#11 _”Eh, where is your hotel?”
“It’s not mine!”
Blogs about India are full of explanations and stories about Paharganj. It’s crowded and very popular district next to New-Delhi Railway Station. It was reconstructed 5-6 years ago, but when I saw it in first time, I think, it was Golden Age of Paharganj. It’s huge area, full of everything, you can find or need in this world. It is not exaggeration. Hotels, shops, cafes, restaurants, shops, shops, shops! Gold and spices, clothes and stones, street food, fruits, people, tourists, rikshaws around, creating so charismatic, so “Indian” scenery! Smells of India! I think, the book can be written about it! If you tried it once, you ll never forget! Spirit of thousand- year history mixed with smell of manure, spices and dust, smells of selling textile or leather goods, cooking street food…. Wet hot climate makes each ingredient of this smelling symphony so expressive!
One of my Moscow friends recommended me Krishna guest house. Probably it was area, where Lord Krishna’s devotees live. We found “Hare Rama”, “Hare Krishna”, “Lord Krishna”, “Rama”, but no “Krishna”. The real problem was a lot of “helpers”. Just we asked about place, they said, “Ok, go with me my friends, I ll bring you there. I know this guest house”. But, as yesterday, they brought us to different place, expecting reward from hotel owner.
We walked among streets of Paharganj, like lost in mystical labyrinth. We didn’t feel hunger, thirst, or tiredness… We didn’t talk to each other. Probably each of us was immersing in this new reality…
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