Step off the plane and the aroma of Delhi hits you. A stroll along the now famously hideous airport carpet, luggage out in record time, skip through duty free, a taxi ride in a cab that should have been scrapped 20 years ago, the 3 inevitable questions from the taxi driver, ”Your country madam, your…
Musings
Life in India is extraordinary and exhausting, fascinating and unfathomable but always thought provoking. Simple daily tasks that we, from 'first world countries' take for granted for being just that, can become expeditions in India. The most mundane activity can cause endless causes for frustration or amusement. Life in India has tested me, more than occasionally, but amused me endlessly, perhaps that's just me, but my musings are where I record these, fondly.
Delhi Diaries: Finding Digs in Delhi
You wouldn’t think that finding accommodation in Delhi would be such a mine field, but as a single female, trust me, finding somewhere to live was shall we say tricky. You see, I am torn. I love Delhi, and to live in Delhi with all of its history and culture, rather than live in the…
Curry for breakfast – seriously?
Jeepers, not another bloody bowl of cardboard shreds! As I sit and gaze dejectedly down at the milky grey mass, sitting stodge-like in the bottom of my bowl, my soul is fast becoming destroyed and the motivation to get up on a morning is fast becoming a distant memory.
Delhi Diaries: Dealing with house staff part 2 (Flips flops at 50 paces)
My first mistake regarding my maid, who was found for me by my helpful landlady, was to translate INR into GBP. Yes I know she only came for 1.5 hours each morning but surely the salary I was paying her was, even by Delhi maid standards, a pittance. So, I upped it, not by much,…
Indian Chai and English Tea
Sitting ‘atop a hill’ in the foothills of the Himalaya, watching the most incredible sunset, not a soul around, the problems of the world left far behind, could life get much better? Well yes, as it happens. When I say ‘not a soul’ there was one, the local sadhu. He had watched me climb the…
Delhi Diaries: Dealing with house staff – part 1
Having never had staff in the UK I couldn’t see why I would need them just because I had moved to Delhi, ‘Oh, you must find staff’ everyone said, ‘a reliable maid and a good driver at least, they can make or break your life here’, and I was soon to realise just how true…
Horn Please! Indian roads, journeys from heaven and journeys from hell.
I am not a nervous passenger by any stretch of the imagination. I can quite happily be chauffeured around on the worst of Indian roads, barely blinking at what most travellers to the country find, what can be described at best, as utterly terrifying. It does me good on occasion when friends, who have never…
Not the bloody Taj Mahal!
I am being controversial but honest, I find the Taj Mahal dull. There you go, I have finally not only said it aloud, but put it in print and out there on the worldwideweb for all to see. I know I have visited it many times (forced by my career choice) but this ‘familiarity’ isn’t…
In India, We Speak Like This Only
Another day another train. The Dehradun Shatabdi this time and an a/c chair car for INR580.00 or £5.80 for a comfortable 5 hour journey. Not only is this journey comfortable, you are provided , within the price of your ticket, with a bottle of water, newspaper, tea, breakfast (veg or non-veg) and more tea. Not…