India: Exploring Delhi | DW Documentary

The only thing we know for sure about the capital of India is that it is colorful and huge. It is said that 15 million people live in and around its impressive buildings, but the real number could be 20 or even 25 million, no one knows for sure. In fact, just as they have done for centuries, Muslim magnates ruled from here and so did the British during the colonial era. Today, the city's fate is determined by Indians who are as diverse as the stories they travel. Branagh Gupta writes stories about modern Delhi titled capital. His latest book is not just about the city itself but also about the importance of money in Delhi.

Rana Das Gupta was born in Great Britain as the son of Indian parents and moved to the city of his ancestors several years ago, although he has a clearly critical view of Delhi, the spirit of the city is very harsh and aggressive, he is very paranoid and worried about threats and security, and I think the warmth of the city is directed inward, so the people are very good hosts, for example, it's a lovely place to stay in the city because the people, once who invite you to their house, they will give you everything. Rana believes that the city's apparent toughness comes from the fact that over the past few centuries.

It has been built by immigrants who established a new life here regardless of the consequences. People say that Delhi is an ancient city because they have been here for maybe fifteen hundred years, but in reality it is not an ancient city because every time new groups of people come to the city, they abandon everything that has happened until now. that time and they build a city of Ganados right next door and then they loot the old city for stones and everything and build again. The British did what the Mughals did, what everyone has done. done that and even now with Goregaon which is the shiny new tower city of corporations and in fact in Delhi you can take a trip back in time every day, bustling old daily lies in the north of the city, then There is New Delhi with its many splendid buildings. and the government offices located in the far south are the suburbs of noida and gore gone, which are also home to millions of people and impress the visitor with their high-tech architecture.

This is the side of Delhi, the creative, glamorous and beautiful side of Delhi when working. The day has ended and the temperature has dropped below 40 degrees. People head to the city's parks and lakes. This artificial lake in the trendy car-house district is particularly popular. The water is too dirty to swim in but the lake is perfect for a walk and after a walk he walks away from the lake shore and into the fray in Hamburg they head to the shunter and in Munich they head to Schwabe here in Delhi the Partiers head to Howard's car town with its countless restaurants and music clubs.

This is the epicenter of the capital's nightlife, but on this particular night it's not the turntables that are the focus, but a group of poets. participating in Delhi's first youth poetry competition. A poetry contest is a kind of contest for poets that lasts each performance. a few minutes and it is always extremely personal, the upper age limit for participants is 25 years and with gratitude for the belief that was instilled in me until that day, my friend, do not give up in this fight because your dream is true every time Even if you encounter a setback, I remembered Alvin, we believe in you and the dream, we want to bring young people into the movement, so we want to talk about the personal and the political, we want to bring young people to bring all their voices and perform in front of small audiences. community that speaks in a chaotic city like Delhi I wish when Cupid hit his arrow and love came to touch the poem this woman wrote is about the risk of falling in love she would like Cupid's arrows to carry a warning but since they don't fall love continues being dangerous, there are other ways too, you don't always have to be sincere, however, now that I'm here, please be careful here, the poem is presented as a song with a guitar complement, painful lines about love and life, what else? but not all poets focus on the intimate and the everyday, so we talk about gay rights, feminism, gender plays a very important role in slam poetry, so you will see that we have artists who talk about how you know What it is to be a woman in India.

Being a North East Indian in a city is discriminatory. This poet is not even Indian. She comes from Tibet. She doesn't really feel at home anywhere and now she overcomes her frustration with poetry. Come. I'm a pseudo-girl. I do not have the same spirit of pure Tibetan blood, India has seeped into my soul. The elders called them Sandra but they are silently offended. The young people are a little more creative when choosing words for those who were not born in India but on the streets of the city. I am another, the audience applauds enthusiastically every time they then head to other clubs where the evening has not yet ended, for example to one where presentations are also held, although in a totally different way.

Welcome to the daily death festival. Death metal is a particularly violent form of hard rock the base is extra heavy the vocals are extra deep and the lyrics extra somber but in no way the mood could be described as apocalyptic abroad it's more like a lifestyle you will have older people like the Gila people in the sixties and fifties. I also go to metal shows, whereas in India, once they start working, you know, once they have real jobs and get married, they kind of abandon metal, you know, then metal doesn't exist as a style. of life, a death party as a fun event, that's how everything is.

He also sees things. He was born in Hamburg, but India has been his home for a long time. As a side job, he sells records and fan merchandise. I came here when I was 17 years old. What I can tell you about India is that underground life is metal. always on the other hand India also has its problems and many of the children and even people over 50 also need metal music to distance themselves from the mainstream within the explosion continues but only until midnight, otherwise the neighbors will complain, This is the right place for those who like things quieter and more classical.

A dance performance in a theater in Delhi. Many of the spectators are here for a particular reason. Your friends or family of the dancer of the night. This will be her first. important appearance after a long period of training, naturally, his trainer is Also the classical arts present were never for the public, they were always for the elite and for the recognized ones who were educators like opera and ballet, all this modern music, contemporary dance, salsa, any tango and all that, they come and go, but the classical arts, the traditional arts never die. They are like a piece of gold our goal never goes out of fashion or loses Sheen known as Kuchipudi this dance form comes from southern India but the story that the dancer tells with her body is universal it is about the conflict between good and evil and the hope of world peace salvation through beauty this place is a mix of classical culture and modern consumerism the Kingdom of Dreams in the suburb of Gorgon is an entertainment center with an artificial scarlet color and below a boulevard where They can visit all the regions of India in quick succession in one day anyone who is tired of walking can sit back and enjoy a touch of Bollywood the dance interlude however is just an appetizer for the main attraction the dream that many Indians e even non-Indians love to feed especially the The dream of Bollywood has more than a hundred.

The dream characters, of course, are made of flesh and blood. Some of them have performed at Zangara more than a thousand times. Zhang Gorda is the story of a prince who has to choose between two women, one a princess and the other. Another one, a rebel initially, he was not an actor, he was a cricketer, so when I joined this field, I think I started with mimicry and all you always know means that Bollywood movies always inspired me in the way they They made their movies and all the emotions were highly dramatic until today. during the day I'm motivated by those movies I love theater actually in front of a camera I feel like I'm blocked but I love the stage I love being on stage I love the energy on stage I love the The fact that we only have one here you know everything is life, even if you make a mistake you have to live with it, so that's very challenging and I love the setting.

I love getting closer to the public. It's best that you don't do it. You don't have to understand Hindi to understand this show because it's self explanatory, you know exactly what's happening, it's simplistic in a story but it's just amazing in the way it's presented so you don't even need to have your headphones. o you don't need subtitles or any type of translator, you will simply enjoy because you will be able to see Bollywood life, so, in true Bollywood style, the show lasts almost three hours, the cast and dance scene and there is a happy ending for celebrate.

Torn between two women, the prince gets what he wants, first the love of the rebel and then the princess's hand in marriage, the public is happy after all, the atmosphere in and around Delhi is so crude that dreams at least They should be sweet and soft. from the realm of dreams to the ultra-harsh and often unfair reality to one of Delhi's many slums home to those who cannot afford the ever-increasing cost of renting a home, most of them came to Delhi from faraway places at a time when cheap labor was in great demand demand since then many have become unemployed some of my neighbors have been living here for 20 years there is no electricity or running water or toilets so we live without any purpose and without no kind of comfort like many here Kranti hoped that she and her husband and children would be able to move into a suitable house, but she gave up that dream.

How are we supposed to move to a bigger house if we have no income? My husband can't find a job anywhere. We have no future. Roshni's husband. The neighbor is also out of work, the whole family lives off what she earns as a cleaner, about 2 euros a day. I just hope that my children can escape poverty. Many times, we have thought about how we could get out of poverty, but since we can't do it, we don't have it. relatives who can take us in, we have to stay here, but luxury is nearby, located just around the corner, in fact, it is the most luxurious commercial temple in Delhi, here the running water literally shoots into the air and this again is the another side of the social.

It coins a poor neighborhood where water is scarce despite the large amount of rain that falls in the monsoon season, as rainwater mixes with dirt. It's full of germs here and not safe to drink. You won't find any water pipes here, only water stations where every now and then a truck stops with a water tank at the moment although there is none in sight every day we have to fight for some water we can get two or three boats per family that is nothing and there are no wells here we complain and complain but nothing happens while they wait here, a truck arrives at another water station, people immediately rush and get as much water as they can because no one knows when will the next delivery be, we get water here every one to two weeks ie.

It's not frequent enough, so we have to go look for it elsewhere and that's difficult, especially for women. One resident told us that criminal gangs benefit from water scarcity. Some gang members have taken control of a public water tank near here and are selling the water illegally. for people who don't even live here an hour later the other end of the slum is a hive of activity a truck with a full water tank has finally arrived not only in Delhi for hundreds of millions of people across India who live of boats talking with their mouths, so to speak, is the rule because many settlements do not even exist officially, they multiply without any functioning administration.

Experts are calling on the government to take action, so what the government needs to consider is to strengthen its distribution system, if not through networks, if not through pipeline networks, it can create bulk storage points and at from there allow people to create their own user groups; However, there is no solution in sight and the time-consuming procurement of water remains the fate of the poor, how can they do it? or their children ever escape absolute poverty when they waste many hours every day going to get it the water situation is terrible the water takes forever to arrive and when it arrives there is chaos the children have to help to be able to attend the school fights break out and the police have to intervene it's crazy the women then take their boats home the family's water needs are covered fortoday tomorrow they will have to ask again to know where water is available for free here there is plenty of water but it is unpleasant Through Delhi flows the Yamuna, the second largest tributary of the Ganges, which for many Indians is a sacred river.

The Yamuna is probably the most polluted river in the world. Hundreds of millions of liters of waste are dumped into it every day, farmers who grow their fruits and vegetables along the banks of the river are very concerned because the river is completely polluted. The main culprits are the factories that just dumped their waste into it. You cannot grow it with contaminated water. It is a health risk. He said we use dirty water. water but that is not true we irrigate our fields with well water that we filter first we even drink the water and we are healthy there are very few water treatment plants the only hope is that at least the groundwater is not toxic and can be used to prepare the food, if I cook with water from the river, my children get sick, so we avoid the river and only use water from the well, but one environmental expert believes that farmers who grow their vegetables here are wrong to think they are safe, so even If we drink groundwater there will be some filtration but it is not a complete prevention and you will find the same levels of toxins and that also has dangerous consequences for those who consume vegetables, since this is in the body, it is in the body of the vegetable, you cannot wash it, There is almost nothing you can do.

In this regard, cadmium affects the kidneys and, similarly, other chemicals can be endocrine disruptors, they have long-term intergenerational impacts, they can also cause cancer, people who buy in the numerous markets have little idea of ​​the risks, nor They don't even know where the product comes from. They think that it is enough to just clean it by hand, but that is wrong. I wash the vegetables well before cooking them. I know they contain a lot of contaminants that can make you sick, so I clean them carefully. The Indian government promised years ago to clean the Ganges and its tributaries, but so far little has been done.

Although many Indians worship the Ganges as a goddess, it still seems that few people are bothered by the fact that this divine river looks like more to a sewer, but there is also another way to deal. with garbage, a creative one, in fact, here art is produced from scrap metal, rusty containers are adorned with graffiti, even artists from Europe participate and discover that what is decrepit and chaotic fuels their creativity. You get to see a part of India that not many people get to see. so we experienced something very raw, very raw, very ghetto. I have never seen so much diversity in my entire life.

I have never experienced a country where there are 27 different official languages ​​and thousands of guards. This mural is dedicated not to a deity but to a The national idol of all places Mahatma Gandhi, the peace activist, adorns the façade of the police headquarters. The portrait of him was painted many years ago by a German. He marked the birth of Delhi's street art movement. He also gives some kind of hope to the people and to this. community that is generally very neglected and stuff like that, they're like these kids who can't get enough of seeing world-class international art in their neighborhood, just amazing, there's art everywhere, he says, artists from all over the world come here, it's great and in all likelihood they will continue to come because in Delhi there are still countless containers that can be decorated and endless shoddy facades.

If there are protests over environmental pollution and injustice anywhere in Delhi, then this is the most likely place at first glance. everything seems so relaxed and apolitical an oasis in the heart of a congested metropolis of more than 15 million inhabitants this is JNU an elite university many of its 8,000 students as well as a large number of its professors come from the lower social classes , so it is no surprise that ideologically JNU leans left, struggle slogans and revolutionary icons adorn the walls at a time when students are turning against the Indian government and its Hindu nationalist policies.

We oppose the government's economic policies. We oppose government policies. In the way a politics of hate, a politics of communalism and caste injustice is pursued, that is what we are, it is something we oppose and have raised our voice repeatedly. Things were getting really bad, so I mean there were a lot of conversations to have with The parents were also scared and didn't want us to take strong positions because everyone was targeting the students one by one from that ministry to the police, even the universities. Outside India also sympathized, so we believe it is a very strong Mis record. movement that includes many young people, many young people, many like-minded people together.

The movement is led by the man who sparked the protests. Kanhaiya Kumar is the leader of the All India Students Federation after attending a demonstration against the execution of a Kashmiri separatist he was charged with sedition and arrested Kumar was released on bail and is now criticizing the government's democracy this fight It is for social justice in the University and in other places it is about saving democracy in our country Asadi SRD freedom freedom the students are at least able to express their protest without interference the security forces are nowhere to be seen the protests are of somehow part of daily life after all, there are many grievances that need to be addressed, especially in the important public sector of healthcare, once again Delhi is under a blanket of smog the problem is particularly serious in the cold season of the year people are coughing complaining of headaches and saying their eyes are burning their ribs are getting sick because of the ambient air quality that has decreased, I mean it has decreased to such a level that people here can't breathe since Four or five days ago the situation is unbearable, this dirt is dangerous and toxic, sometimes the levels of fine particles exceed a thousand, that is, 40 times more than the threshold value established by the World Health Organization, the tiny particles enter the bloodstream and lungs increase the risk of cancer and stroke.

The main culprits are diesel vehicles and countless fires on the streets and our major holidays like Diwali, the festival of lights and fireworks, add to the problem. Experts call for a sustainable policy to combat smog. There should be zero tolerance for waste burning and the dust and pollution that occurs in our construction activity, but at the same time we need to expand the transportation system so that the increasing dependence on personal vehicles can be reduced, but the situation It won't get better. Smoke-related illnesses will quickly become more common. Anyone who falls ill in Delhi or anywhere else in India and wants the best possible treatment but cannot afford it, likes to come here with a name almost as long as the waiting list of patients.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, is known for Shorter's objectives. Treatment here is free so even those who cannot afford health insurance and that applies to most people in India can come here and be treated by the best doctors one of them is trauma specialist Dr Amit Gupta, who is also the spokesperson of M hospital, says that it is an institution where everyone wants to come, even for trivial problems, they would like to come and get treatment, whose main objective is quality of care, the general public has faith in it, in the sense that you can say we are victims of our own excellence, you know, but you're right, we are struggling with the patient load and the numbers and we would like others to hospitals would also take on the burden of targeting and therefore the Indian government is deciding to do more targeting as institutions in India, outside their offices there are crowd scenes that you would normally associate with a sporting event, but in what As far as these people are concerned, there is much more involved, several patients have just arrived and are waiting for their first diagnostic appointment, others have already done so. have been diagnosed and have returned to begin their treatment the waiting period can be up to two years some of the people here accompany married couples parents and children who are sick while treatment is administered live on site some of them wait in He come with my daughter from the east from Bihar.

My daughter has serious problems with her bladder, but she couldn't afford to have it treated, so we came here to get the best treatment. I have a kidney problem. I came here a month ago. she does but I didn't want to wait to get all the tests done so I went back to my town but my situation deteriorated that's why I came back however I haven't been able to go to bed so I'll have to. Let's see how it goes. I live 500 kilometers away. I have problems with my kidneys and liver. I have already been to many hospitals and since none of them could help me, they sent me here a month ago to do tests.

I am waiting for a diagnosis. My husband has been receiving treatment for the past six years. He has laryngeal cancer. The treatment here really helps you. It's not easy to get an appointment except in an emergency, but new things move quickly. Still I am. satisfied unlike basic accommodation the system here is very modern patients can register on the computers they receive the login details and are then assigned the next available appointment most patients are very grateful but not all this girl has tuberculosis his father is furious he waits and waits but nothing happens first he was supposed to have a blood test and then a hearing test suddenly we were also expected to pay but for the treatment but for the laboratory it costs 500 rupees about 14 euros but I I don't have that kind of money in Delhi things look totally different for people who have no financial worries, as a rule, they don't resort to goals, but one of the many private hospitals that has come out of its anesthesia feels like a new person his mother is with.

She a short time ago Rosy was still called Michael and looked like that now she has the body she has wanted since childhood to be honest with you I have always been a woman and from birth to 10 years old everyone thought a few hours ago that in England where lives, the operation would have cost him about 50,000 euros. He or she will pay only one tenth of that amount to this specialist doctor. Koscheck is a cosmetic surgeon who specializes in sex reassignment operations. Here he is talking to another patient. The procedures are. Very, very affordable compared to Western countries and even in Thailand, and this is specifically that every patient always looks for quality, service and safety, both, if we combine the highest quality and affordability possible in India, I think.

If this is becoming number one now, once a bourgeois-looking grandfather, Dale, from the United States, has transformed almost unrecognizable into the flamboyant Betty, they have to spend several years undergoing hormone therapy, psychological evaluation and all of that before you can even try to have surgery because you have to have a letter from a psychotic ayah twist and a psychologist to be able to show up to the clinic. I feel wonderfull. I feel great. There is no outward indication that this small private clinic is where people can change their sex in India, that is. something that would find disapproval officially, transsexuals are treated with tolerance, they are recognized as a third sex, but this human rights activist, a transsexual, says that there is a lot of discrimination, we are so hypocritical that we see, you know, if some stranger is doing something.

If it's right, wrong or whatever, according to our perception, it's fine, we give it time to take care of it, but our family shouldn't do anything because we have all our own prejudices. Rosie, who will soon return to England, does not have that problem that she has. full support from her mother I love you mom she says over and over again thank you for supporting me on my journey even when it takes me to India our next story takes us out of Delhi to sail gaya in eastern India it was here 2,500 years ago where the Buddha was It is said that even today thousands of people come here in search of inspiration and health for body and soul, but anyone who is seriously ill and perhaps also poor is in a really poor situation.

The local hospital, outdated and overcrowded, is typical of those in the region. In total, for every 10,000 patients there is approximately one hospital bed and one doctor with often dubious qualifications, at least that is what farmer Joe Dooley ADIF, who has been living for months in a village 20 kilometers away and suffering from headaches, believes. stomach and fever attacks he is now preparing to see a doctor the man is an expert but lives far away in the capital Delhi Jaggu and his mother is excited it is great to know thatI will talk to a real specialist, I am sure he will prescribe something that will help me nitu a neighbor of yours will also go for a consultation she has chronic pain in her wrists jadoo has also told me that the consultation will only cost a year Oh fifty something until the Poor people in the countryside can afford it.

There is no doctor in our town and those in the neighboring town are not good, however, that is where a telemedicine center was opened not long ago. Djaro and Neto are walking the five kilometers to get there, although each step is painful for him. A thousand kilometers to the west, on the outskirts of Delhi, numerous high-tech companies have set up shop. Dr Avnish Gautam works at a health center that offers online consultations for poor regions. His services are subsidized by the State. F Nisha and his colleagues are aware of the limitations. of technology and they can often only scratch the surface with their remote diagnosis, honestly speaking this is a bit complicated sometimes and since they inform you that the patient is in front of you, you can just examine whatever you want, whatever you have . your doubts, but when he is not in front of you and you can just see him, he is not sitting there, so sometimes it is a little difficult, everything is ready for the virtual consultation, all that is needed now is the patients themselves , Jarre don'.

It is not necessary to have arrived in the neighboring town, they pass by the local doctor's office, the only thing they see of him are his feet, but anyway they would prefer to do without his services. However, the entry into the telemedicine center does not look very promising either. silicon cyber cafe as it is known offers various digital services including access to telemedicine, its operators are trying to establish a connection with

delhi

if doctors don't go to villages, villages have to go to doctors, What is the best of all doctors? They are available 24/7, all you need is an internet connection, but despite the help of a technician, it takes half an hour to establish the link and the query takes us back a long time because sometimes there is no sound and then picture using his mobile phone because the computer the microphone does not work the doctor asks Joe if he sometimes feels nauseous Joe Joe says yes, sometimes he has to vomit this has a very bright future as provided thereThere are some improvements in the connectivities and there are no different internet problems in India but the future looks quite bright to me.

Djaro would have liked to talk more with the doctor, but in the meantime he warned that there are more patients waiting for him to finish. Now it's Nietzsche's turn this time. The internet link is perfect. Dr. Avnish prescribes an ointment and assures him that he will soon stop feeling pain. I think it's a real step forward this way I can talk to a specialist who will recommend the right treatment at the pharmacy. Across the garden road and kneels to present the prescriptions they just printed they wait but don't get what they want I will be available at mire I only have in stock what local doctors prescribe, you may have cough medicine and aspirin.

You will have to go to the city to get the prescribed medicine, maybe you will get lucky there, so they will have to go all the way to board Gaya, after all, to the city of the Buddha Pichardo and kneel on the way to the beautiful world digital is longer and more complicated than they thought. In Delhi, anyone who wants to share a beer with friends and drink for their health has many places to choose from, such as the beer cafe. The owner of this modern pub explained to us what makes beer so popular especially among young people who consume it all over the world in India the Indian beer market is 11% the good news here is that you have a lot of room for maneuver where the biggest growth that is occurring in any liquor sector is in the beer that this restaurant specializes in.

German beer and the beer served here complies with Germany's old purity decree, but German beers are better because they have the essence and the barley grown in Germany is completely different from what we have in India. Water in Germany probably plays a much better role in the production of beers in Germany than in India, it is easily palatable with the German foods we serve, the fact that beer is becoming more and more popular in Delhi is something appropriate because, in its own way, the capital - is something of a drink for some tastes and souls, sometimes it is a bit bitter and, in its own way, Delhi definitely intoxicates you.