Leo’s mom, siblings and their families arrived in New Delhi and our annual 10-day reunion began. It was the first time most of us have been to India so the tour itinerary was designed for first-timers. The tour would cover the Golden Triangle (New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur) with a stop in Ranthambore National Park. Our tour guide for the 10-days was Rajesh, a native of New Delhi with 30 years of guiding under his belt.
Our first stop in New Delhi was to the India Gate, a monument that commemorates the Indian soldiers who died fighting for Britain from 1914 – 1919, primarily during WW1. The names of 95,000 Indian and British soldiers are inscribed on the monument. India Gate bears a strong resemblance to Paris’ Arc de Triomphe. It was constructed by the Imperial War Graves Commission. Construction took 10 years to complete from 1921 to 1931 when New Delhi became the capital of India.
India Gate is a popular area for local people to gather. Indians from other parts of the country enjoy visiting the monument. Children play and fly kites, families picnic and enjoy snacks from food stalls. The area can get very crowded, especially on weekends and holidays.
The morning that we visited was pleasant with the sunshine trying to make its way through the haze. We followed the many other visitors heading in the direction of the monument. Much like China, there are always people everywhere. Especially in the big cities, it is normal to be walking in a crowd.
Rajesh told us that the surrounding area had recently undergone a project to upgrade and modernize. I don’t know what it looked like before, but I can imagine the worst.
We were impressed with how new and clean the area looked now. An underground tunnel was built so as not to disrupt the flow of auotmobile traffic. Modern public bathrooms were added at various locations and the entire area was landscaped and beautified.
In 2022, a new statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the Indian revolutionary who fought for independence from Great Britain, was unveiled. It is a striking statue, made of black granite, that was symbolically placed in the same location that a statue of King George V once stood.
We encountered a group of men dressed in identical clothes – white tunic, red had, black and white checked scarf and sunglasses. They danced around jovially and even welcomed us to take photos of them. I looked it up afterwards and found out that they are members of the Samajwadi Party, a socialist political party based in New Delhi and with a wide following in Uttar Pradesh.
We walked around, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere, snapped a few pictures and were off to our next stop.
