North India Travelogue

I am back after about a 4 week hiatus. Various social and family engagements had kept me out of blogosphere. I am however quite eager to write about my 3 day vacation and travel in and around Delhi during the Republic Day long weekend.

North India has a special place place in our hearts - R having spent her childhood and growing years in Delhi is always eager for a trip to NI and the NCR. As far as I am concerned - having spend almost all my life in the eastern, western and southern part of the country - am almost a tourist and hence a fascination for the same. Indeed - I could claim to have a rather unusual perspective - a Rest-of-Indian tourist's view of North India - one who has just come back to eastern India after working in western India and who has had a vacation in southern India a month back.

It was a 3 day trip that started and ended in Delhi and the circuit included Mathura, Agra and Bharatpur. There were five of us and a driver and we drove through dusty roads stopping at various places to look at temples, forts , bird sanctuaries and of course - the one and only Taj Mahal. I am not going to write about all that - what will now follow is some of the things that I saw as we drove.

Auto Rickshaws - Boy! When I was in Mumbai I used to curse the Bajajs for having ruined Indian cities with these 3 wheeled ugly and pesky creatures. I hadn't seen the larger rural beasts running on North Indian highways then. Can anything be more ugly, noisy and polluting? I saw the name written behind the vehicles - Piaggio! Bajaj - you have been bested.

Buffaloes - They are large , slow and everywhere. Haven't seen bigger ones elsewhere.

Camels - These beasts of burden are pretty common. You hardly see them in R of I though.

Charpoys - There is one of these woven rope cots in front of many houses with turbanned men sitting on them.

Dust - Now I know why they called that movie Heat and Dust.

Engineering Colleges - As like rest of India - there is one every 5 km.

Food - These people know how to cook. Even the humblest Dhaba will satisfy you.

Gajar and Muli - That's Carrots and Radish for the uninitiated. These are sold as snacks on carts in rural NI.

Hindi - The language is natively spoken here and most definitely sounds different ( and to me - better) than what is spoken in the western parts.

Jugaad - A vehicle type- designed and manufactured in rural NI. Operated by a diesel engine that ususally runs a water pump - fitted with steering wheel, tractor tyres and lugging a wagon cart. I saw several of these on the roads.

Liquour Shops - These are called "English Wine & Beer" shops. I had heard of Australian, Chilean, Peruvian etc. but I had never heard of an English wine. A Google search for English Wine throws up lot of stuff - though I am pretty sure it has nothing to do with what is sold in NI.

Peacocks - Our National Bird - these are there all over the place. Whats wrong with R of I ?

Quacks - There is no wall in NI that does not have the name persons and clinics with cure for impotency , infertility and other related disorders written on them.

Tractors - They have a pride of place in rural NI. You see them all the time - large & small, old and new - on the road, parked in front of houses, ploughing the field. You have tractors carrying people , grain and buffaloes and you have trucks carrying tractors and you have turbaned men driving these tractors etc. etc. etc.

Tandoori Chicken - NI ( Delhi to be more precise) invented it and it is good !!