Fear and Loathing in New Delhi

Some addictions are hard to let go. Take for example the life of a prince or a grad trainee aka GT of Tata Steel for that matter. This last one year that I was in Jamshedpur, I was made to think that I am at top of the world. I was treated in Jamshedpur like 'the chosen one' though there were 24 others with me. What luxury life was there! Hostel life, great friends to hang out with, mess food (I used to pester Arindam a lot on the quality of food), a deep and long 'nap' in the afternoon et all. I could not appreciate all that Tata Steel -the magnanimous org -did for me while I was there.

Today I am on my own.

New Delhi. Here everyone means business. Everyone seems to be in a rush -rush to make more money, more and more money.

First day was all fun. Met old friends, hung around and took the flavor of Metro's elephant teeth -the not so beautiful girls trying to look sexy, the huge malls, McD and KFC.

Then came the real ordeal. Get a house on rent, buy household items and travel long distances for food to start with. The word food reminds me that I should thank Arindam Chou -long live our mess secy -for the great food he managed to get us in Jam. Food in Delhi sucks unless you go to one of the costlier ones -Just Paranthas, Ethnic etc -and if you go to these on a regular basis, be ready to stay on alms for half of the month. Many of my friends have to live on burgers and pizzas for most of the time.

I had found Delhi a clean city. That was before I got to the lanes and residential areas where real Delhi is, where people of Delhi stay. It is aptly said, that elephants and capitals have different sets of teeth to show and to eat. Traffic in Delhi is very disciplined on the main road and very unruly on other roads. Most of my friends travel by metro or bus. Traffic rules are stringent and amateur bikers often get fined (500 to 1k bucks). Accidents are so common that the safety personnel of Tata Steel would get a heart attack on seeing the statistics.

TERI, Lodhi Road. The organization is cool. The complex in which my office is located also boasts of an art exhibition gallery, a huge library cum literary hotspot, ILO India headquarters and a conference hall where one gets to see new people everyday. There isn't much work in office -have been entrusted with a year long UNDP project on energy consumption in Indian Metros and I don't intend to spend more than a week or so on it (after all a Kgpian!). It still is hard to adjust to the office.Timings are from 9:30 to 5:30 with a break from 1:00 to 1:30 PM. On top of that, there aren't many luncheon options nearby. I still have to figure out how to have my food.

The movie Metro claims that the city takes more from you than it gives you. I have come here without anything but my soul and dreams. Whether the statement is right or not, only time can tell.