This piece of writing is mostly for myself. I want this to act as my journal. I've always tried to see life from others' perspective. I think it's time to see it from mine. This can act as a rough draft of my life.
If you're very nosy and want to kn...
We got ready and left our house by 8 to go to the domestic airport. We checked in and got through security check pretty quickly. There was an extremely hilarious incident that took place and I'm not going to let Mom forget that anytime soon.
Before the security check, mom distributed our flight tickets to take it back after the security check. She collected my dad and my ticket and then mistook a random passenger as my brother, suddenly snatching the ticket out of his hand. Dad, I, the passenger and his mother stood dumb founded for a second and the guy just went "Ma'aaaam". Mom, dad and I couldn't stop laughing after that incident. Infact I still find myself giggling even thinking about it.
We normally don't have breakfast but today we had one in the form of burgers and subs. Between a sub and burrito, I'd probably choose the latter. Our flight was on time and we boarded the plane pretty quick. We got to our seats and Alex generously gave me his window seat. He doesn't shut up about it tho. It took some time for the plane to take off, it always does. Since the flight was only for an hour and a half, I did not sleep. Instead I looked out of the window the entire time.
Finally we reached Delhi and after a bit of a confusion, we were on our way to the destination. Our neighbours back in my city shifted to Delhi about 5 years ago so we're going to be staying at their place for our entire duration in Delhi.
In the beginning, I didn't feel like I was in a different city. The roads here more or less look like the ones back in my city but I did find some differences. First of all, the rickshaws here are green and yellow while back in my city they are black and yellow. Another prominent difference is the existence of well working metro system! I thought that all the lines are underground but it's actually a mixture of both underground and over-the-road trails. Oh also, there seems to be an unusual liking towards Hanuman here. There were Hanuman stickers on the back of a couple of vehicles be it taxis, rickshaws or even private cars!
We reached the place soon and I realised one more difference. My city hardly has any bungalows. If there are any, they mostly belong to veteran film stars or politicians. But our neighbours live in a complex full of bungalows. We entered their house and boy, it's big. Much bigger than their (our) house back in my city. Their guest bedroom also gives off hotel vibes. Maybe people in Delhi prefer a slightly lavish lifestyle?
We ate lunch at their place, freshened up and them left for our first monument, Humayun's Tomb. They have restored it beautifully! The actual monument looks like Taj Mahal but in red. According to a guide who overheard our conversation, Taj Mahal was inspired by the Humayun's Tomb. The identical 4 gardens on all 4 sides of the monument along with the network of small open ground waterpipes made for a beautiful scene from on top of the monument.
We spent quite some time there after which we came back home to relax. My neighbours stay in a very central location so we have the advantage of dropping in and resting for a while instead of being on the go the entire time.
It gets dark here pretty soon. It's cold here too and I love both of these so I was very happy. At around 6PM, we left to see the India Gate. It felt like it was 10:30, it was that dark. We reached the India Gate and if I didn't know better, I'd say there was some riot going in there. There were a lot of police barricades and SO MANY PEOPLE! India Gate looks good but the area around it is way too crowded. It's a popular tourist attraction so there were many roadside vendors selling mostly illuminating toys.
There were a host of chaatwalas surrounding the India Gate and we got tempted to try one. We had always heard of "Delhi's Gol Gappe" so we tired that as well as a plate of pani puri. It doesn't beat what I get in my city tho. Maybe because I'm used to them being prepared in a certain way but my city for the win! Jk, I don't want to compete everywhere. I just want to have a good experience in Delhi.
There is this huge/long road called Rajpath the lies between the India Gate and the Rashtrapati Bhavan (aka the President's home). On the way, there are two Central Secretariat buildings on either side of the road. So after eating we went to see the two Central Secretariat buildings. Due to security reasons we had to get off and walk to the buildings and but it turned out so well for us!
The two buildings were so beautifully lit! The air was quite cold and since there were next to no visitors at that time of the night, Alex, dad and I took a nice stroll, admiring the buildings, big clean roads and just the aura of the place. We took loads of the pictures of the colour changing buildings. Turns out mom did the same sitting on one of the benches present there.
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We came back home, had some home made dinner prepared by my neighbor. Following that, Alex, my two (school going) neighbor kids and I played some card games. Alex and I have known them since their childhood so we share quite a good rapport. Even though there is about 6-8 years age gap between us, those two girls are quite mature so I talk to them the way I talk to any of my friends.
We are going to sleep quite early today because we were all very tired. Well, first day was definitely a success.
