The Hidden fort city of Madhya Pradesh [Awe-inspiring ORCHHA]

Do you see the sun? It almost killed me

Grilled and ready to be served- we were like mobile meat walking at 118°F under the brutal heat, zombified and mutated by the royal sun. I am starting this article with an introduction to ORCHHA’S weather because it wasn’t pleasant in the month of September, and because weather is a matter of utmost importance while traveling anywhere in India. [Best time to visit ORCHHA, heads down- November to March]

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Progress of My People

Every morning at 9AM, you can find me walking down, to the bleakness of Delhi’s undeveloped, yet surprisingly cultured alleys. We all live here in peace, except in the night when illegal construction kicks-in and plays a cacophony so surreal, that all my fragmentary dreams are lost somewhere in transit. While I walk to the nearby station for precisely 11 minutes (every dayx2), there are some peculiarities on the way, that have managed to slither into my head. I notice these details every day without fail, almost involuntarily.

 [The two huge foul-smelling dumpsters donning some fresh household dump, building a slag heap of buzzing flies; A few ancient ruins undergoing some unending construction; A very dirty “Tent-hi-Tent (wala)” tent on rent shop; A betel leaf spitting women in her mid-forties opening the shutter of her puny garment store; A vegetable vendor, thin guy with deep digging dimples; And an old beggar lady who sits near the train station making a face, so darn hard to interpret]

It’s been 9 months since I started taking the back road for walking purposes (and saved some solid cash) and only recently with the winter chill, did I discern the “Progress” in the daily lives of my people.

The dumpsters have gotten themselves sweet green covers *standing ovation to Delhi government* and the flies have no place to sit.  The construction site looks like a brand new ready-to-move apartments, done with proficient designs and finished with a huge door cum metallic mirror (for me) to look at. The “Tent-hi-Tent (wala)” tent on rent shop has polished up pretty well -you know with new white wall care putty. The betel leaf spitting woman was seen opening the shutter of this jewelry shop adjacent to hers, looks like she bought it (she’s keeping blankets and pillows there-I think I’m going to stopover and buy some). The vegetable vendor moved to a shop too, he looked bright and cozy (yayy) and last but not the least, the beggar lady has passed the reigns to her daughter who sits on her spot now(they look awfully similar, Ah. The killer expression, but I do hope the lady’s doing just fine)   

As for me, in contrary to all the progress, I resigned from my job, seeking more observations & coping with various afflictions.