Culture & Entertainment

Entertainment

Delhi and Mumbai are very different from the rest of India. There is a lot of western influence on leisure activities, eating, drinking etc. Both cities now publish a 'Time Out' magazine and there is plenty to do and see in your leisure time. There are several night clubs and bars in the city alongside excellent restaurants of every type of cuisine.

Multiplex cinemas are now showing English language Hollywood movies alongside the wonderful colour, glitz and glamour of Bollywood films. Going to an Indian cinema is an experience in itself as you will often find people dancing in the aisles to their favorite Bollywood hit!

Culturally there are regular programmes at the India Habitat Centre and the India International Centre in South Delhi most of which are usually free as they are subsidized by the Government.

There are many places that teach Yoga or try out Bollywood Dancing, a must for anyone staying in India for a while! So if you have always fancied learning a new skill on your gap year, the GapGuru Local Coordinator will certainly be able to help you arrange this.

Festivals & Culture

India has over 1,000 regional festivals a year and the North has its fair share. September and October find the streets lit up with huge portraits of the Hindu Gods and the temples are full of people 24 hours a day.

Particularly good months are October and November with Durga Puja and Diwali.

Late October or early November is Diwali, the Festival of Lights. It seems every household, however poor, buys a box of fireworks on this day and sets them off from dusk until midnight. Go to the tallest building and watch at night for the most spectacular fireworks show you will ever see!

Holi is held around Easter time and is a great traditional family festival. Powder paints of every colour are daubed on faces and clothes in celebration of killing a demon god. Usually the festivities get out of hand and can end with buckets of paint being poured over people or balloons full of paint thrown between apartments! Even the poor old cows don't escape and can wander around with pink horns and nose for weeks afterwards.

Food

There are many different types of cuisine in India due to its location on the spice routes between east and west. There are influences from Turkey, Lebanon and Afghanistan also China and the asia pacific region with Japanese food becoming very popular in the cities. In Delhi you will find a number of lounge bars offering all of these different dishes on the same menu, you will also find a growing number of Sushi bars – expensive but wonderful!

Food in the North and South of the country is very different. There are more Muslims in the north of India and therefore more non-vegetarians but in the South Hindus are in the majority and every restaurant or café is vegetarian unless it says ‘Non-Veg’ on the outside. Another way to differentiate is whether the meal comes with bread or rice. Generally breads, naan, chapatti, paratha etc are served in the north whereas rice is the staple in the south.

Most people worry about the chilli factor when coming to India. It is very easy to ask in a restaurant or café for little or no chilli at all as most preparations are made fresh. However this cannot be guaranteed and we suggest you try a tiny bit first just in case!

It’s worth coming to India for the food alone, the variety of both veg and non-veg, different rices and breads makes you realise what we don’t get back home! You can eat in any price range from street food at around 20 rupees (25p) for a meal or 800 rupees (£10) for a champagne brunch at a 5 star hotel!

Email this page

Click on the Cities for more information

New Delhi

Live Weather
from weather.com

New Delhi Weather Forecast, India

More about New Delhi Weather
Delhi has a semi-arid climate with high variation between summer and winter temperatures. Summers are long, from early April to October, with the monsoon season in between. During the summer season, the city faces extreme power and water shortages. The summer heat waves kill dozens each year. Winter starts in November and peaks in January and is notorious for its heavy fog, which often disrupts road, air and rail traffic.