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Public Holidays
Date
2003 Occasion
January 1 New Year's Day*
January 26 Republic Day**
February 14 Eid Al Adha*
February 17 Vasant Panchami/Sri Panchami*
March 1 Maha Shivaratri*
March 5 Muharram
March 18 Holi*
April 11 Sri Rama
Navami*
April 14 Baisakhi,
Vishu/Bahag, Mesadi, Maghi*
April 15 Mahavir
Jayanthi*
April 18 Good
Friday*
May 14 Milad
un Nabi or Eid ul Milad (The Prophet's Birthday)
May 16
Buddha Purnima
August 12 Raksha Bandhan*
August 15 Independence Day**
August 20 Krishna Janamashti or
Janmastami*
August 31 Ganesh
Chaturthi/Vinayaka Chaturthi*
October 2 Mahatma Gandhi's
Birthday**
October 5 Dassera
October 25 Diwali (Deepavali)
November 19 Guru Nanak's Birthday*
November 26 Eid ul Fitr*
December 25 Christmas Day*
Festivals and holidays differ in
different regions. Hindu and Muslim festivals are scheduled according to the lunar
calendar and don’t fall on the same day every Gregorian year.
*Restricted holidays - Given at the discretion of the organization/employer.
**National Holidays
Weekend: Sunday
Health & Safety
Health
The entire Indian sub-continent has the same health hazards so one line of defence should
cover you on all territories. The major risks to your health from the armies of mosquitoes
are malaria, encephalitis, kala azar and dengue. Cover your arms and legs; be liberal with the repellent and in
problem areas sleep under a mosquito net. Traveller’s diarrhoea is another running
problem and year after year traveller after traveller gets the ‘loosies’. Ensure
it’s nothing nastier by avoiding green salads, uncooked food, and water that you
haven’t sanitised by dropping an iodine pill into.
Slightly more serious is the risk of contacting AIDS, Hepatitis B and
other sexually transmitted diseases. For your sake and the sake of the people you’re
visiting always use a condom. Have safe responsible sex. Also carry sunscreen with minimum
SPF 20 to escape sunburn.
The quality of health services is amongst the best in India in
New Delhi which has plenty of good hospitals, 24-hour chemists, highly competent
doctors and top of the line medical services. Medicines are fairly cheap in India and
chemist shops in Delhi are well stocked but it is always a good idea to take along
prescription drugs.
Travellers from yellow fever areas are required to have an inoculation certificate. Prior
inoculation for poliomyelitis is recommended.
Safety
Delhi is a safe travel destination. Cases of mugging, theft and worse aren’t
completely unheard of but by and large serious crimes against travellers are few and far
between. But it is always wise to be on one's guard in a foreign country/strange place and
to be aware, alert and sharp eyed.
Basic precautions:
- Keep your money and travel documents close to your body (perhaps in a pouch slung around
your neck, tucked out of sight under your shirt),
- Keep several photocopies of your passport, insurance, travellers’ cheques etc.
scattered through your luggage,
- Do not use a waist pouch, it may as well be a transparent plastic bag: it’s that
fragile and that obvious!
- Do not put all your money in one place.
- Be extremely alert in the dark. One of the things that protect travellers to India is
the vast crowds in any place. The multitudes however, disappear into their homes at night,
and you go from having a huge thick safety quilt to a flimsy sheet! Try your best to be in
a familiar area when it gets dark. If you are not, at least know how you can get to that
area from wherever it is that you happen to be.
- Many women travellers wear the long tunic and loose pyjama dress of Indian women called
the salwar-kameez and find that it substantially dissuades unwanted male attention.
- If you are travelling alone, do not advertise it.
If you lose your passport lodge, a First Information Report at the local
police station and contact your embassy.
Weights and measures
India uses the Metric system where
100cm=1meter; 1000meters=1km, liquids are measured in litres and solids in kilograms.
Electricity
220 volts, 50 hertz is the frequency at which electricity is available WHEN it is! Power
cuts and ‘load shedding’ is a regular feature in Delhi, especially in the
summers. Another reason for visiting in the colder months would be that not only do
power cuts become fewer but you’ll also feel the pain of them less! If your electric
razor has flat-pin plug then carry a combination plug that will feed into a round-pin
socket: across the sub continent plug point sockets are round rather than flat.
Customs & Duties
If you are above 17 years you may
import the following in without attracting duty:
200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 grams of tobacco, a litre of alcoholic drink, 250 ml
perfume, gifts up to a value of Rupees 750 (foreign passport holders), gifts up to a value
of Rupees 6000 (Indian passport holders) and articles of personal use.
It is illegal to bring in drugs, gold and silver bullion, plants and coins
that have gone out of use.
Post & Communications
There are post offices throughout the city. Speedpost services are available to 74
countries, and can be booked at 36 centres in the city. The main poste restante is at the
GPO on the roundabout of Ashoka Road and Baba Kharak Singh Marg. Also at the Foreign Post
Office (C/o The Postmaster), Bhai Bir Singh Marg. Packets should be marked Poste Restante,
New Delhi 110001 and you should carry your passport to collect the mail.
The Central Telegraph Office is at
Eastern Court, Janpath (24 hours). Also at Nehru Place and the airport. Overseas
Communication Service via telex or telephone is available 24 hours at Bangla Sahib Road.
There are fax services at 25 Telegraph office, which also receive messages. The entire
city has private STD booths and e-mail – internet services.
Country code for India: 0091. Code for Delhi-011. When calling from overseas omit the zero
in the city code.
Tipping
It is customary to tip 10% of the bill
at restaurants, but you may tip less if service charges have been included in the bill. At
hotels tip 10 bucks to the bellhop, the same to the doorman ‘durban’; if the
service is particularly good, substantially more to the concierge and housekeeping.
Black and yellow cab drivers do not expect to be tipped. The opposite is true if you have
a hired a cab for a long period. You’ll find some of the most friendly and colourful
service at tiny nondescript roadside stalls called ‘dhabas’. A small tip, even
if it is only loose change, will be appreciated tremendously.
English Language Media
In Delhi, it is never going to be
difficult to find an English language newspaper. All the major dailies, and there are many
in this country where the fourth estate is independent and strong, have multiple editions
with at least one from every region and one on the net. There are two major weekly
newsmagazines and both are easily available at kiosks all over. Even international fashion
glossies have an edition coming out of India now though these are available only in the
bigger cities. The major dailies with Delhi editions include the old stalwarts, The Times
of India, Hindustan Times, Statesman and the Indian Express and newer players namely The
Asian Age and the Pioneer. All the big media houses also bring out business papers -
Business Standard and The Economic Times are just two of many that can be bought fron
vendors in Delhi.
Cable TV has reaped a rich harvest. BBC World Service and CNN beam the
latest news; ESPN and Star Sports keep you up to date with how your club is (or is not)
thrashing its rivals in UEFA; and Star (elsewhere known as Sky) beams an entire stable of
entertainment channels.
The more widely accessible national channel too has some English programmes, and a daily
English news segment.
FM in Delhi means Music like in the rest of the world. BBC World Service and Voice of
America can also be heard over the radio.
Recommended Reading
City of Djinns by William Dalrymple
Delhi by Khushwant Singh |
