After my dad finalized his trip to India this past December, I decided I wanted to explore Old Delhi with him—partially because we had done this once before when I was in high school, and secondly because I liked the idea of sharing a nerdy, fieldwork day with him—the changing landscape of Old Delhi for him, the contemporary Delhi Metro (and our mode of transportation) for me.

Note: Initially drafted in November 2017 when I still lived in this neighborhood

Before I moved to San Francisco, I was confiding some of my pre-move jitters to a close friend in Los Angeles. In an attempt to console me, he told me about his theory that it takes about three months to adjust to any new place. I'm pretty sure I scoffed at the time, most likely thinking that three months is SO LONG, but as a surprise to no one, it actually isn't. 

For most of my time since arriving in Delhi, and even as I prepared for my trip, I've thought a lot about how to navigate feeling safe in Delhi and throughout India. I've thought about this through the lens of my identities as a woman, an American, an Indian-American, short-haired, iPhone user...the list goes on.

I managed to get out of Delhi for a bit after a jam-packed few days celebrating my cousin brother’s wedding and spending the week prior in Mumbai. I was off to Bengaluru (Bangalore) for Carnegie India’s Global Technology Summit, followed by a few days by the beach in Goa. Life is hard, I know.

Growing up visiting India, I've developed several opinions on things I like and dislike about South Asia. Many of these thoughts on topics ranging from religious, cultural, political and otherwise, have evolved over time. However, one perspective that may never change is my dislike of the common house gecko, called chipkali in Hindi, or korkirli in Punjabi.