A growing love affair with Delhi

It is difficult to put into words just how gorgeous Delhi is today. Considering I'm usually bashing the weather here (too hot or too cold), noise (I'm coming to grips that my hearing has, indeed, actually worsened these last four years), or pollution (my face collects a layer of grey every time I ride Tyler's motorcycle), this statement on Delhi's beauty is huge.

But it's true. 81 degrees outside, blue skies, lazy wind. One of those days you just want to be outside.

Went to a rural healthcare roundtable discussion this morning. Found myself sitting next to the president of Fortis Healthcare - really interesting hearing their foray into rural health, and the resulting tweaking of their business model. Always at these conferences, more questions come up for me than are resolved... the primary one always being a version of: How the heck will we make a dent in India's enormous healthcare challenges? One roundtable participant described the current system as though you were building a house, and invited ten architects to come and just start building their dream house. There's no coordination, collaboration, quality standards, or way to legally enforce any semblance of evidence-based guidelines. Still, I have hope, or what are we all doing here?

It was too gorgeous of a day not to just walk, after the roundtable concluded. And I'm so grateful I did! Who would've known I would stumble across the cultural side of Delhi I never knew existed? Just next door was the Alliance Francaise, which I learned not only offers french lessons, but shows french films each week. The Belgian Film Festival is currently in full swing at Lodi Estate this week, and next week there's a soul / blues concert at Magique Amphitheater at the Garden of Five Senses at Said-Ul-Ajaib (how awesome is that name?)

Then I stumbled onto INTACH, a little further down the road, which focuses on cultural and architectural preservation of historical sites around Delhi. Really cool organization, which I just recently learned does historical and architectural walking tours every Sunday of places like Lodi Gardens and excavations at Purana Qila, which is the inner citadel of Dinapanah - a city founded by the second Mughal Emperor in 1533. Turns out they have an incredible crafts store from various tribes across India, and also do public lectures (the next one, this Tuesday, is on Old Delhi and its traditions).

And that's the funny thing about Delhi! It's like this whole other layer exists, for people who are patient enough to find it. It's the complete opposite of New York, where everything is in your face, advertised on billboards and subways. Here, nothing is advertised. When I went to INTACH, there were no fliers of upcoming walks or talks. Instead, I had to sit down with my notebook as she told me the times of each tour.

No doubt about it, Delhi makes you work for her love.