delhi... again

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well one brilliant and v v exciting thing happened in chandigarh!!! but it was not down to chandigarh's credit. shortly after i got back from the internet i popped on the tv in my room, to some generic bollywood music channel. when... yes! fame and fortune WILL be mine! there was a trailer for the movie we were in in mumbai! whoot! there's no way you can see me in itor anything, but you can see the scene we shot and one especially annoying routine that it took Karina about a million takes to get right.

it's a bit deal, it's just out in cinemas and THE movie of the season, i think. well it IS the beloved Karina. it's called "We Are Family" i suggest you try looking up to see if the trailer is on youtube.

might have to wait before it out in the UK though.

anyway, now i am in Delhi again. it's a double edged sword. on the one hand, after 5 months in India and characterless Chandigarh in particular, i now love Delhi! it's very easy to hate, but now i am staying in the grimiest, noisiest, most chaotic area (Paharganj) and it's fab! i just love the atmosphere, it must've been not so much different in medieval times. really, there isn't even a road, just piles of rubble forming approximations of tracks and alleyways. and this is right in the centre close the new delhi train station.

however, it is making me very sad to be in delhi, it reminds me so much of my first days here, how much time i had ahead of me. it's so hard when i meet other travellers who've just arrived and are excitingly planning their trip... argh....


not doing sooo well with buses recently, this time, i simply had no idea which bus station i had arrived in delhi, it seems there are plenty. so it left me in a poor negotiating position with the rickshaw wallahs. and i mean there is plenty of attention. all the taxi drivers, rickshaw-wallahs, porters etc saw me before i even got off the bus so i had a crowd waiting. people always love to help foreigners, partly cos they might get paid a bit more but partly i am sure just cos it is interesting.

and i think i must give off a slightly different aura now... one of the standard questions people ask is "first time india?" but now they ask it different, as if they are not necessarily expecting me to say yes. the rickshaw driver today even in the end said "not first time india? been before". i am quite proud actually!

one guy who helped me find the hotel (down a teeny alleyway that i would never have noticed) recognised that i had a northern english accent! it turns out he has a cousin in Sheffield - on Abbeydale Road! how funny.


so one day to go. not sure yet whether i will try to cram in some sightseeing around delhi, or just relax (as much as is possible in this city) and mooch (as much as is possible...etc) about.

no more buses. no more trains. no where else to go expect home......

sigh.....

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