Namaste and greetings from Delhi.

We have survived another day. It is wild here, people are living on the edge everywhere, you see a shadow, then it moves only to find that it is someone sleeping in the darkness. Delhi smells, the ammonia from gentlemens toilets fills the air at any intersection or area where there is something to urinate against. It is dirty, dusty, noisy, there is litter everywhere, imagine if nobody used the bin at home and you threw all of your waste into the streets.... Cows wander around the streets, blending with rickshaws, pedestrians, cars and buses, you learn to cross the road by stepping out into the traffic and merging with it. There is no space. There were pavements once, they are now unrepaired, dilapidated, distant tales of British influence that are now decaying with the filth in the streets yet somehow there is also an impression that the streets have also been reclaimed again by the masses. People are getting by using whatever means they have access to, these vary from trading in something as small as a few nuts, making popcorn, samosas, shining shoes or conning tourists into market areas to earn commission. There are children begging, some are genuine, some are sent out by their parents, even the locals cannot tell who is genuine and who is not, money is to be made in any which way it can. Not all of Delhi is like this, when you move away from the more touristy areas, Connaught place and Paharganj, it seems to mellow a little. Moving into the South of the city to visit the dentist today gave a different perspective, buildings are more regal, better maintained, people are more civilised. There is a definate gap between the affluent and those that are poor, being poor here is very harsh, being poor here means living on the breadline....... There are dogs with scabs and sores, people with scabs and sores, they both equally scavenge.

Travelling on the Metro - It is new, modern and clean, people wear polished shoes, are neatly groomed and are fashionable. How vastly different to those that travel above ground that wear the cheap open toed sandals. The Metro represents India's modernisation but it is obvious not everybody is being taken along with it.

One thing that strikes me is the determination that people have to survive. People must come to this city because they have dreams, dreams can build great things but this needs to be helped along with some opportunity... it is apparent that there is inequality in this.

We have just escaped from the hustle of the centre, it is refreshing to be in this Tibetan enclave, I feel as though we are cheating a little because it seems far less Indian than everything else so far and we have come here to see India. I will confirm whether this is accurate or not in the future :-)