गर्म पानी garm paanee

I have to admit that arriving in Delhi in January is not the easiest thing. While friends messaged me asking me about the beach and the palm trees, I was in the middle of very urban Delhi wearing 3 layers and a fleece hat (thank goodness I remembered my long underwear !) There was some sun, not a lot, and even for a Buffalonian, things felt cold. Because it gets so hot in Delhi in the summers (50s Celsius and 120s Fahrenheit), most buildings are equipped with fans and air conditioners, but not heaters.

So in the challenge to stay warm, I had to develop some strategies. Although initially concerned about drinking the water, I quickly learned that most of my friends and restaurants (and the University) served reverse osmosis filtered water (or had bottled water readily available). And a favorite beverage in the winter, in addition to chai of course, is warm water.

Hence the kettle. In my first weeks in Delhi, wherever I went — guest house, new apartment, my own office at National Law University Delhi — there was a kettle that boiled water in about 2 minutes!

The other challenge was getting hot water at a restaurant where perhaps not a lot of English was spoken . . . or if it was, showing respect for the country by at least trying to speak the national language. Although as a lawyer I had learned that English was the language of the courts and legal instruction and the second official language of India, Hindi is the primary national language. So fluency in English varied, depending on education and sometimes socio-economic class. For example, while my colleagues at National Law University Delhi spoke English with comfort and ease, I could not communicate much with the security guards, house-keeping staff, or Uber drivers. It was challenging not knowing even how to say thank you in Hindi, so I signed up for Hindi lessons.

First Hindi words: hot water — garm paanee.