iglidur on tour-Welcome to New Delhi
Sascha, igligur’s very own driver, shares the start of his all around the world tour.
‘To be honest I do not even know where to start. I have only been here four days but have already experienced more than I can summarize in a blog entry!
Let’s start with the flight.
Actually, everything went fantastic until we were on the way to the airport in New Delhi. What I thought were normal clouds, was in reality a mixture of smog and fog that lay over the whole city and buried everything underneath. I recently just read that the air pollution in New Delhi is even worse than Beijing. The smoke, smog, fog was so dense that I though I was sitting right next to it, the wings I could no longer see. What is an inconvenience for me, was a big problem for the pilot. After the third attempt, he broke off the landing and flew to Mumbai.
After a short recharge (1.5 hours to Mumbai and then 1.5 hours back to New Delhi) I finally arrived in the city, seven hours late, which was so incredibly strange.
How can you take a first impression and describe it fully in one word? I would say that the best way to describe it is “intense”. If you leave the quiet, insular airport hall, the first thing you perceive is a significant amount of taxis. Everyone is trying to outdo the other and to lure you in. I chose one of the many taxis and began a ride that I will look back upon as a mixture between fun and looking death in the eye, switching back and forth. I had the impression that my taxi driver was driving without any system. Everyone seemed to be driving so fast no matter how small the spaces were. The Road Traffic Act seemed to me to play a subordinate role, with drivers permanently honking while driving. I am sure that when I reflect upon my time in New Delhi, the whole honking scenario is definitely going to be the first thing think of. Horns can be heard actually constantly to at any time, whether morning, noon, evening or night. A few days after my first taxi ride I had the theory that the horns are the reason why I have not seen any accidents. You honk when you drive into a road when you overtake a car or when you see that someone comes too close.
When I finally arrived, after what felt like an eternity, at the hotel I went straight to my bed. The next day I set out to explore the city in which I will live for the next two weeks. My Indian colleague: Nitin, picked me up at the hotel and showed me a few sights. What prevails life on Delhi’s roads I found really impressive. Above all, the peaceful coexistence between extreme opposites, e.g. between rich and poor has fascinated me. Here there are high-tech shops next to hawkers, stray dogs and cows next to modern skyscrapers and cars sometimes in addition to very exotic means of transport such as elephants.
I would love to tell you more about the city, such as where to eat but I have not had time to explore the past couple of days. The last two days we spent at customs in order to free iglidur ® from the shackles of Indian bureaucracy. I have never waited so long in my life for a few signatures. While Monday was probably “Happy customs day” and none of the officials felt responsible for us. After waiting seven hours, we were good to go. Nevertheless, the wait was worth it!
Next time I’ll tell you more about the liberation of iglidur ® and also where there is a connection between our car and a flock of sheep. Strange but true. :).
Until next time.
Your Sascha
