12.11 what's the dehli?

i've arrived!! safe but with a cold, we were welcomed by the bright face of sanjeev, the owner of nexus tours and travel, with whom my father has arranged the first several days of our trip. i'm instantly thrilled to see the gleaming white ambassador - not a man, but the penultimate tourist vehicle of india! this thing looks like a true vintage, a lada or trabant - always in white for the tourists!

our driver is kharak bhadur. he sounds exactly like my uncle. you listen to him and you want to go smoke a cigarette and play some pool with the man. i was thrilled. sanjeev piled in the car with us and we drove off, i have been equally interested the whole time in listening to him tell us everything the first time traveller to india would like to know, plus taking in the sights: the abundance of everything on the road, from cars to beggars, the roads with their roundabouts, the temples, and mostly the people. everyone is brown! i'm finally in india!!

the one cultural thing i notice right away - dehli-ites don't say "dehli" the way we westerners do. to be a true delhi-ite, you gotta say "dilli", as in "yo, what's the dilli!". that's right. say it now. out loud a few times. yeah. you'll get it... you'll get the dilli.

after we got ourselves settled and warmed. dehli is cold at night this time of year. i didn't realise how far north we actually are. evening time, it was off to dinner, but not before a night time visit to the beautiful and lit-up laxmi's temple (a must for the first time visitor, laxmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity, and good luck as i believe). bring it on i say!


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