delhi

The Delhi Blog Mob 3

This entry was posted in blogmeets blogs DBM's delhi social on by (updated 2803 days ago)

New Delhi, 13 Jan

Delhi experienced its first Blog Mob today at TGIF, Vasant Vihar at around and after 4pm. This mob, which went on the lines of the latest fad – flash mobs, had several ppl of the blogging community from Delhi meeting up at a designated place and time, but unlike flash mobs, this one didn’t dissipate as fast (this mob kept waiting to be kicked out). It was organised by a series of people having a fetish for the letter ‘S’, namely Sandhya, Simple Simon, Sw Ne, and also Sakhi. Bloggers started trickling in at the decided time and took full advantage of the Happy Hours. When our correspondent reached the venue, she was greeted by a lively mob of around 15, who all wanted to meet the person with ‘music on her blog’. There were a few ppl coochie cooing in a corner and taking advantage of the smoke screen enveloping around them (a creation of their own incessant smoking) to do unimaginable things. Sw Ne was seen getting bubbly as she took in a lot of the same, it explained her amorous advances towards Khotta. Beauty certainly lies in the eyes of the be(er)holder, Kyonki Khotta certainly is no Depp and he was painfully reminded the same by all.

Lone Cypress was not so lonely since she had a date for the eve (wonder how she landed up with a China Man to get rid of her lonelyness, unless he has *something* of Leviathan proportions). May be Shubir coined in a phrase like ‘Old Chinese Saying – Get in the company of a man with *something* of Leviathan proportions and you shall not want anything else in life’ to impress her.

Jill of all trades aka Newton’s apple seemed to be the youngest blogger around but was found to be not so. On being provoked somewhat, she vehemently claimed that she loved Delhi enough to spend an entire lifetime here. Senjam Raj sekhar was seen doing what he does best, improve his PR with the people around him. Soumya was seen quietly observing all around him and helping Lone Cypress and Shubir by creating enough smoke screens around them which gave competition to the next day’s fog that was to envelop Delhi.

Priya (yeah that’s her name, not Mansi, as she insists) was seen merrily sipping Bloody Mary from all the glasses which held her potion. The effect has been noticed in certain pictures that she took of the crowd. They have been censored to protect identities.

Ajay had to peer over the crowd since he was at a higher level than the rest, not intellectually but because of his height. Asterix the gaul, was seen downing a lot of potion (even oblix’s share). Arnav (he’s not anonymous any more) was seen chatting up all members of the fairer sex who were in his vicinity. He didn’t change his vicinity as often as Deepan who was observed giving a lot of competition to Sw Ne for her double meaning, suggestive comments aimed at Khotta (of course, they went over his head, since he was concentrating on his lips too much, hoping they would get lucky). Abhishek Saxena was heard humming all the songs that were dedicated to the bloggers.

Ranjan was seen to stride in quite late, and he seemed to be searching for someone. It was a general perception, that he’s searching for his soulmate and was expecting to find one at the blog mob. His face said it all when he DID spot someone familiar. He stared at Sanjem for around 5 minutes (boring a hole in his head with his stare) and then informed him that he’s Sanjem Raj Sekhar. They both looked at each other as if they would kill each other. According to records, they both were supposed to have met at a debate organised in guawhati.

Beautiful life was seen being shy and coy and she hurried out the earliest she could (maybe she had someone waiting with whom she’s not so shy). WonderBug was seen giggling with Priya, when the latter would start searching for her Bloody Mary and with Deepan who was observed to be nose diving in his drink. Jasprit was seen handling all the waiters as they got confused with the huge orders. Sanjay arrived quite late with a confused look, wondering whether he had landed at the right place, but after some time, his confused look was replaced by an interested one, which revealed that this sort of thing was new to him. Amit netahoy Agarwal was the last one to arrive, and was seen getting his dimpled profile clicked by the official photographers.

A couple of bloggers were found absconding and there were a lot of hushed murmurs in the crowd about their whereabouts. Somersault aka irony aka Oddity aka Fried green apple (whatever) was missing along with Heretic. Scout Finch was reportedly drowning in her work. Her boss was later found murdered in her office.

The organisers presented everyone with a CD that had been tediously compiled by them. The CD was played throughout the evening with one track dedicated to each blogger. A vote of thanks was given to the organisers by our correspondent.

But this leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Would Ranjan ever find his soulmate? Would Jill of all trades ever settle down in Delhi. Would Khotta’s lips ever get lucky? Would Lonely Cypress ever learn to cook chinese? Would Deepan perfect his aim of nosediving in his drinks? Yeh sab jaan-ne ke liye dekhte rahiye HUM (B)LOG!

Close Encounters of the Cosmic Kind 1

This entry was posted in delhi nature personal on by (updated 3590 days ago)

As 27 August draws nearer, my spirits soar higher. Every night, as I look out at the South Eastern skies, I see the reddish looking prominent planet. At times it’s covered by clouds, which look like the fluff of a cosmic lamb, running across the skies and exposing a bright red dot once its whizzed past. At times, it looks like a bright precious stone embedded in the sand, being exposed after the sea-wave-shaped clouds have rippled past. Still at times, my previous date, the BIG moon, looks down on it and me alike. I can almost see the amused moon faced smile there. I bet, it conveys – “I couldn’t handle her.. you try it this time”

Even as I write this, I am hurtling 20kms closer to Mars every moment. Like me, this friend of mine, shows its true colours only after twilight.

Intrigued enough by its regular appearances in my balcony every night (As Juliet would have been with Romeo’s), I wonder whether it’s time to take off on a journey, yet unexplored. Would the proximity of 55.76 million km have some unexplained effects on our own planet? After all the last time it happened, only primeval primates inhabited our Earth. I better check it out for myself and for the cause of humanity.. err..ahem…

Are there really any green little men out there? Is there any intelligent life out there? Are we going to establish alien contact? (No, Koi Mil Gaya has nothing to do with my musings, and neither do I plan to see it). Are there already some Martians masquerading as earthlings, observing us, studying us…?

I can’t contain myself any longer. I better check it out on my own while I can. So here I go in search of some intelligent life. Men are from Mars or so I heard. On our planet, I have come across twerps mainly. Beep Beep Blip Blip Beep Beep .. I can make out some inviting signals. Being the true Venusian that I am (After all Women are from Venus), here I come Martians…

I wonder what life would be like on Mars. Would they understand freedom, peace and love or would they be akin to hatred, enmity and the like.. would be reporting about my adventures soon… whoosh..

10.000 Lightyears somewhere out in space
They practice love and they know what it takes
No competition and no jealousy
Living in freedom and humanity

10.000 Lightyears away, lightyears away far from pain
Came to a place full of grace and of peace
10.000 Lightyears away from our fear

Suddenly it’s ringing in my ears
Why is it now I don’t wanna be here
I feel like flow in that clock at the wall
God, how I wish that this dream would go on

– 10,000 Lightyears – Boney M


Celestial Odyssey 1

This entry was posted in delhi gurgaon travel on by (updated 5399 days ago)

Last night’s journey back from office was unexpectedly calm and peaceful. Set out at 9pm by the office cab bracing myself for the 1.5 hour ordeal. Surprisingly the traffic laden (no this isn’t osama’s relative), bumpy and potholed stretch of road was pretty empty. Of course it was still as bumpy and potholed as ever but at least there was a scope to bypass those unintentional ‘speed breakers’.
The pleasant breeze (sans the dirt and pollution) lightly caressed my face, delighting me. Strains of good music playing in the background made the effect even more ethereal. The breeze started toying naughtily, with my hair…throwing wisps of silken hair on my face. My hair was still not completely dry from the hair wash I had given it in the morn. (one of the disadvantages of butt length hair) As a result the cool wind managed to cool my poor brain which was overwrought with mental tension. I felt like throwing open my hair and feeling the wind streaming down the strands right from the follicle to the tip. (One of the thrills of butt length hair). It reminded me of the bike rides that we used to have back in Pune, when we (literally) threw caution to the winds at 90kmph on hilly Pune roads.
Seeped in nostalgia and complacently holding on to the moment, I snapped back into focus, realizing what I had been staring at for so long wasn’t just anything .. it was our very own moon, looking as full and brimming with moonlight as ever. It was SO big and close, it seemed like a scene straight out of ‘Bruce Almighty’ , except Bruce wasn’t there..but the Almighty was definitely showing off his breathtaking stunts to me :-). We crossed the back side of the Indira Gandhi International Airport..another peaceful stretch with thankfully no high rise buildings blocking my view. I kept playing hide and seek with the moon…saw it next to the beautiful Naval Officers Mess – Varuna, making it look like some Arabian structure with lots of mystery and magic. Suddenly I noticed a low flying plane going over the moon. From that distance, it looked as if it was literally ‘going over the moon’ :-). The beauty of a man made miracle next to a God made one, made that scene eligible for the best portrait award or something.
Soon we reached the Ridge Road, one of the best roads here. Because of the recent flyover constructions at Dhaula Kuan, not many people use it and the street lights have also been switched off temporarily. The ridge road is the last of the little bit left of the ridgewood forest. The wind is absolutely the best here. You can smell the fresh forest air to your hearts *and* your lungs content, hear the jungle around you and pass by unnoticed and unheard. No lighting adds to the jungle effect. The moon still kept its date with me as it followed me everywhere I went. The moment I would cast a glance at it, there it would be imploring me to somehow get photographic memory and lock this moment forever. Soon, I reached home, all fresh and calm and slept like a baby.


The ‘other’ end of the road

This entry was posted in delhi media social on by (updated 5399 days ago)

One of the many things I wonder about is … what it would be like being on the Delhi – Lahore bus. The Delhi – Lahore bus service resumes today. It would have left Delhi at 6am and would be half way by now as I blog about it. What would be on the minds of the people who go from Delhi to Lahore? Would they have someone across the border to welcome them, someone looking forward with open arms or would they be going just to satiate an inherent curiosity about this ‘other’ land, which was once their forefathers…
What makes us so different from ‘them’ – the Pakistanis? They look the same as us, wear the same clothes, eat the same dishes, speak the same tongue, were ruled by the same rulers.. heck, most of us would be able to trace back some antecedents there. I, for one, am very inquisitive (part of my nature) about what it would be like to live in Pakistan. Both sets of my grandparents hail from West Pakistan and migrated at the time of partition. They actually went through what we now just hear about or watch movies about. We can not really gauge the intensity of the occurances. But my heart really goes out to them, when they recount tales of eras bygone, of land that was their own once, of people that were their own too…
What would it be like to see where my grandparents used to live at one point of time (their youth to be precise), where my dad and a few of his siblings were born, what kind of lives they lead, what that camera looked like with which my maternal grandpa used to pursue photography as a passion, what those palatial houses looked like of which I’ve heard so much. That camera was among the many prized possessions that got left behind somewhere along with many cherished memories, in what we now call Pakistan. I can sense that some part of my grandparents being was among the many things left behind. What would it be like to visit Pakistan and go, be a part of what they left behind… What would it be like at the ‘other’ end of the road…


Music galore

This entry was posted in delhi media music on by (updated 5399 days ago)

FM has become pretty much a rage nowadays, what with *so* many new channels being doled out on the average auditory senses of a typical delhite. By “average auditory senses” I mean that the average delhite does not have an appreciable sense of music or the fondness for it either. So to make FM popular lot of gimmicks have been resorted to, by the various competitors. They have included a lot of “gup shup”, a plethora of ads, information about various events happening in delhi, the best shopping deals and of course contests to lure audiences into listening to their channels. Yeah, they also throw in some songs at some regular intervals :-P. The print media viz the newspapers and the hoardings on the streets have not been spared either. On one side of the road would be hoarding boards – all bright red and on the other side, they would all be having a red mirchi drawn on them! The competitors in the newspaper industry are going out of their way promoting their own channel and even launching weird schemes, where one can buy newspapers for the unheard of weird monthly bill of 98.3! Every news daily publishes a photograph of their RJ’s frequently, tangled in a mass of wires and telephones, trying to cope up with the immense traffic that their contests are generating and taking pride in the fact that phone lines and networks are being clogged by this senseless, tremendous rush!
Talking of contests, firstly all channels started out with giving free fuel to vehicles sporting the sticker for the particular channel. Now they have graduated to asking torpid questions which really amount to lured delhi listeners, numbing their fingers in a bid to get through the phone numbers, being flashed out by the RJ’s. Of course, no one can question the basis on which the prizes are given (the “best” slogans are never read out) or for that matter the authenticity of the names of the prize winners. I wouldn’t be surprised if all names turn out to be bogus and the “so much in demand” phone lines are always off the hook to give that illusion of the “most sought after channel” to the listener.
All said and done, I would stick to good old AIR FM. For one, they aren’t demeaning themselves by going all out on getting one up on their competitors, but then a government owned entity might as well not try to do that. And the more important reason, at least they play *music* instead of doling out the same old hindi chartbusters day after day. For once I don’t have to think 91 times or see 93.5 shades of red or control my body temperature from going beyond a stable 98.3 before I decide that am gonna listen to 102.6!!