a glimpse of india

What would you say if someone asks you: wanna join me and visit Delhi for 72 hours

It didn’t take long for me to say ‘yes’!

I have always admired the colorful architecture, beautiful landscapes and interesting faces in the pictures of photographers like Steve McCurry, Pie Aerts, Dan Tom and Joe Greer. But I never really felt the urge to go myself because of all the bad stories you hear about the country. It’s dirty, noisy, it’s overcrowded, the food is great indeed but yeah, you’re definitely gonna get some food poisoning… It was also supposed to be bloody hot these three days: 40 degrees Celsius with the annotation in my app ‘Feels like 50’. Not something to look forward to in a city with twice the population of my home country. Stop whining: this was the perfect opportunity for me to get a taste of India and see if this visit would spark some enthusiasm to come back one day. To go short: it sure did.

As you can not do or see everything in just three days you have to make choices. The first day we decided to hang around the hotel and relax for a bit. We did take a stroll through Hauz Khas Village as that was close to our hotel: an artsy area with galeries – great for souvenir shopping – and fancy rooftop bars next to a 13th century fortress and water tank.

DAY 2

As the Taj Mahal is ‘just’ a five hour drive away, that had to be on my list for sure. So the second day we left in the middle of the night to get there before sunrise. But by the time we got there she was already climbing the horizon. And the first visitors of the day already had entered the premises.

But still, the beauty of this building remains out of this world. The soft morning light that shines through the hazy clouds creates this dreamy atmosphere. And the colorful clothing of the local women pop out in front of all that white marble. And don’t get me started on the symmetry.

This was definitely a morning for the books.

DAY 3

For the last day, I reached out to Jaidev from Delhi Photo Tour for a visit to Old Delhi. After strolling down the narrow streets with him for just a few minutes, I knew this was a good call. Without him I would have been lost in this maze of alleys. But also, I would have never learned a bit more about Indian culture and tasted some local street food. But above all, I would have never taken the shots that I brought home with me now.⁠

Blessed with so many impressions, smells, sounds and pictures, I already had to pack my bag for the flight home.

Did this visit take away all of these bias stories I was told: no, not all of them. But is it a reason never to come here again? For sure no. I only got to experience such a tiny tidbit of this huge country.

India, I will be back one day!

May 2022