Simon Warburton reports:
Conjure up just about any clich” imaginable concerning India and there”s a fighting chance you”ll find it in Delhi. A vast, sprawling metropolis bursting at the seams with 15m people, terrible, unbearable poverty sitting cheek-by-jowl with glittering five-star hotels, meandering cattle respectfully allowed to stroll on the city highways - this is the basic template that the first-time western visitor will find familiar - from received wisdom at least. But although modern Delhi is all that, it nonetheless retains enough surprises to make any visit become embedded in the memory. The Parliament building (seen here) perhaps embodies India. Extremely vast, what happens inside is something of a mystery.
Much of this comes from the Brits of course. Victoriana has left an indelible impression on the Indian capital and although sumptuous palaces of New Delhi - now the residences of both prime minister and president - take the breath away - any British visitor may well have to contend with (unfailingly polite) criticism of those imperial days.
Don”t be reluctant however, to engage in conversation even if it is of the ”What did the British ever do for us?” variety. Delhi citizens love to talk and are more than curious to know where you”re from and to tell you all about their myriad relatives in Leicester, Birmingham, Manchester or wherever. And anyone without a passing knowledge of cricket should brush up sharpish because Indians are impassioned by leather on willow - especially they are now doing battle with their nuclear power neighbour, Pakistan. The game is everywhere, from kids playing outside Delhi mosques to saturation coverage on television and radio. Cricket also offers a tempting dream for many to escape Delhi”s crushing poverty.
There is no easy way to walk out of your cocooned five-star luxury and straight into a world where young mothers in rags press their babies against car windows, begging for food. And no escaping the guilt-ridden silence either of your car”s occupants as they desperately attempt to avoid eye contact. But a nation”s current impoverishment is not the visitor”s - Brits' or otherwise - fault. India”s abject status of its poor cannot be assuaged by a dollar here and there - although it might the visitor feel temporarily better. In contrast, Delhi boasts a staggering 18 five-star hotels, that as well as playing host to the well-heeled, also attract great squadrons of taxis touting for trade - with car design rooted in 1950s Britain of course.
A word on the driving. At the risk of being labelled a western softie, there can be no city on earth, Bangkok included, where the Highway Code is so flagrantly ignored. Where two lanes are automatically three, where indicators are merely a hint of direction change, where pedestrians routinely play chicken across dual-carrigeways and where roundabouts provide organised, automotive mayhem. Indeed, Delhi”s roundabouts make Paris” Arc-de-Triomphe appear a model of French patience and order.
Buses are plentiful, cheap, crammed to the gunnels and gaudily painted, but look as if they need some smart attention from Kwik Fit - if India introduces strict exhaust laws, somebody will clean up - literally. An underground system is being built, but is some way off. But it”s by no means all negative. The fabled Indian middle class - reputedly 200m strong - is alive and well in Delhi - thronging the packed and trendy nightclubs that play an eclectic mixture of Indian and western pop and consuming luxury, imported whisky, gin and beer brands.
Getting to India is slowly - achingly slowly - becoming easier too. Virgin Atlantic is now plying the Heathrow route thrice-weekly and the carrier is reporting 75%-80% load factor. Machinery is currently the Airbus A340-300 variant in a code-share deal with Air India, who also operate Virgin ground handling at Delhi. Previously, Virgin used a Boeing 747 and although the A340-300 offers improved economics, it is nonetheless a reduction from 452 to 225 seats. Despite an Indian alcohol ban for domestic services, this is not the case for overseas flights and to that end, UK-based but Bangalore-inspired, Cobra Beer, recently launched onto Virgin with its 330ml can, while renowned London Indian restaurant, Varma is serving Indian snacks. British Airways and Air India also serve the UK market from Delhi of course and while the city is an initial assault on the senses, its passion and vibrancy, its riot of colours, noise, smell and movement, make for a trip like no other. If your final destination is somewhere else in the huge sub-continent some of the Gulf airports are now acting virtually as a hub for India with less of a hassle of plane change.
http://www.tourisminindia.com
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com