A glass of steaming milky syrupy tea is best served cut. One by two or two by three, it embodies the spirit of sharing and camaraderie (and more significantly a resource crunch). Come, have a sip.
This service has been on for quite a while in Delhi but seems that not too many people are aware of this.
The next time when an auto rickshaw driver or a taxi driver in Delhi overcharges or refuses (even misbehaves or harasses) you. Don't just argue and move away (as we usually do). Send an SMS to 56767 (Save the number to your phonebook. It'll come handy) and leave it to the Delhi Traffic Police to take action.
The SMS needs to be preferably sent in a specified format.
"How long will it take you to reach here?" If you are not a frequent traveller on the route, this is usually difficult answer the question.
After six-years of travelling on Delhi's roads, I've noticed a relation between the distance, the time of the day and the time it takes to reach from point A to point B. And have devised a simple formula.
Let us take the first variable, distance. If you know the distance, good. If not, there's Google Maps. Just type the "location" to "destination" on the search box and hit enter (eg. Connaught Place to Noida). It'll display the suggested routes alongwith the distance in kilometres (Google Maps also tells you the commuting time, but that doesn't seem to be in sync with Delhi's traffic conditions).
Now that you know the distance, let me explain my (not-so-magic) formula.
Heavy traffic (peak hours) (8:30 AM to 10:30 AM and 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM)
Distance in Kms x 3
(If your destination is 15 kilometres away, it'll take you approximately 45 minutes to reach there)
Medium traffic (10:30 AM to 5:30 PM; 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM)
Distance in Kms x 2
(30 minutes for 15 kilometres)
Low traffic (9:30 PM to 8:30 AM)
Distance in Kms x 1 (If you aren't one of those who zoom past at 120 kmph at 2:00 AM)
For Sundays
8:30 AM to 9:30 PM should be treated as medium traffic.
On national holidays (Republic Day, Independence Day and Holi in particular) - the whole day is low traffic.
It usually works for me with an error margin of 5-10 minutes, relative to the distance.
This is just for assuming the commuting time and in no way would provide precise formulas.
Denizens of other cities please provide similar formulas for your city in the comments.
Disclaimer: The author of this post cannot and should not be held responsible if your girlfriend/boyfriend dumps you (or for any other unpleasant reaction) for not being able to reach by the time calculated using the aforementioned formulae.
Decisive - that's the word they are using to describe the Congress' (and the UPA's) victory in the 15th General Elections. Though the Election Commission is still a while away to declare the final results, the writing on the wall is in bold capital letters - MANMOHAN SINGH WILL BE PM FOR 5 MORE YEARS, and I hope he does.
Though the campaigning by the Gandhi family, especially Rahul played a major role (as evident from the party's performance in Uttar Pradesh), it was the image of the incumbent Prime Minister and the prime ministerial candidate that made people reaffirm their belief in the Grand Old Party.
As much as it is a win for the Congress, it is also a defeat for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies. Politics of hatred might work at the local level, but when it comes to the national politics Indians have higher expectations from its leaders. And the personal attacks also seem to have backfired. The lesson for the BJP here is that it first needs to build a strong leadership, at this juncture Lal Krishna Advani doesn't seem to be the Prime Ministerial candidate for the next General Elections. And they shouldn't even think of Narendra Modi, the Modi magic turned out to be a hoax in the larger national arena and the Gujarat Riots of 2002 has tarnished his image for ever. Even dollops of development cream can't remove the ugly scars.
The party needs to develop a strong leadership, a leadership that Indians would not directly associate with its rightist leanings, someone like Atal Bihari Vajpayee (but who speaks with fewer pauses). The problem is who will it be?
While the BJP ponders over its leadership woes, it should also start rebuilding its image. And for starters that can play the role of constructive opposition instead of the usual disruptive and rabble rousing tricks that they employ inside and outside the House.
The next five years are very important for the BJP as they have a lot of undoing to do and the Congress would have already started projecting Rahul Gandhi as the candidate for the PM's post for the 2014 elections. They need to counter the Rahull factor too.
Though I admire Manmohan Singh, I sometime wish, like so many other Indians, that he was a little more assertive in speech. Sometimes words (and how you say them) are as important as the deeds that they articulate. But this is SMS's day, his stand on the Nuclear Deal was in a way ratified by the electorate.
Though a UPA win was expected, the numbers even surprised the Congress. Their internal calculations had given them a far lesser figure. About the exit polls, they weren't as off the mark as 2004, but the margin of error was big. I think it Dorab Sopariwala on NDTV who came the closest.
Congress sweeping Delhi 7-0 was also expected and the margins of victory are also impressive.
Having assembly elections with the General Elections undermines the importance of the Legislative Assemblies atleast in the national media. Though I believe that it should be the general practice, as it would save crores of public money.
The 2009 General Elections would be remembered for another thing - the beating that the Left got in its bastions West Bengal and Kerala. It was a long time coming. Nowadays ideologies seem to be a disposable commodity and clinging on to it might not always translate into votes. Beliefs should be firm, but at the same time flexible to meet the needs of the changing world. Else the world would just leave you behind.
Coming back to Manmohan Singh. It is unlikely that he would fight the next elections, though technically he didn't fight this one too (for a Lok Sabha seat), but the good gentleman should deliver what the common Indian expects of him. A clean and efficient Prime Minister is not enough, what India and Indians want is a corruption free and smoothly functioning administration. I know it is a tough task but someone sitting on the most powerful post is expected to work hard.
The Congress should also refrain from populist measures, they might be good for votes but not for the economy, that is slowly trying to recuperate.
Though I want to write a lot more, but after spending 15-hours inside a chilly television studio, working, I think my body deserves some rest. Moreover the head also doesn't seem to be working right. 2014 will be a far more interesting fight, provided the BJP plans it right.
Many of you would have seen photos of upturned dustbins in the newspapers and websites following the serial bomb blasts in Delhi on September 13. Why? Because a couple of bombs had been placed inside dustbins.
The Economic Timesreports that The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is contemplating new norms for WiFi security. Why? Because the terrorists claimed responsibility for the blasts via emails sent through unsecured WiFi networks.
It's a different tale that our media has been reporting that the WiFi networks were 'hacked' into. Why? Because 'hacking' sounds more sinister or they don't understand technology (many in the television industry and some in the print definitely don't but just simply claim to). Going by the dictionary they might not be wrong, as hacking does imply unauthorised access. But real-life meanings of terms differ more than a little from what the lexicons state. Hacking would atleast involve a bit of more effort than just connecting to an available open WiFi network (That makes me a hacker too)
Coming back to where I began.Terrorists might not be able to plant bombs in upturned dustbins (though it doesn't take much effort to make one upright again), they will simply keep them elsewhere. But then how do I, in the meanwhile, keep Delhi clean? Dump the banaana peel on the foothpath so that a disgruntled mass murderer, looking for an alternative place to hide the bomb, because someone turned his favourite dustbin upside down, would slip and deservedly break a few bones?
By the way, terrorists had also entered the Parliament. It should have been a good idea to keep the place sealed, so that that they cannot ever think of even entering it in the future.
If terrorists have amongst them the 'hackers' that the media and the police claim, it shouldn't be too much of a worry for them to gain access to some 'secured' connections. Else they can simply drop a letter. Or mask their IPs. Too much effort has already been wasted in tracing the source of the emails, nothing much will come out of that. I believe the men, who seem to play their dirty game according to their own rules at a time they wish to, wouldn't be as stupid as our investigating agencies hope they would be.
We have developed an expertise for knee-jerk reactions that border on stupidity. Why? Because we don't seem to have the most potent weapon to disarm such acts of terror - intelligence.
Was watching last week's release A Wednesday this morning. Though I didn't find the movie as great as people claimed it to be, but on hearing the news of the serial blasts in Delhi today, I started thinking again. How are we - the common people - supposed to react to such acts?
In the movie Naseeruddin Shah plays the role of a common man who uses his own methods to deal with the perpetrators of such acts of terrorism.
A few weeks ago, I watched Mumbai Meri Jaan, that also revolves around the lives of people who were touched directly or indirectly by the serial blasts on Mumbai trains on July 11, 2006.
Films may be fiction, but they draw a lot from what is happening around us. Our desires and our fears and how we react to such situations.
Now I'm trying to draw some parallels between the characters and me, but am unable to find a match.
I know that I cannot be staying indoors because of the blasts, I have to go out and do the things that I need to. There might be more, it has become a way of life. And it doesn't seem that we have been able to do much about it.
What is worrying me now is that I don't understand the emotions that I'm feeling while watching the visuals on live television and reporters and anchors repeating the same thing over and over again.
Perhaps I've become comfortably numb. And that's a dangerous thing.
A friend called to say that there have been serial blasts in Delhi. Yet again. I logged on to the internet to check what has happened and then switched on the TV.
Today being my day off, I was lazing around at home, instead of loitering around at Connaught Place where I often head to weekends.
F**k. Four Five blasts in 45 minutes.
The blasts happened at Gaffar Market in Karol Bagh, Connaught Place and the M Block Market in Greater Kailash I.
According the Delhi Police seven18 20 people have died in the explosions.
The phone lines seem jammed, but managed to call home to say that I'm safe.
After 12 days of internetlessness at home I am back online from my own PC. Curse my ISP.
Many days back I got this SMS, the sender id read "CBI" (I believe many others also did). The information contained may be useful to many, so passing it along:
If a Central/Delhi Govt/PSU/Bank Employee demands BRIBE for any official work in Delhi. Plz contact SP CBI at 24361535/3541/2494 or 9968081216/17/18!!
And before you make that call note that the CBI, as a matter of policy, does not entertain anonymous or pseudonymous complaints.
There is another angle to it. This technically is an unsolicited SMS and my mobile number is registered on the National Do Not Call Registry. Therefore, the national investigation agency may be guilty of flouting the law.
According to media reports over 80 lakh mobile phone users have received the SMS and the fine for the violation is Rs 500 for the first instance and Rs 1,000 for subsequent violations.
But before anyone reaches out for the calculator, there are clauses that allow government agencies to transmit such messages. So who's next RBI? Would definitely like some more tips on identifying fake currency notes.
I didn't know that CBI also has a blog, but that has only five posts with the last being in March this year. Investigators don't make good bloggers?
The day before yesterday, on my way to work I got stuck in a traffic jam. Nothing new. With the number of vehicles on Delhi's roads coupled with the Kanwariya season (a few days back three Kawariyas on a motorcycle hit my two-wheeler from the rear at a red light) this was expected.
But going a little further I could see smoke and on coming closer I found the source, a Hyundai Santro was ablaze. I had read about such accidents in the papers, they happen quite often. I parked near a petrol pump and captured this video on my mobile.
The other day my brother called up. "Delhi's going to host the Winter Olympics," he joked. But for the people who take decisions on such matters in India might quite possibly be thrilled at the idea.
And a few days later I read that Delhi would be the official host of the 2010 Men's Hockey World Cup.
I don't have anything against Delhi, after all I have been living here for almost half-a-decade now and have started to identify myself with the city.
But then it isn't a nice experience to be a citizen of a single-city nation. To the outside world it would seem that there is only one city in the 32,87,263 sq km area of the country - Delhi or more specifically New Delhi.
Isn't it already enough that the city has already hosted the first ever Asian Games in 1951 followed by the 1982 edition and now the Commonwealth Games in 2010?
In between there was some unsuccessful bids to play the hosts for yet another international sporting event. And now there are plans to bid for the biggest of them all - The Olympics in 2020.
This one-city focus isn't found in many of the countries of the world. Honestly, I hadn't heard of Incheon before it beat Delhi in the race to the 2014 Asian Games.
If we look at the Asian Games, South Korea got the opportunity thrice to host it and only the first (1986) was in the capital Seoul, the subsequent events went to Busan (2002) and Incheon (2014). The 2010 Asiad will be held in Guangzhou and not Beijing.
Amongst the 20 cities that have/will hosted/host the Commonwealth Games (in its different forms) only four are country capitals (and this includes Delhi). And as many as 10 of the host cities of the Olympic Games weren't the cities where the seat of the government resided.
Such international events provide a tremendous potential to overhaul the entire infrastructure of the city. The city of Delhi has been fortunate enough to have good facilities (compared to other cities in the country), that has been augmented by the Asian Games and now the Commonwealth Games. Don't other cities in the country deserve an opportunity to make things better for its residents? Why do we need to be concentrated only to the National Capital?
Before you point it out, Hyderabad did host the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in 2003 and the 2007 Military World Games, but they were comparatively inconsequential.
There is an India beyond the periphery of the NCR. Our media is partially blind to the fact (partially because they at least see the other metros). And to our sports administrators... get a phacoemulsification done.
Thankfully in Delhi there are still a lot of birds around (the feathery kind). I do my bit to make them feel at home with their morning supply of grains (and water in the summers). It's not that they don't trouble me once in a while.
Today, my friend pointed out that the some of the sparrows had developed a narcissist trait. They perched themselves on the mirror and continued to gaze at their own reflection, occasionally pecking at it, only to move away when disturbed.
I thought of recording it, but I (as always) forgot to charge the camera's batteries. Therefore had to opt for the poorer quality delivered by my cellphone, but there was only one then drooling at herself (just a guess). Here's a short clip.
My boss and the guys at HR coaxed me into participating in the seven kilometre fun-run part of the Delhi Half Marathon. The last time I ran amidst a mass of people was back in school, though I have walked for considerable distances, running is something that I didn't pursue much.
A few friends had got together and planned for a daily morning jog back in college, but the daily chases by mongrels on the sloping roads of Shillong was deterrent enough to keep us wrapped in quilts till the sun was high enough (That we were lazy was inconsequential before the canine excuse).
Prior to this mini-marathon, I had trained myself for a few days. Basically it meant two rounds on a flyover near my house. And the first day it ached and ached for days. Today to the calves are a little sore. But it was a fun run. And it is fun to run, especially when you have characters out of mythology for company [see pic above right].
There was freshly out of the ODI-squad ex-captain Rahul Dravid to cheer me and thousands of others on [see pic left]. Speaking of marathons, I would recommend the exploits of two marathon runners that I had written about before. Meanwhile, I should rest my aching calves and feet.
It is a little funny that the official Delhi Half Marathon website, at 5:40 PM on October 28 says that there are still over nine hours left to the event. I didn't know of a another marathon happening tonight. Evidence below:
Translating the below word by word is beyond my ability; if someone believes that he/she can do it, please do.
A couple of these were thrown inside the autorickshaw I was returning from work in. These visiting card-sized advertisements are quite popular with the practitioners of the 'supernatural' arts of black magic and the like. Such ads are also frequently found pasted on the panes of Delhi's city buses.
This Guru Saheb Ji Bangali (the Bangali suffix is common with the black magic men given Bengal's association with such 'arts') promises results within two hours and this would be backed by a 'guarantee card.' He also declares himself the uncrowned king of black magic.
All kinds of woes have their possible cures with him and announces his 'specialist status' in a few of the fields. Lovelorn couples are especially invited for consultation. Though the consultation fees are Rs 151, there is a Rs 100 discount on the presentation of the card. And visitors have to bring along two incense sticks.
Even the best of professionals in the non-magical fields cannot exude such confidence.
Cigarette packets in India are yet to get the skull and bones symbol, but the warning on this card - 'Black magic may result in death' - is accompanied by one.
The believers in black magic and witchcraft are many and include many from the upwardly mobile educated class. If only we had more faith in our abilities than such mumbo-jumbo.
[The contact details have been blurred on purpose]
I hail from one of the states that form what is referred to as North-East India, a cluster of states which 'mainland India' cannot or doesn't want to distinguish from one another, I live in Delhi and I would like a copy of the booklet - Security Tips for Northeast Students/Visitors in Delhi. I too want to know firsthand how 'others' want me to act like.
While the booklet might have been issued in good spirit, but it ends up sending the wrong message and gives further credence to the unfounded presumptions about people from the far eastern regions of the country that many in 'mainland India' harbour. The officer behind this initiative, Robin Hibu, is himself a north easterner and an IPS officer from the Arunachal Pradesh cadre.
I too had my share of experience of being an unknown Indian, but being a Bengali by ethnicity and the fact that I don't look like a 'chinky' (it is a derogatory and racist term) I'm spared many of the asperities that others have to face.
Since I'm yet to read the actual booklet and am basing my observations on media reports, I wouldn't like to comment much. But here are some excerpts from what appeared in the papers:
* A proud father sent his only daughter in Delhi to make her IAS/IPS but she returned back as drug addict, promising boy landed into police case for drunken brawl, late night parties with loud music landed six youngsters into police case, revealing dressed up parties lass was molested and thrown out from moving vehicle badly bruised after being outraged…
* Dress code: When in rooms do as Roman does (sic)
* Revealing dress be (sic) avoided. Avoid lonely road/bylane when dressed scantily. Dress according to sensitivity of the local populace
* Bamboo shoot, Akhuni and other smelly dishes should be prepared without creating ruckus in neighbourhood.
Anyone with a dress sense will agree to the fact that north easterners do know how to dress well (especially the females) and the connection between dressing and sexual harassment is something which The Blank Noise Project is trying to disprove.
Food is a personal choice as well as a cultural one. I savour the 'smelly food' and on my flight from home last night, a quarter of my luggage was occupied by the 'smelly' stuff. I don't like anyone else to dictate my food habits and would like it to remain that way.
The interesting observation that emerges from this controversy is that most of the time efforts are being made to assimilate the North East with the 'mainstream.' Why isn't there anything visible which strives towards making the 'mainstream' understand the North East better? Cultural hegemony...
The name National Capital Region (different from NCT) seems to exist only on paper and for the mobile phone networks. Spanning three states, it is just an excuse for incessant traffic jams and inflated property prices. For a poor non-vehicle-owning commuter like me, travelling across the NCR is a pain in the you-know-where. Delhi Transport Corporation buses do not enter Uttar Pradesh and UP no longer plies its vehicles into Delhi. Both sides impounded a number of the other's buses. Things are also not very good down south with Haryana. Delhi registered autorickshaws do not cross the interstate border into Gurgaon and the ones which agree to enter Uttar Pradesh demand a ransom. The overcrowded privately run blue-line buses and the infrequent chartered buses provide little respite.
In this urban chaos, there comes to the rescue an unlikely saviour - the call centre cabs. Infamous for their negligent and rash driving, these cabs are a boon to travellers commuting between Noida, Delhi and Gurgaon. The main motive might be money making in the sly by the drivers, but it also doubles up as 'social service,' providing cheap, fast and comfortable travel in a city which only has the metro rail to boast about in the name of efficient public transport (the high-capacity buses are too few and DTC drivers get their cut from their blue-line competitors for not picking up passengers). Rs 10 for any distance traveled and I like to add a little thank you for the driver, whose 'selfish motive' eases an otherwise arduous journey.
Depending on the size of the vehicle they drive, the drivers make anything between Rs 40-100 a trip. Often the cops demand a tenth-of-a-grand. The driver simply smiles, displaying his tobacco stained teeth, "Soochonga free mein lift de diya (I'll think that I've given a lift for free)."
Well, it was almost free for me. Rs 10 for a smooth ride from Noida to Dhaula Kuan and another tenner for Dhaula Kuan to Gurgaon (a distance of over 40 kilometres) and that too in only an hour's time.
There might not be many left at Trafalgar Square (readers from London will know better). But Delhi still has a lot of them, my white T-shirts drying in the sun bear evidences of their existence and properly functioning digestive systems. Here are a few from Connaught Place.
[For so long I was under the impression that story tips (inclusive of background material) were meant for the mainstream media people. Today, post lunch, when I found an email in my inbox, I thought that it would the usual ones that I get in the course of my day job. But the sender's email read cnn.com. "Why would CNN send an email to me?" Then I figured that it was actually addressed to this blog and they wanted me to post about something on their website. This little blog of mine is getting noticed. Sort of a feel good feeling. The language of such mails do act as a good ego booster.
Anyway, I'm not posting this as an ego tonic. But because I stay in the Delhi, can't exactly say how much I can relate to it and because Nandita Das is one of the actresses that I like. I even had (still have) a poster of her's adorning one of the walls in my room back home.]
Every city had a tale to tell; just the storyteller has to be good enough. Bigger cities like Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta have had more than their share. More not because all the stories that needed to be told have been told, but there are many cities and towns eagerly waiting for their chance. It is more likely for a resident of a larger city to know about the history of his/her city than an inhabitant of an 'insignificant' one. CNN's The Scene calls itself "The Insider's Guide to the World's Coolest Cities." At the last count there were 33 in all, including two of India's Bombay (Mumbai) and now Delhi. Filmmaker Yash Chopra did the honours for India's commercial and cinema capital and Nandita Das is now taking us on a Dilli Darshan. There's also a video, but that didn't play very well on my PC and ended abruptly.
Nandita Das' Delhi is "a city that sees all seasons." Well, except one. Rainy. The last four years that I've been in Delhi, I'm yet to see monsoon as it is described in the books. Maybe coming from rain infested Meghalaya makes the 'heavy showers' look like a trickle.
And there's the inevitable question. "How does Delhi compare to Mumbai?"
Helpful and interesting is the insider's tips section. Even you can share your suggestions. Here are a few samples and I wouldn't contest these:
"Some cities are plagued with pigeons; Delhi's influx of sandwich-snatching rhesus monkeys rampage around the government areas of the city (and occasionally destroy top-secret documents in the process). Look out for the langurs (larger black apes) brought in to scare off their simian cousins."
"If you do go in winter, make the most of 'Dilli ki Sardi' - the famous cold of Delhi. Muffle up in warm clothes, imbibe some hot tea and enjoy the spicy Indian food, which tastes wonderful in the cold. If you go in summer and the heat gets too much, do as the locals do and escape underground to the air-conditioned metro."
"If the weather gets sticky, quench your thirst with jal jeera, a cumin-spiced Indian lemonade or, if you fancy a bit more of a kick, try a rum and Thums Up (Indian cola)."
On the first look this morning's Hindustan Times and Hindustan looked like they had some fonts missing on their front pages. A closer look brought a resemblance to musical notes. It was an ad for the launch of HT Media and Virgin Radio's Fever 104 FM, taking the count of the channel's on the capital's frequency modulation to a dozen.
A friend asked me to set the FM channels on her mobile handset. It is quite difficult to remember the precise frequencies of so many channels. Therefore I searched and drew up a list of frequencies of FM radio stations in Delhi (might be of some help to FM hooked readers of this blog residing within the periphery of the National Capital Region - NCR).
List of FM Radio Channels in Delhi (NCR) (List sorted in ascending frequency of stations)
This service has been on for quite a while in Delhi but seems that not too many people are aware of this.
"How long will it take you to reach here?" If you are not a frequent traveller on the route, this is usually difficult answer the question.
The other day my brother called up. "Delhi's going to host the Winter Olympics," he joked. But for the people who take decisions on such matters in India might quite possibly be thrilled at the idea.
