India is the soul of a material world and an early morning taxi ride from Indira Ghandi International Airport into New Delhi confirms this. Muezzin call on Muslims to pray, churches and temples dot the route. Holy cows steer unsteadily down the road, blessed monkeys throw fruit at cars, camel carts rumble along and there is a painted elephant tied up cowboy-style on the street, sweeping discarded vegetables into its mouth with its trunk. In the clean blue sky above, vultures wheel and glide searching for death.
The morning light reveals the whole spectrum of colors, which are intense, even psychedelic. Children without shoes play cricket in the parks and men dress in white flannels for their games. Tiny, scarred women in dust-coated saris offer up their children to the windows of cars asking for alms. The roadsides are crowded with vendors offering a bewildering range of foods, textiles and other goods. The taxi driver has an orange tilak on his forehead and a host of miniature gods swinging from the roof of his vehicle. He waits patiently for the buffalo to be driven off the street and stops to ask you to feed the monkeys.
India is said to be on the verge of massive economic expansion, with an economic growth rate of around 7 percent in the last few years. It is expected by some analysts to rival China as the world's next financial powerhouse. Construction is evident everywhere in the capital city and a mass rapid transport system is being developed, often using human labor instead of heavy-duty mechanical equipment. The smart sections of town, like Connaught Place, are being spruced up. Gleaming new offices are being constructed and US sports shops sell lifestyles to the well-off.
It is an amazing and often jarring coexistence of man and animal, a clash of metropolis and nature, old and new, business against tradition, religion versus progress. It is chaotic and seems ungovernable. This is one of the attractions of India and also the reason why it provides such a strong cultural shock for visitors. But how long the country can continue in such a bipolar way is moot.
Change is in the air, and as part of India's transformation Delhi authorities are clearing the city of its approximately 35,000 cows. New highways are being laid and the infrastructure needed to bring India up to par in the league of developed nations is being built. Now is a good time to visit the country and view some of the sights that have been part of its history for millennia, but may disappear in the coming decades.
Delhi is the drop-off and starting point for most travelers to India. It's worth looking around, though some avoid the place if they can because of the trash, hassle and chaos. This is a mistake. You can find tranquility if you need it in parks or temple areas, and there are plenty of popular and cultural attractions. There are backpacker areas in the old city, where there is cheap accommodation and plenty of shops and alleys to explore.
Britain's colonial mark is evident in the center of the city. The 42m-high India Gate looks down on the Kingsway, a wide avenue that leads to the president's estate and is flanked by a park. There is also the circular Indian parliament building nearby (that looks as though it has seen better days) and the foundation stones of New Delhi at the secretariat buildings, laid by King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. The National Museum is a little shabby, perhaps, but is enlightening with its collection from the Harappan period, an Indus Valley civilization that was as advanced as early Egyptian and Chinese societies 5,000 years ago.
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