Back to Crazy

After our first full day in Delhi I am slowly getting adjusted back to the kind of craziness, noise and smells that we experienced in Kolkata. The rest days in Varanasi have been quickly forgotten. Delhi is the capital city and trade capital of India and this has been clearly evident during our time here so far. You would not believe how many street vendors have become my "friend" almost instantly after I have taken one small glance at their shop; I'm sure it has nothing to do with their sales technique. Our trip to the New Zealand High Commisssion this morning was awesome and it was interesting talking to Ankit who told us about how he got into his university course. Apparently a minimum of 250,000 applicants sit the entance tests of which the top 1% are selected for interviews. He said that you need to get upwards of 98%. Then these 2500 are interviewed and cut to the 400 that can take the course. It makes you "appreciate" the New Zealand university system which as Ben Toogood and I explained to Ankit, "is basically just rock up and do it". The visit to the slum project in the afternoon was also an unforgettable experience even without venturing into the slums themselves. Right now I'm just sitting in one of the many internet cafes in this area trying to explain that the burning wires visible from the computer next to me are not safe and being told otherwise by the shady man behind the desk not even looking - classic India.

George Helsby