It’s advisable not to breathe outside air in Delhi. I know people whose lungs and hearts were damaged due to breathing the Delhi air. If you are sick or elderly, you may not be able to survive outside the home. The urban air database released by the World Health Organization reported that Delhi has exceeded the maximum PM10 limit by almost 10-times at 198 μg/m3.
On arriving in Delhi, I immediately hopped in my assigned car and went directly to my hotel. According to many reports, Delhi is the most polluted city in the world. Delhi’s sky is always covered with a toxic, throat-burning cloud sending people to emergency rooms and prompting officials to declare public health emergencies and close schools for days.
The roads in Delhi are smooth and beautiful. However, traffic is another story, The drivers don’t follow any rules. It’s a jungle out there where survival is the name of the game. You will face oncoming traffic in one-way lanes. People jump out in front of the car out of nowhere just like deer crossing the roads in the U.S.
Delhi roads and expressways have many lanes, but lanes have no relevance. Cars are overpopulated like people are. I found people driving the wrong way on expressways. Vendors and bulls roam freely on the expressways. They can jump in front of your car from nowhere. The expressways are shared by horse buggies, auto-rickshaws, and bikes. Cars and trucks overtake each other from any direction maintaining as little as 8 inches distance from each other. It’s a thrill to ride a vehicle in Delhi. It’s not for the faint of heart. It usually takes 90 minutes to cover a distance of 15 miles.
The buildings are not visible to the eyes due to fog and pollution. Eunuchs are everywhere dressed in woman’s attire. The eunuchs knock on car doors. People roll down their windows to give them alms and take blessings from them. It’s a big business, therefore, some unemployed youth dress like eunuchs to earn money.
Delhi is quite full of wannabes. Name dropping. Imported cars. 2kg gold studded brides. Loud DJs. Competition and comparison. I visited nice resorts and restaurants for group dinners. They are lavish with rich interiors. People in Delhi have money. They don’t mind spending up to INR (Indian Rupees) 50,000 ($650 US) for a family dinner. People in Greater Delhi including Gurugram and Noida live in skyscrapers. Their units are very posh and equipped with all kinds of modern amenities including workstations. It’s common to have bathrooms and big-screen TVs in every room.
Stray dogs and the poor have nowhere to go. They roam the streets in search of work and money and sleep in empty buses or on the street. They are basically disposables. Their life has no value. India’s biggest export is manpower. The Indian cities are full to the rim with people. The cream of the crop exodus to mostly Great Britain, North America, and the Emirates where they, usually, become very successful.
“The world is not thy friend nor the world’s law: The world affords no law to make thee rich;
Then be not poor, but break it, and take this.” -Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet).
thethinkclub 