‘Delhi is a force of humanity, have to see it to believe it’: Malta High Commissioner on living in Capital

Excerpts:

What is the one place in the city that you love to visit often?

I like Old Delhi. I like gardens — Lodhi Garden, Nehru Park, and Hauz Khas District Park. I also like to visit Humayun’s Tomb every now and then, and even the Qutub Minar since it’s so close to our embassy. It is very difficult to name just one place. Delhi has become home for me now, and when a place becomes home, it’s very difficult to pick the better room. I also love Akshardham Temple…I think it speaks to you.

What are the three things that stood out during your stay in Delhi?

The street vendors… They tell stories with their presence. You’ve never lived in a place unless you’ve gone out walking and unless you’ve tried to use the public transport. Now, here in India, obviously, they don’t expect the High Commissioners and ambassadors to do that sort of thing. But sometimes, you know, I like to go out… walk and take a Metro.

Another thing that stands out is that even as there is a lot of traffic, you don’t see a lot of road rage. People honk all the time, but that’s about it. That is something which I appreciate. In my country, Malta, people are very, very sensitive. So, if you honk at them, they can be offended, and in the worst case, we can have road rage.

Another thing which I like is the Hindu temples. And sometimes you see bands playing outside. The festive nature of the city is something that amuses me. The Hindu temples remind me of our churches… Malta is Catholic. Obviously, they’re different religions, but in the end, the spirituality is the same.

Favourite food in the city?

I love Indian cuisine. But it took me five years to realise that it’s very heavy and it fills you up. I like Biryani, mutton gravy and naan. In fact, I’ve gained weight, thanks to these food items. Something which I miss from Malta is the Maltese bread. Now, the naan is totally different but when done right, it tastes so great.

What will you miss about Delhi when you bid goodbye to the city?

I will miss my staff here at the High Commission. And the people in general. You rarely meet an aggressive Indian. Usually, people here are gentle. I would miss the greenery a lot. I will miss the way Delhi looks. The nightlife here is very interesting, as are the markets.

If you have to introduce Delhi to someone back home, how would you do it?

Sometimes friends come to visit me here and I like to see their first reaction to Delhi. Recently, a friend visited me and told me that Delhi is like another planet. And this person has been around the world quite a lot.

I would say that you see the power of humanity here in the city. I mean, after all, India is one sixth of humanity. I would say Delhi is a force of humanity. You have to see it to believe it. Especially, for people from my country and others who come from a small country, the differences can be felt even more. I mean the Maltese population is half a million. Delhi is 30 million and India is 1.4 billion.

How is Delhi different from the other places where you have worked?

I have served in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Istanbul, among other places. I’ve also travelled to almost all states in India. Jerusalem and Ramallah are definitely smaller — used to remind me a lot of my country. Istanbul is nearer to Delhi in the sense they both have a lot of traffic.

But I have to say, Delhi is more hectic. Within the city, just going a few kilometres away sometimes takes an hour. The same distance I can travel on a Sunday in just 20 minutes. That’s the effect of traffic. But I feel like other places have it worse. When I come to Delhi from Dhaka, I feel like it has relatively less traffic.

Any suggestions you would like to give to the administrators to make the city better?

Now, coming from Malta, which is a small country, whenever I try to give some advice, Ministers tell me you can’t draw a comparison. They are right…I have to be very, very cautious when I give advice. The only thing is maybe that it would be better if people learned how not to throw litter on the road. Obviously, that comes through two things – education and strict fines. In Malta, it used to happen in the past. Although to be fair, I see, notices and all against littering on the streets so the administration is definitely cognizant. To enforce law in a city of 30 million is a gargantuan task.

Does pollution bother you? How do you deal with that?

As you can see, we have air purifiers in the High Commission…we have them at home as well. When I arrived in 2020 on September 13, the world was witnessing a pandemic. There were a lot of problems but pollution was less. After five years, I think we’ve grown used to it now.Even the government, rightly so, tries to reduce cars to control the pollution.

To have a country of 1.4 billion and expect that they will pollute less than, say, the whole European Union, which has a population of half a billion… I do see the point that Indians per capita create less pollution and environmental harm. We keep being told this by Indian authorities and I totally agree with them.

And to be fair, pollution is not just an Indian problem, you know, every country has its own problems with pollution. I also know that the administrators of Delhi are trying their best.

Any memories here that you’ll never forget?

I get to meet a lot of people. People here are very friendly. I feel it when I’m attending high-end receptions, which I attend a lot.

But even in the streets, you know, now to be fair, people want to make friends with you. A thing that has really struck me is that when I’m walking in gardens, people come to us and they want to take photos with us. But this happens not just in Delhi. When they see foreigners, people just come —- ‘May I have a photo with you?’