I have a love-hate relationship with Delhi. Not because I am a Bombay girl but only because Delhi’s weather kills me, either I underestimate or overestimate Delhi’s winter. Everything else I love dearly about Delhi. I hadn’t travel for more than a year and really needed a break from everything, so I decided to play safe, well I thought I did, and chose Delhi because I had a couple of friends there and I had visited the city before for work but never had the opportunity to explore it. It was my safe escape which soon turned into an escapade. I made all my bookings for December 2019 and a week before leaving…BOOM! Delhi was all over the news for CAA protests and Jamia Milia shooting, the tense environment of the capital soon spread to other parts of the country.
I couldn’t cancel any of my bookings and I decided to go ahead with my plans anyway. It was my first time traveling solo and this was the state of affairs. I was so paranoid on the day of my flight and guess what? I forgot where I kept my debit card and I thought I left it back home. I still remember I was in queue outside the airport and I was fishing for it in all my pockets and bags while on the verge of tears. So, I just entered and rushed to the loo and opened my entire bag to locate that card and finally found it. I had cried my eyes out while searching, now that I think of it, I was really overwhelmed. I was lucky with my seat though because there was an empty one next to me. Thanks to that someone who didn’t bother to come on time or didn’t book or got upgraded. I reached my Airbnb apartment easily and honestly my first thought was, "I don’t like staying at other people’s place". My hosts were sweet but it’s just me.
I called my friend and made some late lunch plans before heading out to the first of my many tombs to come-Humayun’s Tomb. Coming from Bombay, visiting this place was refreshing, Bombay’s colonial architecture has my heart and soul but Delhi’s historical architecture feeds my curiosity. Lush open green space and this huge monument standing tall reminded me how beautiful the world is. This tomb was commissioned by Empress Hamida Banu Begum who was Emperor Humayun’s wife. Ah, the things we do for love! The tomb is surrounded by a few other monuments and lush gardens. I headed for some food and dumplings at Mango and Yeti later. I was sweating in the afternoon in my sweater and by evening, I was freezing even after adding a layer of my jacket. My plight doesn’t end there because I never realized that my room doesn’t have a heater. It was less than 3 degrees and I was wearing 3 layers of everything topped by two layers of blanket. End of day one.
I was headed to Agra the next day and returned the very same evening. I had no clue what went down in Delhi during that time but I got a call from my friend and he said things were a wee bit violent there. I reached Delhi around 8.30 pm or so and struggled for a good hour to get a cab because nobody would want to go to certain locations due to the threat of mob or any kind of violence. Now I had no clue which area was safe and which wasn’t or if the place where I stayed was one of the hit lists but all my bookings kept getting cancelled and the ‘autowalas’ were asking me to pay five times my cab fare. I was in no mood to pay extra or to get in an auto at that hour so I waited for my cab, which finally arrived after 30 minutes and it had a heater, so I was happy. I dined at this funky named place called “CIA” which means “Call It Asian”, haha. It’s an outdoor restaurant which serves amazing sushi and dumplings. I also went to The Big Chill Creamery at Khan Market; it had some cool cafes and bars which I couldn’t explore then but there is always a next time.
The next morning, I woke up to more news about the violence and around 20 metro stations being shut down. I decided it would be best to stay indoors and chill for a while. I got some work done, ordered food and took a nap. I woke up when my bed moved but I thought I was hallucinating and went back to sleep. It happened again but I just ignored it and dozed off brushing it off completely. I met a couple of friends in the evening only to realize that I slept through an earthquake. Drum rolls please! This was a trip full of so many ‘firsts’.
My last day was pretty eventful compared to all these days combined and I have decided that it deserves a separate blog-post for itself. Hope you enjoyed my travel story so far and stay tuned for more. I would love to know your thoughts. See you next Wednesday.
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