Ponto de Vista

So, while I do miss Trader Joe’s and biking along the Charles in Boston, the one thing I’ve found a good substitute for is the library. I actually patronize (that sounds awful) Eloor
which is beautifully stocked and really a pleasure to visit. The other day, though, I was surprised to find that the hole-in-the-wall library I frequented as a kid, daily (except on Mondays when they were closed, so I was allowed two books on Sundays,) had re-opened. As a 7-year-old I would ride to the library sitting side-saddle on the back rack of our Man Friday’s bike. By the time I was 11, I was deemed old enough to manage the 8-minute walk on my own. Displaying my OCD tendencies even then, I serially ploughed through all the Enid Blytons, Carolyne Keene’s, Franklin W. Dixons, Alfred Hitchcocks, Robert Arthurs‘s Three Investigator books (Jupitor Jones is responsible, I’m sure, for my obsession with business cards) graduating on to Sidney Sheldon and Lawrence Anderson. What was my mother thinking?? Nah, I’m glad she gave me free reign. Yes, I was precocious, but, hey, I knew stuff!! 😀 Oh and the 3L’s are: Live, Laugh, Learn. Cute, no?

After work one day, I decided to do a bit of shopping at Lajpat Nagar market — one of the largest markets in Asia — and on my way back at gloaming, my cycle rickshaw walla (whom I chose over an auto rickshaw since it’s environmentally sounder) decided to go the wrong way up Ring Road — only the busiest thoroughfare in Delhi! That’s the view over the rickshaw walla’s shoulder as I held on tight with one hand, continually gasping in disbelief that we didn’t get hit, head on!
I don’t recommend it. It’s hair raising to have cars, buses, and scooters (and random pedestrians dashing across!) aim at you and only just barely miss!

I was coming home from work in a drizzle when I caught sight of this! Only in India … eh? A man with a cycle rickshaw full of nude, waist-up, face-up mannequins. 😉

The Kanwarias are a sight I remember well from my childhood in Delhi — dressed in orange, they walk to the Ganga from their villages and towns to collect holy water which they take back, without letting it touch the ground, in two vessels. Their numbers and reach has grown in the last few years as per this Frontline article. What I noticed was that the average age of the yatri is much lower AND they’re also a bit hipper. Instead of the usual jhola sling bag, many are carrying backpacks 🙂 Of course, the day I took this photo, a truck driver on the Gurgaon-Delhi highway ran over two Kanwarias who then abandoned all their nonviolent teachings and burned cars and such in retaliation.

aight, it’s been too long since I posted, but I’m back. Lots has happened in the last month. I’ve changed jobs; I’ve seen the Punditz again; finally made it to the MOS and danced to the Bolly music of Suketu (who obviously needs a web site!); celebrated my nani’s 90th birthday in Bombay; started a new venture; ate sev puri and didn’t get sick; and most importantly, started really enjoying Delhi! I hosted a party at home and went shopping for snacks/drinks with Nakul at the store pictured. Beer, cosmetics and undergarments…all under the same roof. Who could want for more?? 🙂 I heart Dilli!

I’ve been a Punditz fan for a long, long time. I absolutely heart their music, buy all their singles off iTunes and their albums where I find them, I have a total crush on one of them, and my friends will attest that I am not very quiet about my single-minded admiration. So how could I pass up the chance to see them live? They performed at Elevate, which I had heard lots about and really liked the vibe of, with a percussionist, flautist, and a vocalist who also played guitar. The set rocked despite some technical glitches and a lot of random feedback when the singer (Mayank? Pappon) was on (I can’t find a reference to their guests’ names anywhere). They started the set kinda slow (a hard drop from the deep house before) and then built it up to Ranjhaan (yum) and finally Fever pitch.
Anyway, I had a hard time trying to decide between good photos and flattering photos so here are two 😉 Yes, it’s all relative.

We went out in the sweltering, mind-melting heat to catch a film recently and on the way, 5 minutes from the venue, 6 minutes from the start of the movie, our auto broke down. The driver said “do minute, madamji, sirf do minute,” but we didn’t believe him. Shame on us. He literally took under two minutes to pop out a spare tire from under his driver seat, prop up his scooter with a handy stick (no jack around), undo the bolts, pop out the punctured tire, replace it with a new one and vrrooom, we were off…

but alas, not the kind of sake I would like it to be… this is Cake Palace’s version of a shake.

Hmm, that makes me think of the Cuban-Chinese cocktails at Peking Tom’s in Boston. A lot of folks didn’t like the idea of a Sake-rita (using sake instead of tequila) but I quite enjoyed it… and the cumquat mojito…

Anyway, someone should tell them that milk sake sounds completely tongue-curdling, but a milkshake is an animal of an entirely different color, no?

There is a loo blowing in Delhi now. No, I’m not saying there’s a toilet…blowing in the wind. This is the hot wind that blows across the Thar Desert. Temperatures are soaring. Right now, at 9:50pm, it is 43 degrees Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit). Last week though, everytime the temperature pushed 41, it rained. And during one glorious shower, the flowers blooming in the garden were crying petals. It was so pretty. There was hibiscus, bougainvillea, lillies, and flowering shrubs leaning up into the falling drops.

So tonight we had what is called a blue moon: Two full moons in one calendar month. But late last month, I went to attend the first birthday celebration for a friend’s son. She is half Sikh and she said she dreamt that her grandfather requested her to celebrate the birthday by giving thanks in a Gurudwara. The ardas was lovely, the langar pretty good, but the moon outside — a tiny sliver — with the light emanating from the curlicued windows was icing 🙂