone a few times—mostly for fun—connecting my laptop seems to be too ambitious!)

India is made up of many different religions, including 150 million Muslims, so we stopped at the Jama Masjid which, I’m told, can hold 20,000 worshippers at one time.

Completing our religion theme, we stopped at the Haym Judah Synagogue where I met the curator who told me that the Jewish population of New Delhi stands at about 50 people (those of the Bene Israel) and another 100-150 expats.

They have services weekly and were preparing for Hannukah celebrations at the time.

My final activity was a “Marketing Meetup.” Through the power of social media, I had reached out and with the help of some locals, was able to have a 2 hour conversation with some very bright minds in the Indian marketing community at the Taj Mansingh Hotel.

Not only was it fascinating, but it gave me some great insights which I was able to integrate into my presentation the next day.

As you make your way through Delhi (actually all of India), you are doing it among an absolute crush of humanity. There are people everywhere. There are cars and vehicles everywhere.

There’s also dirt…a lot of it. And, an environmentalists’ nightmare…trash everywhere.

You see wealth and modernity sitting right next to abject poverty.

There was a guy on his knees in the middle of a main thoroughfare, begging for money. How he didn’t get hit is beyond me.

There is a love affair with the horn on the car as well. Close your eyes and it’s like a symphony (well, not really). More like a cacophony.

The movement of traffic is like a lava lamp. It flows, but there’s no real order to it. People and vehicles are  going in every possible directions, like a miasmic soup.

I’m sitting here, trying to think about how to do India justice in a blog post (or 20) and I find myself frustrated.

I keep thinking how, like Warren Buffet said, “I won the birth lottery” and how fortunate I am that my grandparents immigrated to the US.

I wonder about the challenges ahead for India. A country with so much potential in terms of human capital, but with hurdles the scale of which defy my limited brainpower.

Infrastructure, health, education, environment, waste collection, water. All of these things which are basically taken for granted in the US are very real and very pressing here.

My head hurts just thinking about it.

Which, I guess, is one of the reasons why you travel, isn’t it? Expand your mine.

Sorry. I feel like this is jumbled, but it’s just such a massive shock to the system that I can’t fully process it.

Still, I have to say, there’s something about Indians that I really love. The ones I’ve met (granted not at EVERY level of the socio-economic ladder) have a great attitude.

A great sense of humor, a willingness to chat and engage, a desire for knowledge, and a helpful kind spirit.

I feel so blessed that I had the opportunity to see this part of our ever-shrinking world.

What happens here in the future is going to impact ALL of us, so having a small clue as to what they are going through is something that I believe is critically important.