How Delhi Became My Home: A Personal Journey

Living in Delhi for 7 years and adopting 4 dogs?

If someone told me that in 2011, a year before I came for the first time, I would’ve called them mad, western-oriented as I was back then. Pagal ho kya? UK, US absolutely! But India or Asia in general, impossible! The four dogs though, that would have been easy to believe anywhere.

It started how most stories start: with a breakup. A breakup plus a scholarship to India, a dangerous combination! And all that combined with a love story. Call Bollywood! Although I have to disappoint you a bit with the last part. No Shah Rukh Khan singing in front of my window, no running through fields in a saree or dancing on top of a mountain. Not even a happy ending, that took 7 years to happen with a Goan (see here how my time in Delhi ended 😉 ).

I’d never even thought of India till I became friends with an Indology student during my studies. Seeing the pictures of her travels really made me want to go there. When I then heard about this DAAD scholarship, I was like “A paid vacation with a bit of studying? Done, where can I apply?”. And since stipends for India are not exactly overrun and hard to get, it only cost me a semester of preparation by taking a few Indology classes. I could sometimes still kick my own butt for not taking the Hindi classes! But who would’ve known that I’d actually need it…

So there I was, getting all excited about India when a month before the big day my long-term boyfriend decided to break up with me. Still heartbroken, I left and dived right into this madness. I loved it from the first second. The crazy ride from the airport to the apartment I’d rented, the cabby driving way too fast, my luggage thrown on top of the cab, with me at every curve being convinced that NOW it’ll definitely fall down. The insane traffic, uncountable people, dogs, and cows on the street, some weeks later even an elephant and the occasional camel. The colors, the smells, the noises…

I remember crossing the main road for the first time like a frightened and headless chicken. Buying these ridiculous harem pants in which you can be identified as a clueless tourist in a split second. Having no clue what to eat, what’s too spicy and what’s not (at that time I was not at all eager to try new and unknown things and also couldn’t stomach spices that easily). No orientation whatsoever, being fooled daily by auto-walas till I had finally figured out the actual prices. Not to mention my non-existing bargaining skills (some called me a blessing for the Indian economy).

It was a bit like being thrown into an adventure.

After a couple of weeks, the classic case of summer love happened. “Met a boy cute as can be… tell me more, tell me more, shoo-bop bop.” You know the drill.

All of a sudden, the ex was forgotten, and the wish to come back after my studies was born. Looking back now, I find it just too funny. Having a crush on this one person (who I, by the way, didn’t even end up dating nor hardly ever met again) changed everything for me. If it wasn’t for this, I’d gone back home, gotten back with my ex and most likely I would’ve lived the standard German life. I almost feel sorry, imagining my parents reading this, thinking of going back in time, ready to shoot the guy to prevent this from happening.

After I came back, I had to do one more semester to finish my studies. My mind was fully set on India. During a class, I got to know about this NGO, Magic Bus India Foundation, and applied for an internship in their communications department. A couple of weeks later, I got the confirmation and it was decided.

I never thought I’d end up staying though. I thought I’d be here for six months for this internship and that’s it. That maybe I’d do my masters afterward or look for a job in Germany.

But why did I start loving it so much?

First of all, the internship turned out to be the best job I’ve ever had (including the well-paid one I found after a few years), the team was amazing and I found one great friend there who also became my first Hindi teacher. I loved the work so much that I really wanted to stay longer and tried to figure out ways to make it happen.

Secondly, I found Luke and Chewie – my first two dogs – in the very first month I moved to Delhi and ended up adopting them after only two months (that’s a story for itself though). Taking both of them to Germany would’ve been very difficult and most of all, expensive. What would I have done with these two energetic pups who were determined to destroy everything I owned while I was at work?

This leads me to the maybe even biggest (and most practical) reason why India has been and still is the best country for me for the time being: Labour is cheap and I’m lazy. Dogs need attention and I need to go to work. Dishes don’t do themselves and Delhi is too dusty for a vacuum cleaner.
Here, I can easily afford a full-time caretaker who also walks the dogs and takes care of them when I’m not at home. This means I can still travel and don’t have to worry too much. Try that in Europe! (Sorry for sounding like a British colonist here.)
Not to mention how cheap the general living expenses are, e.g. when it comes to grocery shopping.

Sure, I don’t even want to start counting all the cons, starting with pollution, the often very crappy infrastructure, etc. The kind of issues I have in my house, which I never even knew existed back in Germany… The insane weather (at least in Delhi): incredible heat in summers, almost touching the 50°C, the streets flooded during Monsoon, and unbearable humidity, worse even than the heat…

But let’s not even get there, I know all of it and still decided to stay.

Slowly, slowly the possibility of leaving this country became more and more unrealistic and got postponed to the distant future. I adopted two more dogs over the course of time, found a good job, and set up a lovely home for myself. And most of all, thanks to the amazing people I’ve met during the last couple of years and who I wouldn’t want to miss for anything in the world, this is what India became to me: Home.

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