(My) Times of India: The Advantages of a Driver

(Firstly, I would like to apologize for my lack of blogs. Exams were rather stressful, so I was unable to go around Delhi and visit many sites. However, now I am free and plan to go around Delhi as much as possible and maybe even make more posts than my previously promised once a week.)

Having a driver in the U.S. sounds a little snobby. Having a driver in India seems like a no-brainer, unless of course your not aware of the traffic situation in New Delhi. I have been complaining quite a lot recently about India, mostly regarding the traffic. However, now that I have had the experience of having a driver, I fret I wont be able to go without one again. Now my complaining feels so petty, what was I complaining exactly for? Now that a driver has been invested in, life is so much simpler!

Today, with the aid of a driver, we managed to visit: Red Fort, India Gate, Qutb Minar (for the 2nd time!), and still have time for a little shopping in Khan Market. At first, I was a little skeptical about visiting Red Fort, especially since there is one in Agra and we will be visiting Agra very soon. Although, Red Fort surpassed my expectations in the most important aspects; beautiful architecture, amazing photography, a rich history. The only real downside was the amount of trash on the UNESCO World Heritage Site, but hey that's everywhere in India. I highly suggest, if anyone visits Delhi to make Red Fort on the top of their list.

India Gate is a little different. In my opinion, it looks just like that Arc de Triomphe in France, except there are a lot of Indians everywhere. Try taking a picture of your family, and school kids crowd around the photographer trying to snap pictures of their own. I mean, come on! India Gate is great, I would just suggest not going there on a weekend or during winter, since that's when it's crowded the most.

My mother and all the other people taking pictures of my family

I'll spare you my opinion of Qutb Minar, since I have already blogged a whole post on it. However, I don't think many of my readers are aware of Khan Market. Khan Market has been ranked both Delhi's and India's costliest strip market. Stores range from common brands with large showrooms such as Nike and The Body Shop to small, little known Indian shops with dirt floors. One place I always visit in Khan Market is Fabindia.

Fabindia is an India chain store, selling garments, furnishings, and fabrics all in the comfort of a large showroom with air conditioning and a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere. You could buy kurtas for half the price at Sarojini, but then you would have to face crowds (which entails pushing and shoving). The choice is yours, but I think Fabindia, though expensive, is the way to go when you want to buy Indian clothing, but still in the relaxed western atmosphere you can find at high end stores in the west.

I suppose that's all for now, I'll post about my Agra trip soon!