Don't be surprised if I say I hadn't been to the original Delhi before last week. Saturday was meant to be THE DAY. Man-o-man, what a place! As soon as I got out of the Chandni Chowk Metro station, I rued not coming here earlier. The place is enchanting. About 15 minutes walk took me to the Sheesh Ganj Gurudwara with the Red Fort visible in the distance.


On one side lied the Paranthe Wali Gali, but that was for another day. I had different plans. After asking Rickshaw-waalas the way (weren't they supposed to be banned in the Walled City?), I reached the by-lanes of Chandni Chowk around Jama Masjid. You'll find everything there if you're an Automotive person or simply love machines... there's a row of shops dealing in just ball-bearings; then there are the people who sell wheels, alloys, doors, window glasses, bumpers, engine parts, axles, shock absorbers! All of this is supposed to be a chor-bazaar but I couldn't resist looking at all that metal :P

Half an hour of walking and I reached Gate No. 1 of Jama Masjid.


Right opposite to the gate lies the place that deserves to be on the cover of TIME magazine a hundred times more...


Karim :)


I have been to the branches at Lajpat Nagar and Vasant Kunj, but they're simply uncomparable to the original. You'd probably have apprehensions about the place by looking at the way, but trust me, its awesome! Tourists and the local janta flock the place 24x7. It took 15 minutes of waiting and about 5 dishes were ordered. The service is very prompt: maximum 10 minutes if you've ordered something like Keema Naan. I haven't had better Burra Mutton any other place, none whatsoever. I won't indulge into the eating process; it's just to experience, not to be told :)

So, after that unforgettable luncheon, I was on my way back; but this time via Chawri Bazaar. The bazaar's got everything... hardware stuff, paper stuff, all kinds of tools (I bought a Pruner even though I was tempted to try out the Chainsaw available but wasn't sure if I'd be allowed to take such a harmless household item in the Metro). Just next to this road is Nai Sadak, the book haven. I'll probably have a better look next time around. Delhi Metro has really changed the place for good: everything's become so convenient now.

So, I got down at CP, took the car and next stop was Karol Bagh. I hadn't been to Gaffar for 5-6 years now and was pleasantly surprised by its new(for me) look. There's literally godowns of mobile accesories, chinese phones et al. So, I started looking for a certain kind of shop. Everyone either said they didn't have the thing I was looking for or was quoting too high a price. I finally found a wholesaler kind of shop and the guy had it in white :)

So, I now have a white cover for my iPod that cost me just 100 bucks. Shweeet :)

Sunday is 'Swimming Day'.

So it seemed when I went to the DDA Sports Complex pool 3 days before: looked like there was water in a sea of people! In this mayhem of sorts, I decided to go about my business without the goggles on, neatly placed just above my forehead. So, amidst all the backstrokes and floating, I felt light-headed just 10 minutes before the closing time. Yup, you're intelligent enough- no goggles. Now, these were no ordinary piece of equipment. They had been modified courtesy Indian jugaad to suit my myopic needs. So, I informed all the management people I could manage to see (no pun people!). They assured me that they'd search the pool after all the people leave so that the water is steady. Even though I myself headed the search party, we were disappointed.

Next assurance: I was told that I'd get my lost item back when they deploy the sucker machine at noon; just one catch- no one should have taken it. So, I'd have to check back on Tuesday (Monday being off). Tuesday didn't turn out to be any better than Sunday. No goggles. Looks like someone did manage to scamper with it before I'd realized I was missing something. I had already told these guys that the goggles were of no use to any normal-sighted person.

What still baffles me is this: Is the fear of returning a stolen thing more than the fear while stealing it? I'm sure the guy would have realised by now that they're of no use to him. Goggles bhi koi churaane ki cheez hai kya yaar?! Inform me at the earliest if you find someone swimming as if he were hypermetropic and reads 'goggles' here as 'google' :D. So anyway, I'm now without eye protection. My new optical goggles from outside India will be with me soon enough (interestingly, they're not available in India... AFAIK).

I can proudly say that I'm one of the 488,506 downloaders of Firefox 3 from India :P
Here's a nice video I found about customizing 'fox...

Its a good compilation of the features on offer. I can't wait to edit the CSS!