How was India? part 4

Yesterday it stormed in Delhi. I loved it. There was wind and rain and finally it was cool. Rain in Delhi is one of my favorite things. It doesn’t ever sprinkle, it rains hard for an hour or so, sometimes longer, and takes a break. I believe there is always an occasion for rain because I never have found it so cold as to not appreciate the ten-degree difference the rain makes. Yes, it will become humid soon, but for the time being, especially as it’s been in the 90s, I’m happy.

This leads us to our fourth installment of my ‘How was India?’ series: My favorite things.

While there are plenty of beautiful places in India, and this one relatively small, touristy, and no more than a week’s worth of things to do, the place I remember most fondly is Darjeeling. Perhaps it was because it was the first place I was truly traveling on my own, and my every move was not planned. Maybe it is because the people there were so kind and welcoming, stopping me to ask where I was going, and pointing me in the right direction. At the same time they left you well alone, no staring, no hassling, and bartering took about ten seconds to reach an acceptable price. In general, it is a very polite place. Darjeeling is part of a section of West Bengal referred to as Gorkhaland (Gorkhas are from Nepal actually) who want to form a new state under India separate from West Bengal. At times, this struggle has been violent. The differences between Gorkhaland and West Bengal are perceptible to all your five senses. Cultural differences and neglected needs of the region by the state government are, as I understand it, the reasons for desiring the foundation of a new state.

My favorite street food is momos, a Tibetan dim sum, which litter most marketplaces.

My favorite Indian food is channa bathura. Channa is chickpeas, and it's a kind of gravy or soupy dish, eaten with bathura, deep fried flat bread that is big and puffy. Its inevitable you will eat too much of this heavy food and feel sick.

I have two places that are my favorite in Delhi, and they are so, perhaps unfortunately, because they are more peaceful than the rest of Delhi. The first is Hauz Khas Village, built around Mughal ruins, has some of the best restaurants in south Delhi. The second is N block market in GK1, which is less than five minutes on a bicycle rickshaw from my college. Smack-dab in the middle of some of the most expensive real estate in Delhi, it is quiet, has a little green patch, nice shops, and a café that, while lacking internet or plugs, is perfectly accommodating if you’d like to sit for three hours and only order a coffee while listening to their jazz music.