On April 23rd 1982 I was in New Delhi.
This was the last day in New Delhi, the last day in India, the last day for this journey. There was some business to be done, a visit to an office for Income Tax Clearance which I needed in order to leave. I had a meal in a smarter vegetarian restaurant which didn't seem any better than the cheaper places. I took a look around the bookshops of Connaught Place with no success. There was a pleasant walk round Pahar Ganj, a good vegetable market and lots of activity, a buzzy place. I looked into the air-conditioned bazaar, newly built under the centre of Connaught Circus, and got some culture shock in modern India. I sat in a cafe for curd and chai back in Pahar Ganj and took photos until the film was ended. That felt like the end of the trip.
This was the last day in New Delhi, the last day in India, the last day for this journey. There was some business to be done, a visit to an office for Income Tax Clearance which I needed in order to leave. I had a meal in a smarter vegetarian restaurant which didn't seem any better than the cheaper places. I took a look around the bookshops of Connaught Place with no success. There was a pleasant walk round Pahar Ganj, a good vegetable market and lots of activity, a buzzy place. I looked into the air-conditioned bazaar, newly built under the centre of Connaught Circus, and got some culture shock in modern India. I sat in a cafe for curd and chai back in Pahar Ganj and took photos until the film was ended. That felt like the end of the trip.
I'd been in Delhi a number of times over the years, so it was a suitable place to finish. I'd stayed in different places: in a camp-site near the centre in 1972, with a family in Golf Links, in a lodge behind Janpath, in a swanky hotel, and now in the Vishal in Pahar Ganj. I'd seen the sights as well, the Qutb Minar, Humayun's Tomb, The Red Fort, Chandni Chowk , the National Museum and so on. I'd been to the zoo, I'd been to a Sikh wedding, I'd been to the Golf Club during a prestigious tournament, I'd eaten tandoori chicken at the Moti Mahal. This however is the only entry in this blog for New Delhi.
This time I was truly content to fly home. I felt I had travelled enough for the moment. I needed to spend my time in the marketplace, as Hindus might say. Do some work. Do something useful for others.
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| Pahar Ganj: My picture |
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| Pahar Ganj: My picture |
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