I take pride in the fact that I stay in Delhi, the Capital of second most populous country in the world, India. The alley of power and influence in the form of Parliament of India is situated in the city and so is the apex judicial body, the Supreme Court of India. The most important legislators including the Prime Minister of India alongwith his Cabinet, the President of India and highly distinguished officers reside here. But with the sense of pride, I do get pestered when I get stranded in long traffic snarls and get perturbed with pollution level of the city and the even odd arrangement related to cars. However, that is part and parcel of every Delhi denizen and with all such shortcomings which will one day be tackled, we still love this historical city. But a few days back, I got into state of perplexity when a Russian friend of mine, Roman who is visiting India asked me the places he may explore in Delhi. I keep repeating the phrase Saadi Dilli and what he asked me was straight and simple question and expected informative reply from my end as I always boast that I am breathing in this beautiful city since I was year-and-a-half old. But frankly stating, though hesitatingly, I could only remember a couple of names of the places worth visiting. I felt a bit ashamed but decided something really quickly and embarked on an exciting journey of exploring the city alongwith Roman and what I experienced were varied shades which left me stunned ever-excited. 

We first planned to explore the monuments and structures with rich history and saga behind and the places that we visited were The Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb, Qutub Minar, Parliament of India, Rashtrapati Bhawan, India Gate, Jantar Mantar, Raj Ghat, Purana Qila, Gandhi Smriti, Raj Ghat, National Rail Museum, Agrasen ki Baoli, Feroz Shah Kotla, National Science Centre, Iron Pillar, Teen Murti Bhawan, Coronation Park, Jawaharlal Nehru and Dhyan Chand National Stadiums and several others. Allow my keyboard to breathe and recollect the memories as each place has its own beauty, significance and inspiration behind. 

But, till now, I only named the structures with historical importance attached. There are myriad shrines which have religious sentiments of people attached. Some of these shrines are Akshardham, Hanuman Temple, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Kalka Mandir, Lotus Temple, Jama Masjid, Fatehpuri Masjid, Sri Digambar Jain Lal Mandir, Yogmaya Temple, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Jamali Kamali Mosque, Nizamuddin Dargah, Laxminarayan Temple, ISKCON and many more. What more you will explore is the fact that dual facets of Delhi co-exist i.e. Old Delhi which exhibits traditional and original face of the city with narrow and ever-crowded alleys and it includes areas like Darya Ganj, Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazaar and New Delhi which has broad roads, modernity in every bit, huge shopping complexes including Select City Walk, DLF Promenade and several others.

There is so much more to talk about and discuss at length but what I cannot dare not to explain is about some beautiful gardens and food outlet hubs. You shall visit Mughal Garden which will leave you spellbound with variety of blooming flowers of rare species, Hauz Khas Garden, Lodi Gardens, Garden of Five Senses and a lot more including National Zoological Park and Children’s Park. Delhi residents are real food lovers and everyone visiting Delhi may get immersed in different flavours and cuisines. Delhi has food outlet of every possible cuisine I know of. Where Hauz Khas village has some incredible food joints serving international cuisines with similar taste, Paranthe Wali Gali in Chandni Chowk will provide you with real taste of North Indian food. There are several other food outlets that serve Indian food which can leave you with one thing i.e. gulping down even the tiniest morsel. Every season in Delhi has its own beauty and you can admire the city in its new version with changing weather.

I am planning to take the next trip soon. Would you care to join ?