Delhi, India
so far all the sight-seeing has been in New Delhi.... well, you can hardly call this sight-seeing, since all we had been doing upto this time was to go to malls, hang out, eat, and watch movies.... but there's that really old part of the City which identifies Delhi has been out of our schedules all along.... in comes Caesar.... an old frield who's been living at Gurgaon.... he comes to give that badly needed push....
it was hardly 2 minutes' decision-making that took us to Delhi Metro.... we were heading for the old part of the City.... and what time to enter the Metro!!.... we automatically boarded the train; didn't even have to move.... the rush was on, and its not always your choice when you end up in a particular place!!.... but we lived and disembarked alive!!.... its a great system, mind you.... the system has reduced Delhi's traffic jams to virtually nothing!!....
the Old Delhi was a real surprise for me.... not because it was something extraordinary, but because it is so similar to our Old Dhaka.... someone could take a photo there and tell others that he has taken it in Old Dhaka.... only the language got changed.... signboards are different.... and some of the roads are comparatively wider than what we see in Bangladesh....
we dined at Karim's and made that wish fulfilled!!.... I've heard so much about this eatry that going back without tasking it would've been a crime.... and yes, it surely is a taste to remember.... there are words of National Geographic and the BBC printed on the door as a publicity stunt!!.... why wouldn't they?.... the place is ont the map as one of the places to see in Delhi....
in front of the Jama Mosque of Delhi, something familiar captured my attention.... security!!.... everywhere I went in Delhi, they had me put through the scanners.... God help!!... if I continue to get such radition all throughout my life, I'm probably gonna end up looking like the radiation workers at Chernobyl.... anyway, the security situation is not comfortable here, which was predictable, I think... so much has happened to India; lives changed forever....
it was evening already; so, there was no way we could have a look at the inside of the old monument.... we rather decided to skirt it.... a bit of look around brought us in front of a big open-air market... the market sold what not products at bargain price.... its wasn't the busiest time of the year, which was obvious, since this is predminantly a Musilm area.... and the place becomes teeming with people during the Ramadan....
we couldn't visit the red fort because of our odd timing.... so, we rather went to India Gate.... the big monument was brilliantly lit up to 10:00PM and everyone seemed to be taking photos at their heart's content..... I was able to see the monument everyday on my way to and from office.... but wasn't able to stop by... at least, until now.... again, thanks to my old frield Caesar....
even though it was well into the night, there were thousands of people roaming around the place.... a warm day of summer is supposed to attract a big crowd at an open place like this.... and its one of the most recognisable monuments of India, thus, a very good hang-out place..... the spotlights on the monument just died at 10:00PM.... yet, we saw a lotta people still reaching that place...
during the whole evening, from Old Delhi to New Delhi, I was using the D700.... it was the first time I used the D700 that much inside Delhi.... I had to confine myself to the LX-5 mostly....
more to come from Delhi....
