I have decided over the past few weeks of observation that Delhi is a village...a village of 14 million residents. Why do I say this?
Here are some signs: people build small campfires on the sidewalks, in parks, on the roadside, wherever they happen to be, then squat beside them to keep warm; women walk through parks, campuses, and undeveloped land to gather dead branches for heating and cooking, carrying them back to their homesites on top of their heads; charcoal and wood are common forms of fuel, used for a street-side ironing stall, cooking popcorn on snack wagons, and selling warms snacks in the park;
small 1-2 story brick buildings are built completely by hand, with no tools beyond a trowel and a ladder made of tree limbs lashed together; animals of all sorts roam wherever they wish--cows, goats, pigs, dogs; dried cow manure, shaped into cowpies the size of hubcaps, are used as fuel--after they've been left to dry along a fence on a road or highway; small clusters of tents and improvised homes are set up on medians and alongside roads, each a small society of its own; women cook over campfires; children collect water in plastic jugs and carry them back to their settlements; public spaces are used for bathing (clothed), toothbrushing, and shaving; barefooted and bare-bottomed toddlers run around freely, under the care of 4 or 5 older siblings.
Here are some signs: people build small campfires on the sidewalks, in parks, on the roadside, wherever they happen to be, then squat beside them to keep warm; women walk through parks, campuses, and undeveloped land to gather dead branches for heating and cooking, carrying them back to their homesites on top of their heads; charcoal and wood are common forms of fuel, used for a street-side ironing stall, cooking popcorn on snack wagons, and selling warms snacks in the park;
small 1-2 story brick buildings are built completely by hand, with no tools beyond a trowel and a ladder made of tree limbs lashed together; animals of all sorts roam wherever they wish--cows, goats, pigs, dogs; dried cow manure, shaped into cowpies the size of hubcaps, are used as fuel--after they've been left to dry along a fence on a road or highway; small clusters of tents and improvised homes are set up on medians and alongside roads, each a small society of its own; women cook over campfires; children collect water in plastic jugs and carry them back to their settlements; public spaces are used for bathing (clothed), toothbrushing, and shaving; barefooted and bare-bottomed toddlers run around freely, under the care of 4 or 5 older siblings.
All of these daily sights, seen here, there and everywhere in Delhi tell me that it is, in a sense, an overgrown village.
1 comment:
You're making me want to leave the Holy Land for a sojourn in India. The pictures and stories are wonderful!
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