Delhi Diary: Day One

Its one country, but two different worlds in two different cities. Delhi and Mumbai are starkly different, and these differences start to emerge even from the air, before you've landed. But I digress..... I should talk of my experience from morning to evening, and not at some random point.

Let me first talk about my first ever experience of air travel. Planes are beautiful! The speed they catch when they're taking off, the way it just throws you back on your seat! Wow! And how surreal is it when clouds are below you and..its like some weirdly animated fantasy scene from a hindi movie come alive! I want to now learn how to fly one. And I learnt today I am not a nervous flier! I am soooo proud of me! Yay! And I must give a mention to Indigo for the beauty of their service....its a no frills airline totally, but in my books, it totally rocked where it should've...the timeliness....it managed to reach Delhi aiport just a little before schedule though it had left Mumbai airport later than scheduled. Good job guys!

Oh and when I saw the ground crew and pilots roaming about at the airport in general, I found the answer to a long time grumble me and my friends have always had: "Where are all the cute men in India???!!!" And my greatest luck? My neighbouring seat co-passenger was a pilot! What a great first flight ever to have! With a knowledgeable person telling me all about it! :-) :-) And another thing I realised is that running an aeroplane takes a lot of team work, and what better than to have a great team backing you up? There was something about the way in which the ground crew said goodbye to the pilot with a thumbs up that we have you covered and a have a safe trip wave! It was touching...

Then Delhi...first impression? Wallop of hot dry air @ 45 degrees Celsius!! I tried not to make any impressions based on what I've heard...good or bad about Delhi...and was I right! Touchwood, no men stared at me like I'd heard they would. Or grab their crotches on seeing me, for that matter (a blog I had recently read forwarded to me by a Delhite friend. However there were a few things drastically different than Mumbai: Chillar, Chutta (a term for monetary change) is khulla here. People are not as helpful, or glad to help as they are in Mumbai. Cabbies are not helpful here either as they are in Mumbai....funnily enough, they hadn't even heard of my hotel (and I thought Courtyard Marriott with the Mariott name would be famous enough!). And there were no warm smiles, no may I help you.....no happy to show you in the right direction...people just stare at you like you're an alien even if you say a warm thank you. Phew! I prefer Mumbai people!

Coming to Courtyard Marriott: my first experience of a five star hotel. Wo-ow! I can't believe people actually live like this. And get to travel around like this. Professional staff, luxurious rooms and beds, interesting bath, great food. And great service. I am happy I am getting to experience all this. I mean wo-ow! Its like a chapter from a dream diary come true today for me! :-) :-)

Thats all for my first day. Keep tuned for further updates of me enjoying the capital!!! :-)