The Curried Life: Manju-ka-tilla

[The entrance]

My friends and I had been talking about going to the Tibetan refugee area of Delhi for quite some time, so last weekend we finally decided to make the trek. I say "trek" because Manju-ka-tilla (the name of the neighborhood) is about an hour away from where we live, way in the north of the city. You get there via a looong metro ride, and then a heart-pounding autorickshaw ride in which the autowallh, to save himself from going around the long way, challenges traffic by going the wrong-way on a highway. (Swear to god, Delhi auto drivers must all be adrenaline junkies). But we made it there safe and sound.

North Delhi is quite a poor and destitute area of the city, so I was pleasantly surprised to find Manju-la-tilla pretty well kept up. In fact, once you enter the gates it really feels a bit like you've left Delhi because, for one thing, the Tibetans look quite different than Delhiwallahs. (I suspect Tibetans don't look much different than northern Indians, but I can confirm this after I've gone to Leh in 2 weeks). The little area in which the Tibetans live is cleaner than its surrounding environs and has truly lovely central square area, bounded on two sides by Buddhist temples, where everyone seems to hang out.

[The main square]

[A temple facade]

It is also a bit of a touristy area which surprised me some given how far it is from central Delhi and how many other spotlighted attractions there are in Delhi. Usually I hate going to the touristy parts of Delhi because I think the people there are much more likely to hassle you, but in Manju-la-tilla I wonder if the touristy aspect hasn't helped prettified the area--there was a central shopping lane with niceish stores and restaurants lining it.

[Central shopping alley)

Now, maybe this is also a cultural difference between India and Tibet, or maybe it is just unique to this particular refugee area, but one of the things I loved about Manju-la-tilla is that no one hassled me at all. When I was looking at a street vendor's wears the vendor would just sit quietly--not trying to upsell me on anything--and then offer a fair, fixed price--which was usually marked on the item. I didn't even try to bargain because I was so pleased not to be hassled and to find items with price-tags on them. (And yes, folks, that is how I ended up with a new AWESOME pair of Tibetan shorts with a built-in fanny pack. It doesn't get much better than that).

[My amazing new pants with built in fanny pack!]

[The monastery]

[Inside the temple]

The food was also amazing, needless to say. We ordered some fresh-made chilli noodle soup thing from a street vendor sitting at the edge of the square (one big bowl, about USD $0.40) and some delicious spinach momos and potatos momos from a restaurant a chatty old lady recommended us to. Granted, it took the restaurant about an hour to produce the momos, but they were well worth the wait.