Dizzying Delhi

I can't imagine that there is anything in the world that can quite prepare you for Delhi. And, after completing my third full day here, I can hardly say that I have acclimatized. This city is life exagerrated. Hypercolour, hyperspeed, hypersmell, hyperstimulus. I am both enthralled and beaten down. I find myself vacilating between extremes. Some elements are so surreal that I feel as if I may be on drugs. I find myself wondering if the malaria pills are making me mad after all. Other aspects of this place are cripplingly beautiful. There is a rawness that both defies and perfectly exemplifies humanity. I am struggling and coasting. I go through some motions so detached, pretending that I am not affected by the myriad of smells (many of which are rather unpleasant), the mind-blowing poverty (mass population living in the streets), the utter lack of personal space, and the general chaos that leaves me wondering how it is that this place does not simply implode? Then, I find myself unable to sleep at night. With the frenetic energy of the day bouncing around my head. When I close my eyes I see the lines of people huddling around fires in the street, begging for food, sleeping in dirt, struggling. I see the cows wandering. Am reminded of the many times where I risked my life by simply crossing the road. I am overstimulated. I am exhausted. I am enthralled. Everything I once thought to be true has been called into question. And small glimses of calm and quiet are so fleeting that it almost seems as if I may never encounter them again. A moment of awareness is so instantly followed by the blasting of a (or is it a million?) horns. Yes, nothing can quite prepare one for dizzying Delhi.