You don't really know a city by just seeing the tourist attractions.
Going by that principle I stuck to never saying anything when the Delhi Bombay debate kept raging in college.
But I knew by all that was said, that Delhi was a city I had to know a little bit about.
Finding an excuse, I found myself in New Delhi in a quest to "Discover Delhi".
SUPER FAIL.
I mean, its cool and all that ad it definitely has the most amazing roads I've seen ANYWHERE in India, but really after living in bombay for 19 and a half years of my life, so far I've found Delhi considerably girl-unfriendly.
Khan market, CP, Dilli Haat, Chandni Chowk, Akshardha- wherever you go, its just can't compare with how Bombay makes you feel.
The chauvinistic, judgmental eyes that follow you around, the curfews the girls have here plus how unsafe you feel on the metro is unbearable for someone like yours truly who doesn't have a problem getting around her city alone at 10 pm.
Police officers are leching and you see barely any women smoking because no one wants to invite unrequited attention.
You feel an odd curtailment of your independence in Delhi.
It's a boy's city. Its a man's world here.
There's no question here of being able to get chocolate milkshake and pav bhaji at 2.30 am at the seaside (Or the yucky yamuna here) in Delhi. Bas, its just not that kind of place.
And I just keep seeing human rights and women's rights violations everywhere.
But Delhi, too, has things I loved.
Khan Market, the shoes i've seen around the place, the BEAUTIFUL people (all largely dumb), the wide streets and the beautiful buildings.
The life at Chandni Chowk and the "feel" of Hindi.
The stately power and awe you feel walking down the road from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.
Stunning really.
But once a Bambaiyya, always a Bambaiyya.
And after giving it a real chance, Delhi failed.
Like it did at the Commonwealth games. =P
But I have 3 more days.
Maybe Delhi will surprise me with more than a hint of awesomeness...
