It's winter! Mid-December in Delhi and if you choose to enjoy
this moment, there is always that chilly stray breeze which spreads a sweet bone
chilling to your core. As anyone who’s spent a good long time in Delhi would concur,
the best part of the Delhi experience is the winter starting around after the
fireworks clouds settle after Diwali ending with a colorful blast around Holi
in March. The city slows down for these 3 months, almost into hibernation. The
people become more tolerable in this period, to almost South Indian standards.
It's 10AM on a winter Sunday and the sun is as lazy as the people
are, barely poking out of the thick fog that it rests itself on. After a stressful
summer effort of burning down on the city, it is a well deserved break. A lazy winter
Sunday wrapped in two layers thick rajai’s (blankets) could not begin if not
for the quintessential winter breakfast - butter dripping aloo parathas and ginger
flavored tea; the combo is something best enjoyed on a winter morning.
The laze of this season brings along with it a unique set of
aromas. Bathing becomes a bare necessity. Sweaters & pullovers get
considered for a cleaning once a month if conditions are favorable. The DTC
buses and Metro boogies carry along this unique aroma for the period of winter.
It is not that summer does not have a similar effect but yes it’s uniquely
distinguishable for an outsider or a non-regular traveler on these modes of
travel.
One essential part of the Delhi experience, and a recommended must taste
for the single men, are the ladies (spelled
Ladiezz, emphasis on the ‘zz’) of this extreme city. Conditioned to the hardcore
male dominated cultures - endorsed from the mixed cultures of UP, Haryana,
Punjab & Bihar; and contrasted with the opportunities of the free thinking
progressive culture of the academic & army classes. These are women you
should think twice before you mess around with. It’s easy to get your heart broken
by them. They are well-endowed & clever, they are motivated & driven. They
are the Bloody Mary among drinks – spicy, addictive, and seductive. A habit
difficult to lose! Winter or Summer they are dressed to kill.
Its 6.30PM. Its dark and the markets are swarming with
people, looking for a hot glass of malai laden milk or a plate of steaming momos
with a side of chili sauce or for the adventurous some ice-cream. And then who
can miss the waft of warm air from the soup, kathi roll or momo stalls that are
built to draw the world towards them like flies & keep them warm. Food is an
essential part of the experience of Delhi. Food from the kebabs from the gulli’s
of Nizamuddin, jalebi & samose from Chandni Chowk, the Chole-Kulcha walahs
or the Haldirams & Aggarwal’s or quite simply the nearest Chaat walah.
As it gets past 8PM, begins the one thing that defines
& captures the essence of Delhi in all its awe – The Big Fat Delhi Wedding! Women oblivious of the of the chill clad in sleeveless blouses & waist exposing sarees, rhythm-less tunes & beats of a series of bands from multiple baarat processions both driving traffic insane. Here, marriages define identity. If you are not seen well enough, you need to at least be heard
enough, and if you are not seen or heard enough then you need to at least be
talked about enough - Rock Concert beating sounds & crowds, Lady Gaga
defeating attires, Royal wedding beating ceremonies and limitless spending. Band
baaja baarat baby, it’s the biggest set of parties in town! You are a nobody if you are not invited to at least 5 weddings in a season.
Also then there are always people dying in Delhi from the weather
- summer or winter, this is the unforgiving nature of the city as it is today, its ‘Extreme’. Extreme in its love and extreme
in its distaste (not hate). The real battle here is not though the weather or
living conditions or the many other extremities but of the rigid structure of class / status driven, with its
political, army, business, rich and poor classes well separated. Almost anyone
here can claim “Tu jaanta nahi mei kaun
hun!” (You don’t know who I am!). Almost anyone here is eager for an
opportunity to thrash someone random, reasons then trivially concocted as
convenient. Everyone here is ‘Somebody’! Everybody is ‘Extreme’! If you are not,
then Delhi is not for you.




