Dilli ki sardi : a bane and a boon

Frozen hands, dried out skins and garma-garam food. Delhi winter has its own charms, and still is a terror, even after so many years of living here. It is strange how every year we abhor the winters but still somehow get through it. Sporadic days of bathing, teeth shivering and gloves and a water-bags. days go by when the sun does not show itself up. We whine, complain and do nothing, still we end up eating and rather, gorging on various stuff.

There are many cities which experience a pleasant weather throughout the year. Bangalore is one such beautiful place. I spent my last winter over there, and while it was great to wear a simple T-shirt and jeans all day, somehow having tea in such a "moderate" weather in December lacked that verve and that chillness. It was like drinking tea without its soul. Somehow the Delhi winter brings to teh surface the soul of most things consumable. Whether it is eating paranthas with truckloads of  butter or having ginger tea, winters make you go into another zone altogether.

The flip side of Delhi winters is something we feel during summers as well: laziness. The difference lies in that fact that while in summers we somehow muster up courage to go out and do work, winters are literally cages. You feel as if somebody has chained you in warm, cozy blankets. Alarms go snoozing for a full one hour and on holidays, even more. It becomes excruciating and to be on time for work is almost a magic, i.e. if one takes bath and then goes. Your boss is always in your imagination, and it doesn't take long to see him visible on your mobile, appearing as a bubbling lava, waiting for a space in your mobile to vent out his own frustrations of winter's inabilities. The vibration of the mobile is a like a mini earthquake. But still most of us are able to convince the boss with some reason or the other.

Yesterday morning, as i went in a car with my Mama-mami, the fog seemed to envelope us in a no zone. It was literally like entering into a Bermuda triangle. For a few moments i would have my heart in the mouth till i could see a car running in front of us. Hearing news about accidents due to fog is one thing, but totally another to actually experience it.

Everything said and done, Delhi winters offers an opportunity to try out stylish sweaters, jackets, mufflers and sweat shirts and that is the best thing about it. I wont say i am one of the more stylish persons going around, i still prefer to dress up well. It is something the pleasant (emphasis personal) weather of Bangalore or any other moderate climate city cannot offer.

All and all, you dilliwallahs enjoy the winter that Delhi offers. Have paranthas, maggy and a plastic glass of chai from your local pappu paranthe wala. You might as well click a selfie there and cherish for future winters to come.

Tic-tac Tic-tac

As i sit down to write another blog, my mind is totally blank. There is an urge to write but no ideas come to mind. What do i write about? There are loads of things happening in my life but then what is that one thing that i can write about? To sit down in front of the computer and start writing itself requires courage, i feel.

So then, i have just mustered some courage to write. Just to write. Dont know what to write about. There is a clock in my room whose tic-tic sound just reminds me of the time passing by. Moments passing by, Each moment passed by is a moment closer to death; closer to the ultimate inevitability of life itself. I feel at ease but at the same time there is a yearning- a yearning that before i hit the bed i must accomplish something, anything but not nothing. My research topic for Mphil remains in limbo. I keep getting frustrated on thinking about India's disastrous bowling in the ongoing test series against Australia. Why the hell did Sachin not reveal more than a mere summary of his cricketing career.

Thought then goes to my father. Where must he be? Has he already toddled his way into a new family, where he must be beginning to walk? Or is he still taking his time in heaven, probably reminiscing about times spent with his elder brother, who preceded him by a few days?

I do feel life throws up new opportunities everyday. But brooding about something in the past, or thinking hard about an interesting future, i while away my present. It seems crazy at times but this convoluted state, i feel is a bliss. It keeps me going. It keeps me engaged. But is it productive? Some say be productive than be busy. I do feel that is the way to go about life. Met an old and precious friend in Khan Market after a long long time. the walk around the market, seeing the posh south Delhi crowd, does give a high. As my friend and me take a selfie, i feel that i must take out time to write more. It has taken me a mere 5 minutes to finish this piece and i feel as time goes by i am getting more and more engaged with myself. May this continue little longer. Tic-tac tic-tac.

Shopping with Sis and Mom

It had been a while since we all three, i.e. me, my mom and sister, went out for a good old shopping spree. What with various individual activities keeping us all busy, it had been pretty tough to take out time and spend some moments together, But today we finally went to buy some winter clothes. Well it was my sister who did the shopping and you know what, i got pretty damn lucky.

We initially went to Moti Bagh's Begum Zaidi Market. A small cozy market with shops lined up for various things. It was Saturday afternoon with lovely sunny weather and the Delhi cold, making it an exotic cocktail. As we stepped out of the car, my mother tried hard to recollect the name of the shop from where my sister was supposed to buy sweaters. She kept saying Narang, Narang. I went up to a chemist shop and asked him for "Narang", a sweater shop. He told me about a shop called Novex. My mother told me it must be that and so we went to shop no 34. As we went in, i let my mom and sister search for themselves and decided to walk around a bit. 2 shops adjacent to shop no 34, a stout lady was quarreling with the shopkeeper of shoes, about a pair of shoes that she had bought but for some reason had to exchange. In a little corner a middle aged man was at his sewing machine while taking delight in listening to the argument.

I went back to the shop and saw a couple trying out some sweaters, majorly the man. Anyway, my sister chose about 3-4 sweater and we were off to our next destination, South Extension market.

This particular market has a nostalgic charm to it for me. As a kid my mom used to take me and my sister to the market on various occasions while coming back from south Delhi. It's famous for its really tasty Bhel Puri. And so, we entered the market and went to Levi's as my sister wanted to buy a few pairs of jeans. She shopped and shopped to such an extent that i could get a leather jacket and a watch free for that amount of shopping that she did. Of course i was gleaning with joy. Then, of course, we had to go to eat something. So we hit the Bhel Puri joint but we did not have that. Some hot steamed paneer Momos and filter coffee was the menu for the day. We wanted to spend some more time together but since i had a pressing commitment in the evening, we had to return back earlier than we would have liked. But still it was a day spent very well and just added to the moments spent together.  Shopping with sister and mom