Delhi is a city of
flyovers and high-fliers. People from
all over the country are driven to the welter of opportunities that the
National Capital Region offers with the magnanimity that the emperors of the
walled city displayed to their favourite courtiers and courtesans. Anyone who has the inclination and the drive will
find his or her place in Delhi sooner than later – under the flyover if not
above it.
Sprawling landscape around Qutub Minar |
The loves we share with a
city are often not very upfront. What
drives Delhi are not merely the well-maintained roads and flyovers and the
exquisite metro service but also the secret gratifications it offers in the sprawling
malls with their multiplexes and the greenery that throbs in the woodlands that
dot the city’s map with an unusual excess of nature’s bounty. You can drive a dilapidated Bajaj scooter or a
luxurious BMW and be at home in the anonymity of Delhi’s crowded vastness. You can wear a cheap outfit bought from the
street vendor in Chandni Chowk or a royal dress from DLF Emporio in Vasant Kunj
and be a proud Delhiite.
Delhi has a unique
design. There is the old city of
Shahjahan with its limestone and marbles, walls and tombs, that carry breathtaking
tales with the patience that only stones possess. Then there is the New Delhi that stretches
seemingly endlessly into the neighbouring states.
An ashram in Bhatti Mines |
The metro trains that run
in the sky with skyscrapers of all shapes and sizes silhouetted all around lend a distinctive flavour to
Delhi. The cycle rickshaws still linger
on in Shahjahan’s city where life teems with primitive passion in contrast with
the luxury of the sophistication that one encounters in South Delhi.
There is a whole world
beneath the surface of Delhi. It’s not
only the underground markets like Palika Bazaar or the underground metro rails
that draw you to the entrails of the city.
There is a whole network of subways some of which are more crowded than the
overground thoroughfares. Some of the
miracles of human imagination and invention can be found in those underground
worlds. The Rajiv Chowk metro station is
one such miracle with a whole underground universe that teems with thousands of
people at any given time when the metro trains are in service.
The best thing may be that
Delhi connects. There are people who
will help you to make the connections.
Whatever kind of connections you may wish for. There are the services. There are the facilities. There are the transport systems: from the
humble cycle rickshaws in the walled city’s congested lanes with their royal
arches of yore to the innumerable flights that take off from the various
terminals of Indira Gandhi airport. And
there is an abundance of godmen and their ashrams. Hundreds of vehicles of all types, mostly of
the richer varieties, ply towards these homes of holiness particularly in South
Delhi on days when the godmen deign to shower their blessings on the yearning teeming
devotees. What is a city without some
spiritual connects? Delhi has some inimitable
godmen especially in Bhatti Mines.
The very air of Bhatti Mines is redolent of the heavens.
PS. This post is written for the #madeofgreat theme of
Tata Motors:
Activities like musical performances by the bands of police and paramilitary forces at Dilli Haats, traditional welcome of tourists at Delhi Tourism information counters, will be the highlight of the day.
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