And my sojourn to this higher latitude and lower almost everything else place comes to an end. And shocking as it may seem to the many hardliners (viz authors of vitriolic comments on previous posts) who believe that I do not approve or even tolerate this part of the world, I have found many a saving grace.
The Delhi Metro.
Incredible.
Traveled the Blue line as they call one of the lines, the other is called the Yellow line (which reminds me of an old, gross joke). This particular one (blue) is elevated. And the stations are just 100m long extensions of the platform accessed by stairs, escalator or lift. The trains run in a 5 min frequency, are air conditioned and as of now relatively empty when compared to Bombay. I still didn't get a place to sit at 11 am but at least I wasn't held aloft by people and completely dependent on the movement of those around me to get out of the train. There is of course an annoying announcement that keeps repeating itself telling one to stay away from the doors and what the next station is and which side (of the coach) do the doors open. Which if not for the rather generic voice and intonation is much better than trying to guess if the next platform is on the left or right.
Connaught Place (CP, yeah.) is called Rajiv Chowk and is a two level station. The blue descends to about 15ft below ground level and if you want to take the yellow line - as always it's down under. Add another 15 to get close to 30ft below Delhi and find the Yellow Line to North Campus etc. Sources tell me that the Kashmiri Gate Station is a three level station, will visit it the next time.
The metro as of now is cheap (what would have cost me around Rs. 5/- by bus and close to 50 by Auto was Rs. 9/-) and quick (what would have taken me between half an hour and forty minutes, took between 1o and fifteen). It's frequent as I saw 3 trains whizz by while walking to the station (100 m away and I walk at 4.8 km/hr. Go Figure). The only issue with it is they haven't quite covered south Delhi and they aren't making too much money. Which makes me wonder if they two are related or if the government if going to hike the prices. The Commonwealth games are going to be held here and apparently a criminal amount of money has been sanctioned to making Delhi a city of international amenities. It's getting there.
The other thing that makes Delhi worth my while (ok Ego, down boy) is Butter Chicken. Often called the official bird of the NCR and a close contender with Tandoori Chicken for the title of national bird of Khalistan, this dish is the best thing I've had in years. It is with great shame that I realize that I spent many years of my life in darkness eating many variants of chicken in tomato sauce under the impression that it was butter chicken. All that's changed now. The rich tomato gravy, the succulent meat and the atherogenic butter...
Gar Firdaus bar roo-e-zaminast, Haminasto haminasto haminast
Shantanu and other specimens from here who object to my transliteration of Firdaus, stuff it.
The Delhi Metro.
Incredible.
Traveled the Blue line as they call one of the lines, the other is called the Yellow line (which reminds me of an old, gross joke). This particular one (blue) is elevated. And the stations are just 100m long extensions of the platform accessed by stairs, escalator or lift. The trains run in a 5 min frequency, are air conditioned and as of now relatively empty when compared to Bombay. I still didn't get a place to sit at 11 am but at least I wasn't held aloft by people and completely dependent on the movement of those around me to get out of the train. There is of course an annoying announcement that keeps repeating itself telling one to stay away from the doors and what the next station is and which side (of the coach) do the doors open. Which if not for the rather generic voice and intonation is much better than trying to guess if the next platform is on the left or right.
Connaught Place (CP, yeah.) is called Rajiv Chowk and is a two level station. The blue descends to about 15ft below ground level and if you want to take the yellow line - as always it's down under. Add another 15 to get close to 30ft below Delhi and find the Yellow Line to North Campus etc. Sources tell me that the Kashmiri Gate Station is a three level station, will visit it the next time.
The metro as of now is cheap (what would have cost me around Rs. 5/- by bus and close to 50 by Auto was Rs. 9/-) and quick (what would have taken me between half an hour and forty minutes, took between 1o and fifteen). It's frequent as I saw 3 trains whizz by while walking to the station (100 m away and I walk at 4.8 km/hr. Go Figure). The only issue with it is they haven't quite covered south Delhi and they aren't making too much money. Which makes me wonder if they two are related or if the government if going to hike the prices. The Commonwealth games are going to be held here and apparently a criminal amount of money has been sanctioned to making Delhi a city of international amenities. It's getting there.
The other thing that makes Delhi worth my while (ok Ego, down boy) is Butter Chicken. Often called the official bird of the NCR and a close contender with Tandoori Chicken for the title of national bird of Khalistan, this dish is the best thing I've had in years. It is with great shame that I realize that I spent many years of my life in darkness eating many variants of chicken in tomato sauce under the impression that it was butter chicken. All that's changed now. The rich tomato gravy, the succulent meat and the atherogenic butter...
Gar Firdaus bar roo-e-zaminast, Haminasto haminasto haminast
Shantanu and other specimens from here who object to my transliteration of Firdaus, stuff it.
