New Delhi - Chapter 1

It is amazing to me how people associate certain memories and feelings with the places they visit. For me, India is place of great comfort and happiness. Although I haven’t been here that many times, I always have a great sense of peace associated with my arrival. The smell of India is so distinctive: A mix of dust, pollution, people, and culture. Is like the familiar smell of coming home: Not always pleasant, but always comforting.

A mix of chaos combined with progress: Delhi’s sprawling lights could be seen as far as the eye could see. The airport and roads were surprisingly un-crowded. I couldn’t help but laugh at how a country changes peoples’ behaviour. As I attempted to line up to go through customs, the crowds became a bit of a pandemonium. I thought: “Ah, this is India!” As I looked around, I realized that I was in a crowd of foreigners and that every passport I could see was either American of European!!! What is it that makes a line filled with the same people perfectly orderly in Amsterdam, and complete mayhem in Delhi??

The drive home was another surprise. Being past midnight, the roads were relatively empty. I could feel the beauty of India – crumbling monuments mixed with new construction, dusty scooters puttering over huge overpasses, red traffic lights that apparently mean “go faster” after midnight.

There is chaos in the construction: concrete mixed with culture, development mixed with beauty, and progress mixed with tradition.