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Pahar Ganj in New Delhi
This is the main working bazaar in New Delhi, congested and noisy all the time except late at night. My first impression of Delhi is: more of the same, just all on a bigger scale. I thought I was going to see a lot of really miserable poverty and suffer an endless stream of beggars accosting me, but this wasn’t the case. Certainly there were some beggars and they come in the usual assortment in India. There are the lame ones, on crutches or roller boards, or simply dragging themselves around. There are the women carrying very young children on their hips and they’re often accompanied by slightly older children who pursue you. There are the sadhus and pilgrims, real and fake (you can’t tell them apart just by looking at them). There are also the shopkeepers (“Yes, please, look my shop”) and the itinerant vendors selling tabla drums, flutes, stringed instruments, beads and any other junk someone thinks is sellable.
Briefly, there’s no end of hassle in Pahar Ganj, but it’s just irritating, not overwhelming. I hear Kolkata is far worse, particularly the poverty aspect.
But I came to realize that the steady pressure on me has to do with this being a city of ics and eds: frantic, manic, chaotic, polluted, congested, overcrowded. You can probably
Delhi Sunset
The colour here is due mostly to pollution. make a long list. But I find it’s wearing on me and I’m starting to get short-tempered with those here who seem only to want my money. I’m less polite with them and sometimes even aggressive. Is it just the people or is it the overall assault on my senses that’s fraying my nerves? I used to say I like big cities. I may have to revise that, limit it to certain ones, or not all big cities. I could never live here for very long.
I hung out mostly in Pahar Ganj, the main market area. There’s another in Old Delhi that’s worth the visit, too, which I did. I also went to the Red Fort to get away from the crowds and lie on some grass for a while. As I came out of the fort I could hear the thunder of the traffic, like the deepest sound of a big waterfall.
Bulletwallas Motorcycle Club
I found the Bulletwallas motorcycle store in Pahar Ganj and met the owner and one of the founding members of the Bulletwallas Motorcycle Club, an American named Baloo and his wife, Laure (Italy). He agreed to look at the bike, see
Red Fort, Delhi
It was peaceful here, which gave me a much-needed rest from the manic, frantic city. what’s wrong with it and suggest a fix so that I can sell it. He directed me to the Bulletwallas repair shop and clubhouse a few streets away and I went for a look.
Pahar Ganj is an incredible maze of shops, stores and sidewalk salesmen. I’m a very neat, clean, orderly person, so how does dirty, messy, chaotic India affect me? I dislike never really feeling properly clean except for when I was in Goa and Rishikesh. Eternally dirty hands distress me more than the mess and dirt underfoot, from which I abstract myself, seeing it as India’s problem, not mine. Sometimes the chaos bugs me, particularly when driving. I should learn to embrace it and enjoy it because it’s so different from Switzerland and Canada. But I don’t find it easy and I’m nearing the end of my visit here. I’m looking forward to getting to Nepal, into the cool mountain air and some peace and quiet in nature. I expect Kathmandu to be dirty and noisy, but I’ll only be there a few days.
Ladies underwear
Took a rickshaw ride through Old Delhi, which is one way to see it, then walked back up the
Baloo of the Bulletwallas
One of the most helpful and friendly guys you'll ever meet if you're a biker in Delhi. same street. Endless shops of stationers, booksellers, sari sellers and so on. Other areas held the fruit sellers, the auto parts stores, etc. These little businesses have really not changed since medieval times in approach to doing business. Essentially a hole in the wall with goods on offer and a patient businessman. A repair shop is often just a shed with a corrugated iron roof. The street I visited was dense with pedestrians, rickshaws, shoppers, delivery boys and men, handcarts full of goods. Overhead hung a snarl of electrical wires wrapped around poles and posts.
At one point I asked directions from a bookstore. The man told me he sold books, textbooks and (sotto voce) ladies underwear. By that I think he meant porn but maybe he meant he could arrange a lady for me if I wanted one. Or, maybe he really did sell underwear, but I didn’t see the connection with textbooks.
One evening around midnight I walked back from the Bulletwallas clubhouse through fairly empty, dark streets. Many people (men only) slept outside. It seemed that in many cases they were sleeping in front of their shops, some lying on blankets, one or two on
Colour for sale.
This street was full of sari shops and was a chromatic feast. cots, others in small wagons or on rickshaws. Some were simply lying on the ground. I assumed that people closed up their shops and went home and in many cases this must be true. But in a surprising number of others it seemed not to be true. Take hotel staff as another example: often they just sleep on couches or chairs in the lobby, or on the floor in an emptied store room, or just anywhere they can make a small space for themselves. They do have homes, but often these are villages too far away to make commuting practical. Nobody bothered me as I walked, although one or two tried to sell me dope, as they do in the daytime, one begged for coins and a few simply said hello.
Random notes
There are bicycles everywhere in India but it seems there are only a handful of manufacturers: Avon, Atlas, Hercules, Hero and Leader (I wonder if the latter is a misspelling of Leander, given that Hero is a competitor). All bicycles seem to be stamped from the same mould, which we could call the Wicked Witch of the West design. Cast iron, single gear. Must be hell to ride on these roads, in this heat, dust and traffic.
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Vivien
non-member comment
Bullet wallas
So glad you had a great experience with Balu. News Flash-- he has sold his Delhi business to us , my husband and I so it is business as usual if you are coming to India and want to hire or buy a bike. We are working from the workshop at present, but you can call Chris on +91 9718647447 for directions.