Recommend a Neighbourhood..

skinnylatte

Hi,

I'm a 22 year old Chinese girl from Singapore. I'll be coming to Delhi for 3 months between June and August (I know it'll be HOT..) to do some freelance journalism work as well as to enrol myself in intensive hindi lessons. Can someone recommend me a neighbourhood so I can look out for it when hunting for property? Nothing too posh, nothing too derelict either. Something around 7000-10000 Rs should be good; safety for single female foreigner should be a priority.

Indojingai

If you have any acquaintance in Delhi, find a place close to them. Even if the neighbourhood is not so safe that will be a bigger insurance.
Otherwise, there's the YW(M)CA/ hostels etc that I guess have already been good or bad marked on this forum.

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capt_mahajan

If you do have a trusted acquaintance in Delhi, I would suggest you look for recommended paying guest options too.

ranjan154

South delhi would be preferable as it is much cleaner and places like R K puram or Munirka you may find lots of students and gud accomodation also..

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skinnylatte

Thanks everyone..

I haven't spent much time in Delhi, though I've spent plenty of time around other parts of India. Fairly used to India — and with somewhat functional knowledge of Hindi — I actually do get by pretending to be from the Northeast, i.e. Arunachal. Or people just think I'm Nepali and ignore me. So I don't attract too much attention, generally. Should I be worried about Delhi, then? I mean, everyone makes Delhi out to sound like a big bad city!

capt_mahajan

Dunno where else you have been in India, but young women travelling alone attract more unwanted attention in Delhi than in all other major cities. Fact of life. Even Indian women.

There is a fair amount of opinion on Delhi and women on IM, which you must have read. Some of it is quite useful.

Not being paranoid. All I am saying is, be more careful in Delhi than some other places in India, is all.

Re your earlier question on accomodation, it would be better to stay within easy distance of wherever you may be enrolling for the Hindi lessons.

jyotirmoy

Like any big busy city commuting is a hassle in Delhi so as Captn says it is better to live as close to your place of work/study as possible. Where do you intend to persue your Hindi lessons?
June to August is the worst climate in Delhi, heat, dust and then humidity. In my opinion you should go for a furnished room with aircon preferably as a paying guest so that you don't have to bother about cooking or eating out daily.
Try areas like Maharani Bagh, Defence colony.

alok_verma27

you can also think about Mukharjeenagar or kingsway camp area. this is the area which is close to delhi university and many studenst from north eastern part of india stay.
The Munirka or Ber srai is not that much cleaner.These are the villages now became part of the delhi city as it grew horizontally.... though many students from north eastern part of india stay there also.

rangichangi

not sure if you're still looking for a place...but here's input from a single woman who's spent a few months living in delhi. i've found it to be a very tame city. i think you also get the experience of contrast when you leave delhi for smaller cities/towns and then come back. if you only stay in delhi, sure, it may seem like a 'hassle', but i've actually found my perception of said hassle has changed significantly over the months. in general, i go around everywhere, dressed in western clothes, and really never get bothered. maybe it is because i am of the mature age of 31? i don't know!

ok, as for neighborhoods, i really can't help out that much. i live in defence colony and i find it to be ideal for lone women. i feel VERY safe here--and the market is great. but you'd really have to haggle hard to find an apartment for the price you're looking for. the paying guest option is viable, but, again, really don't know anything about it.

on the other hand, i know people who live in lajpat nagar, which is just adjacent to defence colony. you'll find rent runs about half of what you'd find in def col, though things are bit more run-down.

the best advice i could give you, though, is to get a personal recommendation from someone you know living in delhi. it makes all the difference in the world to have a leasing agent's number in hand, with a recommendation from a mutual friend. i came equipped with a good contact and managed to find a decent place the first day of my apartment search.

phantom

It depends a lot on where you work. The place you wanna stay should not be too far away from your office.. So, if you give us an idea of that.. we would be able to help you out more.. Otherwise there are a lot of "good" residential colonies in all over delhi to name.. where you can find decent accomodation and safety.

Thoughtcrimes

What is a defence colony? Haven't been to India yet and am unfamiliar with this term

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phantom

Defence colony is a residential locality in Delhi. Anything else you wanna know about it ?

Thoughtcrimes

Thx for your quick response!

capt_mahajan

India is not full of Defence Colonies, though there are a couple I have seen.

The Delhi one was earlier (60's, when I lived there as a child), called that maybe coz it had a fair share of defence personnel, retired.. maybe the original small colony was started by some kind of army cooperative.

Prime area today.. at that time, we used to cross the main road, go into the woods and chase snakes.

ajoshi303

I will suggest you to take accomodation at YWCA Hostel.That is safe and good for you.
Other option is to take room at guest house near south extension in South Delhi.
Anil Joshi
New Delhi