The Rickshaw Explorer: Snapshots pt.2

For the next week or two, I shall be heading north to the Himalayas to shake off the dust of Delhi in fresh air and cool breeze. Meanwhile, it is time for another set of scenes from the everyday of a delhiwallah,
as life in the ever so vibrant city goes on and my photo-album expands.

This man had decided to park his vehicle of choice right in front of our hostel.

Life in the International Students House is rarely boring. The hostel hosts a cavalcade of characters that keep things interesting even on the rainiest of days. The man in blue is Babatou (not his real name), a Vietnamese half monk half journalist and a true living legend, whose somewhat brusque demeanor sometimes resembles that of a vietcong guerrilla interrogator. The man speaks about 200 words per minute with a vietnamese accent, which makes him most of the time a bit hard to follow. Having heard that Vicki and Dan were British, he practically ordered them to teach English to him and his friends in exchange for kung-fu lessons.

The monks insisted to know about life in England so obviously the lesson turned into the topic of religion. Of course, vocabulary-wise it's good to start with something simple and useful, such as "big", "faith" and "secularization".

The view from my room offers many kinds of entertainment. Channel 79 usually shows football every night and junior league cricket every morning...

...unless the monsoon has hijacked the network and has decided to run "Swamp Show" instead.

India being heavy on the service sector, all kinds of services are also available around the hostel. This hair salon is conveniently located right next to the entrance gate. If you're in a rush in the morning, and the stubble's still on, he's your man.

India is apparently also all about dogs, they're ubiquitous. This one is always sleeping in my hallway and if you even accidentally happen to show any attention towards her, she'll follow you anywhere.

Also hippie nazis are the latest fad in India.

Majnu Ka Tilla - the Tibetan colony of Delhi, is a strange haven of tranquility amongst the constant noise of the surrounding city. Here, you will not get pestered by touts and hustlers. Instead, you are greeted by the Buddhist elders spending an afternoon at the main square sipping tea.

A Buddhist monk watching the Dalai Lama show.

Cigarette vendor, or paan-wallah, as they are called here. Paan is a kind of Indian chewing tobacco wrapped in a betel leaf. One peculiar feature of it is, that it colours your teeth red, which explains why all auto-rickshaw drivers look like they have a severe gum infection.

Offence nr. 63: Travelling on roof of train. A serious problem in the Indian metro.

A girl studying on the street. Children like this can be seen all around the busier areas. The meaning of the scale is still unclear.

Monsoon turns the boring walk home into instant Adventureland!

The drivers trapped in their cars, the kids outside frolicking: grown ups 0 - kids 1.

Learning the Hindi language under the tutelage of a great man, Dr. Vimlesh Kanti Verma.

Street cleaners were getting busy right before the beginning of the Commonwealth Games.

"Kumar, i'm telling you, those monkeys are getting cheekier and cheekier every day. That ones scratching his..." "Please Sandeep, i'm eating here!"

As the Kashmiris had been very active on the campus, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), India's hindu nationalist party, decided to counter attack with an agressive campaign heralding the recognition of Kashmir as a part of India, not as an independent state.

The demagogues got the crowd into a craze of slogan chanting.

The irony speaks for itself.

Cigarette vendor behind the law faculty canteen. Here's where all the students get their smokes.

Religion is an inseparable part of India and its influence is all pervasive. Even the university copy shop has its own shrine dedicated to lord Shiva - the creator and the destroyer (of photocopies).