New Delhi, Saturday March 28

My first impression of New Delhi was as Continental Flight 82 taxied to the gate late Friday night. At Indira Ghandi International Airport, a construction site was lit and men, some in what looked like turbans and wearing long white pants and shirts, mingled on top of some big structure, brightly lit against the dark and haze with floodlights.
After exiting customs, passengers were greeted by a gauntlet of men holding up signs for arriving visitors on one side of a railing and families on the other side.
Kim saw me first, looking as regal as ever. Hugs and kisses and then we went outside, where she called her driver. Here is my next impression of New Delhi. It's a fast-moving river of traffic, bubbling with honks and beeps and toots a blares and motorbikes and bicycle and rickshaws and trucks and cars and buses all rippling in and around each other in a dusty haze.
Kim said traffic lanes and just suggestions. I don't think they are even that.
It took us about 45 minutes to get to her home. I saw a man jump off a bus in the middle of traffic and women riding sidesaddle on the backs of motorbikes (men: helmets, women: no helmets). One couple passed us, as they did, the women's white scarf unfurled, flapping. Her left arm reached back and gracefully wound it back aground her.
I knew before leaving that pollution is a huge problem. We had only been in the car a few minutes with the driver’s window slightly open before I could feel my eyes watering a bit. Out in this hazy night, there were so many people. Men by the side of the road in groups, talking, I guess. Walking bikes. Urinating. The scenery was odd. Dusty underpasses fille with what we tend as houseplants in the U.S., but all looking quite tired and thirsty.
The newspaper that Kim's husband got up and running, LiveMINT, did a study that found that Delhi gets something like 10,000 (I need to double-check this, I was so tired last night) new motorized vehicles a month added to its traffic problems. And that does not include other forms, plus the occasional elephant or camel, not to mention the sacred cows that wander in and out. Those, I have not seen yet.
Kim's home is lovely. The floors are entirely of marble, with high ceilings and ceiling fans, a beautiful curving staircase railing.
She was up super early while I was still in a fog and out for an event with her daughters. We're to meet some friends later today for a party.