Life is…My thoughts…

Day before yesterday morning, while coming back from office after doing a night lost my wallet somewhere. Man it is so disturbing. Firstly due to the loss of so many important things and secondly due the feeling of carelessness i am getting that i couldn’t take care of it and lost it somewhere like this. Absolutely no clues how and where it happened but i am feeling so so bad about it .

Another cause of headache for last two weeks have been finding a new accommodation. So many things related to this one suck, so we have been planning to change it since long. Finally when some stuff got out of control, we had to take the decision and start the hunt. Man it is such a shitty job. Finally after 2 weeks or so and compromising a bit on our choice and all, finalized one and will be shifting by this month end.

On the little better side, finally managed to watch Rajneeti yesterday night. A good movie after pretty long time. Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpai and especially Ranbir Kapoor gave brilliant performances. Katrina did a pretty nice job too. A good enjoyment overall.

Looks like an incomplete post . Not much to write, just hoping for the things to be in little better order in coming time .

Most of the Indians go to see live concerts because:

• They are the people with approach and can manage to get free VIP passes and all.
• They are from rich section of the society and can manage to buy tickets (if any).
• Attending live concerts is a feel good thing and a bit of fun.

The real fans of artists are generally sitting in last rows, or even worse; standing. The folks sitting in VVIP and VIP sections are the the output of above 3 points. Anyways yesterday night there was a live concert of Ghulam Ali and me and 2 of my friends were ready to enjoy and had high hopes. So we got the tickets well in advance to avoid any “not available” etc etc situation. The time printed on the ticket was of 7 PM and 2 other singers were supposed to perform before Ghulam Ali. So we reached the venue around 6:15 to find that they had just started to setup the stage and other stuff. Nothing much strange as India runs like that only. Finally after 8 PM they started entering people and we got good seats. Weather was being tricky and a rainfall was a sure thing to happen. Finally things started moving a bit and it started drizzling as well. They introduced some local signer on stage and he left after singing 1 song. Then came the two expected ones; a man and a lady and till then it was no more drizzling; it was raining. Things continued but people were waiting for Ghulam Ali only.

Then after 9:30 Ghulam Ali came (rain had stopped by then) and was seated in the first row with some chief guests and that guy and the lady were still singing.  Now  those guys were not supposed to waste any time but he still continued. Many people had even left till this moment. Ghulam Ali took the control of stage around 9:45. It has been just half an hour or little more that  police came to get it closed due to 10:30 PM limit. Somehow somebody talked to them and the matter was sorted out but probably for some time only. After sometime a policeman came in front of the stage, raised his hands and asked them to stop ! Man just imagine, an artist of the stature of Ghulam Ali singing on stage and a policeman, in this way, telling him to stop; what a crying shame !!! What the heck the organizers were doing at that time ? Anyways Ghulam Ali did acknowledge him and said “shayad woh keh rahe hain k hum yeh band kar dein…bas 2 min mein kar dete hain….” Ghulam Ali said the final words and started to leave.

Then the stage was taken over by the host. He got pretty emotional and said that some xyz of Delhi is sitting here (some counselor or something was sitting there in guests). The night clubs can run up to 4 AM. There is not an issue with that but a ghazal mehfil cant continue after 10:30 PM. Then some action was taken and permission was given for another half an hour or so. Then Ghulam Ali started again but the taste has been lost till then. So things were just not that good.

And about the ambiance and other things there i just don’t understand what the heck is the need for people to bring their 0-14 yrs kids along. And then eating chips, sipping soft drinks…ghazal mehfils are for that ? On stage on guy is going up, another coming down etc etc. One sick idiot was standing in front of the stage and shooting with his video camera, Ghulam Ali requested him twice to stop but everything fell on deaf ears. Then two security guards came and literally pushed him away. Still he was not ready to move. Enough of  crap…

Lets talk about the whatever little Ghulam Ali saab sang…well he started with Ghalib’s har ek baat pe kehte ho with an opening sher from ishq mujhko nahi vahashat hi sahi……then came Faraz saab’s hui hai shaam to aankhon mein bas gaya hai fir tu followed by dil mein ik lehar si uthi hai abhi; amazingly done. Every time the word leher being presented with different sur taal and style. Pure magic ! After that pehli wari aj uhna akhian ne takkia. And then in hurry few others like awargi and hum tere shahar mein aaye hain.

At the end it was a magical show spoiled by few idiots ! We came back so sad and disappointed. An oppurtunity to watch such a great artist lost

And for the friends who would like to know what what according to me a ghazal mehfil should be like, please watch these videos. This is what magic a ghazal mehfil can create.

Actually Aman won the game and he posted it before me. So i am not going to talk about the usual stuff . It was my long time wish to go to Vasant Vihar and see the Emporio Mall. There are 2 malls actually; one is DLF place and another Emporio Mall. DLF place, i would say is just like any other mall, hosting all the normal brands and all. As we all were first timers, we came out missing the hi-fi-ness about the place and then noticed the entrance to Emporio mall. Man it is, i guess the poshest mall in Delhi. The brands, restaurants and other stuff, i have almost never heard about. And the prices were totally jaw dropping. We had glimpse of all the three floors and each one was more amazing than the other. Finally feeling how rich India was, we came back smiling. Took an auto from there (oh yes we middle class, the mango people ) and reached home.

And almost just after coming out, there was “other” India for you to see .

Meter of the auto we just travelled in

Yesterday, I had gone to office and came back at around 6. After half an hour one of my friend called to ask “Where are you ? All fine ?” And then i came to know that there had been serial blasts in Delhi. I switched on the TV and there was blood all around at all the blast sites. People were rushing around and moreover it was getting darker so help, search and other things were becoming difficult. Well, an unfortunate day for Delhi.

So after all this, as always the debates start “we should curb terror” “should beef up the security” etc. Govt also has almost the same statements to give. We will find them, punish and all. One things is clear who suffers is the common man. Now people can’t sit in their houses all the time. Everybody has to go out and you never know when you are running with bad luck (that is what we can call it).

Now coming to what we can do to stop all this, everybody has different views to give. To be honest and fair, maintaining security at public places like CP, Gaffar market, M block market or any other area is really difficult if not impossible. Take this case only. Most of the bombs were planted in dustbins. There are so many in the city. Who can keep check on all the dustbins ? And its not only dustbin. It could be anything else like an abandoned cycle, scooter, some packet or anything. So how to stop that ?

What basically is required is making the country a better place to live by providing people with proper education, facilities and justice. People who are unemployed, not able to earn their livelihood or who have been denied justice are so easy to fall for all this ? As they are already saying that they are taking revenge of Gujarat riots. So why we let such things happen ? 1984 Sikh riots, Gujarat riots or anything similar are crying shame for the country.

One more thing i noticed that our media needs to act responsibly in such situations and otherwise also. Yesterday they spoke on Aaj Tak that a police has taken a child in custody who was having a bomb tied to his body. But after 5 minutes they said that NO, actually the child had seen the terrorists dropping something into the dustbin, so police wanted to get the information from him. What bullshit ? Take a minute and speak responsibly.

Peace ! God bless…

It has been raining in Delhi and around since morning. There is water everywhere on the roads and traffic is in worst condition. There are hell lot of traffic jams. Everybody is getting late. Its taking 3-4 hours in reaching Delhi from Gurgaon and 2 hours if you have to go within Gurgaon.

With pretty nice taste of rain i just came back from office. Now have to pack my bags and leave for home by night train. Thinking about leaving bit early as there are traffic jams and moreover a bit tight security due to 15th August.

A day of continuous rain exposes everything of our drainage system. Its so badly built that it rains for an hour and roads are full of water and traffic jams.

Something needs to be done !

Well, it does somewhat look like Baby’s day out

Me, my friend Rajesh and his wife planned to go to see Lodhi Garden (in Delhi) and then have dinner at Lodhi Garden restaurant. We had only one bike so decided to take an auto and left for Lodhi Garden. Very first moment the adventure started. He took us from some stupid route and we didn’t get a bit of an idea where we were going ? Finally he reached near about but had to ask again. So after asking 2-3 people we were at the gate of Lodhi Garden restaurant.

When we entered the main gate, after looking around, a nice calculation went through our minds that it might be really expensive. Very nice & impressive ambiance. So we were happy. They have set tables and chairs in open. It was looking really sweet. So we asked them about sitting there. But the guy told that it was booked for some party and we couldn’t sit there.

So there was an option to sit in the hall: either ground floor or first floor. We entered the hall and went upstairs. That guy lighted the candle and gave us the menu. It was a full size, pretty heavy & complex 8-10 pages book. I just started going through the pages. Hmmm…the prices were pretty nice and moreover i couldn’t find anything like snacks and dinner. Oh ! it might be drinks only menu ? I asked Rajesh to ask about it and the waiter said “Yes sir…i will just give you the main menu”

Ah…the main menu was there. It was comparatively a fatter book of same size. Again the same thing: i went through the pages and could hardly understand what they were offering . Then on one page i noticed “Iced tea”…pretty recognized stuff…but for INR 395. So it was almost clear that it was time to leave as even menu was not understandable properly. We hurriedly left from there and came to Lodhi Garden.

It was already dark outside so not much fun over there also. We exited from another gate and didn’t even know where we were ? Again we waited for an auto but . Then we saw a bus and got into it but ahhh ! it was going in the opposite direction so we had to get off at the next stop. There were some chances for getting an auto. Finally got an auto and we went to a Mall, actually planning for dinner as we knew about a food court there. We reached there and found there was no north indian food and only outlet serving it was closed

Then…another thought…i knew about another restaurant called Punjabi Rasoi…so we headed for that to find

.

.

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that it was also closed

Then we headed for 4th target Bikaner Wala even knowing that we might not get a seat. Yea the same thing happened…long queues…by now Rajesh’s wife was in pretty sweet mood We waited for 10-15 minutes and thought about leaving. While leaving she (Rajesh’s wife) blasted the guy at the counter that you have no space even to sit. There was another lady customer standing and she said “yeh bhi kya kar sakte hain” (What can they also do ?) and she said “I am not talking to you”

Then we headed for our 5th target which was a simple and genuinely priced one. So finally we had our dinner there and came back by 10:30 PM.

Surely our day out

This auto is financed by:

It has been almost 11 months since I landed up in so called Delhi unki jaan [from city beautiful Chandigarh]. After having some experience here, I have been thinking of writing all the good and bad things, I have seen, in these 11 months. Well, will write about particular events some other time. Here what I am going to write is, few tips for the people who are new to Delhi or are planning to come to Delhi. Its in the form of dos and don’ts. I am just too lazy to do the segregation so it will be one after another, in no order, without thinking anything. Please bear with it

• The very first thing, where ever you go – Bus stand, railway station or somewhere else, take care of your luggage, you never know when some one comes and clean sweeps you
• For anything serious, don’t rely on anybody except in a case that you know the person before.
• If you happen to be a Punjabi (Sardar, to be more specific), never ever hire a Sardar Auto-wala or Taxi-wala. He is going to take advantage of that brotherhood and charge you twice the normal rate. Thats one of the most bloody things, I have seen in Delhi.
• If you use local buses to commute, be careful. Not to forget, they have been man eaters, there are other things too. There are hardly any drivers and conductors having a bit of sense that how to talk to somebody. And generally (if you aren’t lucky enough) there will be a hell lot of rush in the bus, and people of Delhi-man they have no sense at all. So better try to avoid falling in an argument with someone & more important, if he is doing too much then set him
• Most probably you will be renting a house. Again be careful here. Check everything before renting. Make everything clear. Read the rent agreement carefully before signing it. And be a man – if you aren’t wrong anywhere, screw up the owner. Believe me, they can be brought on the right track, this way only. [Since I came here, this is the 4th house where I am staying. Out of 4, only 1 owner was good (he was very good, in fact) all others were [are] typical Delhites. First was an old lady, don’t ask about her, she needed money, money and money. Second was the man whom I said was very good. Third was a pretty boring, useless chap. When we left, had (or avoided ?) an argument with him. Now this one is also the very same, with no difference. It has been a month only. Lets see how the things go on.
• If possible, find the accommodation near some metro line. Metro is one of the most beautiful things happened to Delhi. [You will feel proud, when you use it]. It will help you reach your place in least possible time, in AC and neat & clear manner. But on the negative side, still people have not learned, how to use Metro.

Well, thats all for now. I will keep on adding the useful stuff over here.

Best of Delhi’ing

Your comments, experiences are most welcome

Sidhu