But I compare Delhi on a shorter timescale and still see huge changes:) 1994, my first visit, I was overwhelmed!! 1997-2001 I saw Delhi from an Undergraduate's perspective, but even then the evolution was evident! In 2003, I couldn't even digest the many changes, and I am sure this year July would throw in many surprises. Anyways, here are/were my observations!

1) Bluelines: In 1997, drivers carried "lathis" and were crass and fought for petty reasons like # 620 overtaken by 507 and so they lost some passengers and then both buses are parked while drivers fight it out. A school bus accident changed the whole driving class and their calibre and characteristics. Lathi disappeared!

2) CNG: In 2000, the Delhi government provided us with a spate of chakka jams, empty roads, followed by long lines at CNG stations. Even finding the autos was a problem, but the persistance of the Govt paid off! Yet the air is blacker, and smogs in winter still cause delays!(though of planes for people like us flying in and out of India)

3) Jhuggis: They had mushroomed everywhere. Usually we overlook them. Once I taught a few kids there, (1999) and since then they became important for me. In 2001, the "beautification" started. My old friends were displaced, and maybe the heart of Delhi too! Our favorite Sasi's dhaba outside hostel gate disappeared too:(!

4) Flyovers: In 2003, I was almost unable to guide the driver through the labyrinth of newly made flyovers and exits you need to take. Many DDA people turned neo-rich:)!

5) Cars: In 1994, we roamed around Delhi in a borrowed Ambassador. In 1997, Marutis ruled the roads. By 2001, Hyundai and Daewoo were making appearance. In 2003, I had to ask my friends "yeh kaunsa model hai bhai"?

6) Gurgaon: It was a "gaon". In 2000, I visited that danceclub (something milestone: anyone knows that name, it had couples entry only, that too for 100 bucks then), Gurgaon was a non-existant town. In 2003, visiting my friends, I noticed they lived in better housing complexes than my working friends did in US!!

7) Cellphones: They did not exist before 1999. Walkie-talkie's that people carried during over cultural fests were a hep thing. By 2001, a fraction had them (we derided them as the "rich filth"). In 2003, they were in every pocket, from rickshawaala's to paanwaala's to kaamwaali bai's to school children!

8) Clothes on streets and on TV: This had stumped me in 2003!! People in India hadn't perceived how much this had changed as for them the change was gradual!!

9) Eating joints: Oh the entrance of McDonals, appearancce of Pizza Huts, the "decline" of Nirulas, the appearance of Dance Clubs and Bars, Barista and Cafe coffee day!

Incoming graduate students always tell me of things that I wonder at and say "hamare jamane mein Delhi mein ek multiplex hota tha. First two rows mein pehle 6 ruppees ki ticket thi, phir 10 ki hui, and final year mein 20 ki thi" "Hey which one are you talking about" I say" PVR Anupam" "Oh wahan ab front stall nahin hai, and all tickets are for 140 bucks". Then I find out most of them watched movies on their hostel computers, and I laugh to myself as I think I still hold the record for number of movies watched in halls. (uske baare mein phir kabhi)!

What has not changed: Autos charging higher, the crowds and jams, the road logging in rains, the music of Delhi: all horns, honks, shouting, slamming of doors; what hasn't changed is hopes, dreams, dishes, chaats, roadside khokhaas, unda parantha joints that open only at night, posters on walls (faces altered), gadhay yahan pat mat moot, stentch on the railway station, and

one must not forget, this is the same Delhi that has been destroyed and rebuilt seven times already!

Priya, your seventies Delhi is seen in Silsila (Amitabh-Rekha-Jaya &Yash Chopra)! Even by watching the movie I am amused!

It would be interesting to observe what more surprises Delhi has in store this summer! Since this comment is too long, I must post it as a blog:)!