Odd even rule in Delhi: My first carpool

Categories Delhi
carpool with orahi

Let me cal this historical, epic, unprecedented and life changing for the blue ball we live on. After going through every carpool application like a scavenger, I scored a ride with Orahi. The guy lives practically next door, is polite, works for HCL and didn’t talk too much. Sounds like a match. He also picked up another rider from Dwarka – a woman who has been working in Noida and has been carpooling for 3 months now with Orahi. With two strange men in car…Continue Reading “Odd even rule in Delhi: My first carpool” →

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Odd even rule in Delhi: A review of carpool apps

Categories Delhi

Today was the first Monday of the Delhi Odd Even rule and I tried everything to dodge the bullet. Though, it has been going wonderfully well so far – been on a long weekend off and never got out of the house. The city has been behaving alright too, not too many violations, the transport infrastructure has not come crashing. There is but one disappointment. The carpool apps have not really taken off. I decided to try a few and started with the Orahi app….Continue Reading “Odd even rule in Delhi: A review of carpool apps” →

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Goddess in the making

Categories Delhi
CR Park kalibari idols

There is a kalibari temple in CR Park. I was there for the first time few days back, nothing surprising given my attitude towards temples. Nothing remarkable about the temple, apart from the massive grounds it sits on and the wonderful breeze that blows across. Hmmm…the halwa bhog that you get after the puja is awesome, for that I can go back. Anyway, the temple business apart, Durga puja is only less than a month away. These guys make the idols in the temple campus…Continue Reading “Goddess in the making” →

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Studio Safdar – the adda, theater, cultural space

Categories Delhi
studio safdar delhi

We don’t live in Delhi. The city is too big and heterogenous. We all live in little pockets of Delhi and navigate the city via narrow corridors. Coming to the point of the post, how many of you have been to Shadi Khampur? Why would you be, really? I had not been there, I dreaded going there. Less than seven kilometers from Connaught Place, it is the kind of working class neighbourhood that one works all his life to get out of. So, why get…Continue Reading “Studio Safdar – the adda, theater, cultural space” →

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All Night Park in Delhi. When?

Categories Delhi
india gate

Since yesterday, all of us on social media have been bombarded with Mumbai flooding pics. The city should just shut up, happens every year. Big deal! In comparison, we dilliwallas should find topics to make noise about. Personally, I have been talking about an all night place for families in Delhi. The govt and the police just won’t allow it. At 12.40 on a rare good weather day when half of Delhi descended on India gate, the police started making the rounds. The loudspeaker asked…Continue Reading “All Night Park in Delhi. When?” →

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Shab e Barat – An account of the night from Delhi roads

Categories Delhi
shab e barat delhi

We have always known this as the night of the rowdies, bikers and general nuisance. Law and order wise, it is the Islamic equivalent of the navratras. Over the years, public sentiment and a proactive police department have brought about some sanity to these nights, but the elements have not been completely sanitized. So, when I decided to set out on a night of photography, I had expected a certain amount of trouble. And, given that I was not being a phono-grapher but going with…Continue Reading “Shab e Barat – An account of the night from Delhi roads” →

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10 things to do if you are an alumni back in DU campus

Categories Delhi

Here are the terms and conditions. This does not apply to people who had boring campus lives, who never lived in a hostel or were studious students. This list is not comprehensive, not even a serious guide. You think this list misses out on all the fun must do things? Go, make your own. Now, yes, right now, go away. Rest of us, let’s carry on. 1. When you turn right after Delhi school of social work towards Miranda House, stop at the second right…Continue Reading “10 things to do if you are an alumni back in DU campus” →

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Jacob’s Creek Reserve table, Delhi edition

Categories Delhi, Food
jacobs creek reserve table delhi

Most of us look at wine as an intimidation. We don’t understand it. We feel compelled to appreciate it. The ones that are known to be really good, most of us can’t afford it. The wine consumers are worried about how much to age a wine, the cork and how much is ideal to pay for a wine. Unlike the west, in India, wine remains strictly in the connoisseur’s domain. And, everyone wants that to change. So far, I had stayed clear of the wine…Continue Reading “Jacob’s Creek Reserve table, Delhi edition” →

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Jashn-e-Rekhta – A celebration of Urdu in Delhi

Categories Delhi

Do din se shehar ka yeh haal hai Ki jaise Dilli ke chacha Ki shaadi ho… Delhi’s finest turned up in their finest. Beautiful overdressed women, painfully and appropriately dressed men, lots of running around (from the lawns to the auditorium to the hall), everyone smiling at everyone else and enough euphoria in the air to intoxicate a mob. India International Center felt like marriage mandap. Sanjiv Saraf, the founder of Rekhta, walked around like the father of the bride. Shoulders drooping, head down, a…Continue Reading “Jashn-e-Rekhta – A celebration of Urdu in Delhi” →

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Holi in Delhi University hostels

Categories Delhi

It’s been more than a decade since passing out. But one still remembers the holis celebrated in hostels. In Delhi University north campus, there were a few traditions that were repeated, year after year. The hostelers would dig up a man sized hole and water the mud to prepare it for the “holy dip” on the day of the holi. On the morning of the holi, each of us had to march out of the rooms and walk to the front yard of the hostel,…Continue Reading “Holi in Delhi University hostels” →

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A victim of Gandhigiri

Categories Delhi

DND is the place where all our manners come to die. No one maintains a queue, everyone honks and if carrying guns were allowed, a murder a day would have taken place. I can proudly say that I am rather well behaved, in public places, at least. I never jump the line; give others way and almost always get angry about ending up last. Anyway, a few evenings back I had obediently queued up. Just when my turn to enter the card lane came, a…Continue Reading “A victim of Gandhigiri” →

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Love and hate Old Delhi

Categories Delhi

  I love and absolutely detest Old Delhi. There is no balanced emotion for the place. There is so much happening at all times that you eventually give in or give up. Old Delhi is like an aggressive, stubborn man that does not court you with poetry or subtlety; it forcefully demands your attention. You either love the directness and fall into his arms or you are disgusted with the rustic brutishness and reject him altogether. Two evenings back, when I was there, I ran…Continue Reading “Love and hate Old Delhi” →

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Red Fort Vanished

Categories Delhi

Red Fort- the way you may never have not seen before. The fog, today morning, was especially fun. It made the whole Lal Qila vanish. But even at 7 in the morning, massive crowds of shoppers thronged Old Delhi. Wanted to sit each one them down and ask if all is well with life. Anyway, that also reminds me that the fog made everyone so jovial. We bargained with the autowalla all smiling, there was a young man who chatted up and suggested angles while…Continue Reading “Red Fort Vanished” →

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Kiwi in Chandni Chowk

Categories Delhi, Food

You must have seen the push carts in Jama Masjid area selling fruit chaat. The fruits have remained the same for a very long time – papaya, watermelon, pineapple, guava. This time, we spotted a cart selling Kiwi. Priced at the same 10 bucks per plate, the seller was doing brisk business. The boy peeled, sliced and heaped a mountain of that old chat masala in under a minute. We returned the one with masala and asked for a plain one. Sour as hell, these…Continue Reading “Kiwi in Chandni Chowk” →

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Kushal is a bastard

Categories Delhi

It was a perfect Sunday morning. Nippy November, good company and Sohail Hashmi Saheb as guide. We were out to explore Jahanpanah, the fourth city of Delhi. It was an eventful walk and there is so much to share. But I decided that we must pay our tribute to Mr. Kushal first. It takes a certain defiance to stand up against education, civilization and the society at large. We saw a few more, a few very entertaining. After a walk around the monuments, I was…Continue Reading “Kushal is a bastard” →

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Pyau in Old Delhi

Categories Delhi
pyau in old delhi

Bottled water may seem like a new idea, but it has been around for nearly 400 years. It is only more prevalent today. So, what did people do in old days when they became thirsty in the middle of the road and didn’t want to spend a nickel? At least in Old Delhi, they went to a pyau. They were opened by generous private individuals, were free and were, generally, operated from a window in the house. There was a depression in the ground to…Continue Reading “Pyau in Old Delhi” →

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Rajon Ki Baoli, Mehrauli Archaeological Park

Categories Delhi

Don’t look out of the window and think what a mad man will go visiting a park in this weather. We made the trip months back, I am just getting to write about it now. There are quite a few things that make Mehrauli one of the best tourist spots in Delhi. It has the most magnificent and one of the oldest structures in close proximity and given that it is not on every tourist’s list yet, it is still possible to have a leisurely,…Continue Reading “Rajon Ki Baoli, Mehrauli Archaeological Park” →

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Roop Pratiroop, The body in Indian art – National Museum Exhibition

Categories Delhi

I am not much of an art person. I don’t get most of the art forms. In fact, it was the first time in my thirteen years I Delhi that I had stepped into the National Museum. I have previously written about the Kiran Nadar Musuem, but my wife had dragged me. My wife dragged me this time too. Another part of the reason was I almost knew the awesome guy who had single handedly curated it. Another part of the reason was there were…Continue Reading “Roop Pratiroop, The body in Indian art – National Museum Exhibition” →

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Bhakti Sangeet Festival, Nehru Park

Categories Delhi

A lot happens in Delhi if you keep your eyes and ears open. Bhakti Sangeet festival in Nehru Park is one you should not miss. Organised by Delhi Government’s Department of Art, Culture & Languages and Sahitya Kala Parishad, the festival features 14 devotional singers of different genres, including the Buddhist chanting of Bhutan, the Sufi Qawwali tradition of India as well as the traditions of Krishna bhakti. I know Bhakti Sangeet may not sound appealing to may of you. Precisely why, you should be…Continue Reading “Bhakti Sangeet Festival, Nehru Park” →

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Aravali Biodiversity Park, Vasant Kunj, Delhi

Categories Delhi

Living in Delhi is not easy. I love waterbodies, to the extent that I love hotels because they have bathtubs. Delhi has lakes and a monumental river, we all know how they are doing. We have quite a few parks, I have previously written about the need for an all night park  in Delhi. But the government is worried about law and order. So, what do you do? You make do with what you have and explore them all over and over again. But it…Continue Reading “Aravali Biodiversity Park, Vasant Kunj, Delhi” →

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