Delhi is long dead. Its corpse is rotten and stinking! Delhi Dilwalonki Nahi Hai! I was travelling extensively in Delhi during the third week June 2026. What am I seeing? Crowded roads, vehicles of all types parked everywhere, pollution, dust, dead animals, garbage thrown recklessly everywhere, and many other similar things. I hated Delhi and the journey. Unfortunately, this shithole called Delhi is the capital of India!!
I had a work-related meeting near Tughlakabad – about 25 to 30 km from Delhi. I could see the ruined fort of Tughlakabad. I read in history textbooks written by people (and self-proclaimed historians of India) like Romila Thapar that the then ruler of Delhi, Mohammad bin Tughlaq, made a great mistake by shifting the capital from Delhi to Tughlakabad. People could not leave their homes, and relocate, and many other arguments presented in those text books. Another “foolish” thing committed by Tughlaq, according to Ms. Thapar, was changing the currency from gold and silver to cheaper metals. People then began minting coins at home. These reasons have forced Mohammad bin Tughlaq to shift the capital back to Delhi and change the currency!
But when I view the actions of Tughlaq in a dispassionate manner, I find them wise, futuristic, and people-centric. Shifting the capital was one such master move. He wanted probably to get away from pollution, narrow roads full of horse and elephant waste, unplanned expansion, and narrow homes, overflowing stinking drains and move toward a better capital with better living conditions. His actions were so futuristic that they could not be understood by the people of that time. Let me not elaborate this any further.
Look at this city Delhi and its present condition! It has many incurable ailments. Miserable lives. Living in Delhi is a punishment we inflict on ourselves. The so-called present-day rulers do not have any notion of curing these ills. Historians say Tughlaq was foolish. Look at our rulers! They cannot think. The idea of shifting the capital was never on their menu. How many presidents and prime ministers have we seen until now? The British had the beautiful concept of summer and winter capitals. Our rulers today seem to be born thoughtless.
Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Calcutta are long dead. The stench of defecation and death are unbearable here. Nothing can stop me from going away in search of the fragrance of life
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional. What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
