Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Delhi - Will you make Fraaaandship with me??

I just realised that 2011 for me began in Brighton, 2012 in Mumbai and now 2013 looks all set to begin in Delhi - my bags are forever packed and I'm always ready to go (but I have not travelled yet to celebrate New Year's anywhere) I'd rather be home ( mine or anyone else's and bring the New Year in quietly...and relatively soberly too! :)

2013 looks set to be a year like one I have not had before..it is true that I'm talking about 2013, a month after it is set in.. :) But then procrastination is the middle name these days..

So now I'm trying to make fraaaandship (friendship does not cover the hesitant overtures I'm trying to make) with Delhi...
  • Taaak the talk...waaaak the walk...mix hariyanvi lingo into my English to mix in with the masses, while wearing boots and make-up for a quick run to the mall ( I forgot to mention my little handbag!) to fit in with the only seen-at-the-mall classes! ( I kid you...I couldn't really do that! Ok, the boots is true..they are really comfortable..but all the rest is not true! I hop to the mall mostly for movies, when I'm in my natty boots with my Uni sweatshirt)
  • When you swear never to live in a city, be sure that the city is not listening and plotting to take vengeance...Delhi laughed its killer laugh when I landed bag and baggage, of that I'm sure.. I'm still quaking in my boots about Gurgaon's revenge - I had flatly refused to move to Gurgaon, wonder when that refusal will boomerang to thwack me in my face (someone up there is keeping a track of all that I swear I will NEVER do and ticking me off too saying NEVER SAY NEVER!) 
  • From the best pubs to explore, I'm thinking homely barbeques to ward the cold...I am brrrr-ing away without central heating ( just in case you wonder how I can crib after braving England through two winters) 
  • For a tie and dyed South Indian like me, Mumbai should have remained the final frontier, but then you realise that there is a big bad world out there ( read Dilli) - where the classes and the masses appear to be separated by a fort wall and a moat...I often feel that the Delhi that I see is not the Delhi that you see from a BMW or a Ferrari...similarly it must be very different when you look at it from one of those battered and dusty state buses that appear like sardine cans, packed to the hilt. 
  • Can I woo you to my side by saying the food is a big lure? That once you get to Delhi, you live to eat and not eat to live?? Kulchas, Chhole, Kebabs, Moong vadas, Mattar Kachoris..and the list just goes on and on...
  • That said, can I ask you to stay out of my face, Dilli? Polite request, don't punch me for that...Is it necessary for you to raise your voice, be rude because someone is taking three seconds more to take a turn? My eardrums still ring from the time you blasted them with a band because your nephew was getting married at midnight..
Every other day on Facebook, despite repeated filters and "I don't entertain strange friend requests" warnings that resemble "Keep away from this house, Dog inside" boards - I still get strange requests from people I haven't met, those who are 'acquainted' with me but I am strangely not, those who are serial Friendship Request dispatchers..

Today, I am sending out one for a change - Delhi - Will you make Fraaaaandship with Me?? 

I'll stay out of your face, just give me enough reasons to click Like on your current updates...


21 comments:

  1. Ah! now she writes...Dont worry rey..Delhi will definitely do Fraandship with you..I was there last week for half a day..its pretty cold..but people seem really warm no?

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    1. I'm not sure yet of the warmth..that's the reason for the tentative extending of the hand in friendship..the family is super warm..but I'm not sure of the junta I see around! And you were in Delhi, no beep to me?? Why?!!

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  2. My dear Deepthy,

    I have never liked Delhi at all, despite the number of times I have been there since the 1960s,
    when I was in school and my Uncle "Albert Pinto" was in Delhi as Chief Engineer, DESU.
    (Yes, he became famous after "Albert Pinto ko gussa kyon ata hai" came out in 1980).

    Fortunately I have never been forced to work there!!!! Best wishes.

    Peace and love,
    - Joe.

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    1. I am really trying to keep an open mind Joe and learn to love a city like getting to know a new partner.. :)

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  3. Delhi can be intimidating for a tie-n-dye Mallu who has lived in and loved Mumbai, but it is not mean or bad -- just loud and in-the-face, at times. You will soon get used to it and ask me, '...aur Aunty Nag?' as a greeting :D

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    1. aur Aunty Nag, Mumbai ke kya haalchaal? :D hehehe!! :) Time for you to head back to Delhi...People like you can make the city more palateable..Ohh btw, Amma and Achcha are coming.. :) Must try to see if we can all catch up for lunch/dinner.. :)

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  4. Ah back finally, from a long (self?) exile, I was wondering whether I lost someone else to procrastination.

    Interesting proposition, to make friendship, or a friend request as this social era calls it, with the City of Djinns. Do make wordy sketches (and foodlogs too) on sights and sounds of saddi Dilli, (as the often hashed wisdom of journey and destination applies to blogosphere pretty well, and your readers will love it)

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  5. Ah back finally, from a long (self?) exile, I was wondering whether I lost someone else to procrastination.

    Interesting proposition, to make friendship, or a friend request as this social era calls it, with the City of Djinns. Do make wordy sketches (and foodlogs too) on sights and sounds of saddi Dilli, your readers will love it, and it might bring a smile on your face too, when you read it years later. The often hashed wisdom of journey and destination applies pretty well to blogosphere pretty well too, it is the journey that is important...

    PS Commented earlier, some error

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    1. I tell you Analyst, I have caught the procrastination bug real bad. I thought I was bad earlier, but its worse now!! :) I plan to do a little Dilli Darshan for readers, through the eyes of the infidel! ( I mean anyone who isn't automatically impressed and turns faithful is an infidel, isn't she?? )

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  6. Jisha Kishore Kumar30 January 2013 at 13:08

    Hey, glad to see you back...was missing something all these days..:):) I was in Delhi only for 1 week some time back and maybe its too short a period to judge, but to be blunt, I didn't like it....or it didin't match the picture I've gathered about our capital city and its people through books and movies...heeeheeee

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    1. Jisha, just slowly getting back my blogging mojo.. I'm trying to find all things to love here.. hopefully I will find things to look forward to. As and when I do, I shall introduce you all to them too, so that we can slowly take a stocktaking later whether we need to revise our opinion about Dilli.. :)

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    2. Jisha Kishore Kumar11 February 2013 at 13:04

      Please do....I'd definitely love to see Dilli through your eyes..!!

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  7. Welcome back!! Dilwalon ki Dilli sabki hai ji...Waiting for interesting insights from you about saddi Dilli.

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    1. :) I see familiar names writing in and my heart skips a beat in joy! :) It's like re-connecting..And sorry as I am that we didn't meet while in Mumbai, I promise to try and make all your fraaanships with Delhi too as I woo it to my side.. :)

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  8. Good to see you back! Was wondering why you weren't posting. :)
    I loved Delhi when I visited it for a few days, a couple of years back. Loved the places, the history, the food, the shopping and everything in general. Of course, I understand, living there might be a totally different story altogether.

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    1. Shifting to Delhi took some time thegalnxtdoor.. :) Finally all settled.. :) Yeah living in Delhi is a different story altogether!! :)

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  9. My Father got a gun pointed at his face after trying to intervene on behalf of a girl who was being harassed.

    My father since has been paranoid.

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  10. Wait, I have this kiwi friend of mine who loves India. When she went to India, her E-Mail was flooded with proposition for the fulfillment of carnal desires. the euphemism they used was make friendship with me.

    Trying to imagine you as a pervie southie trying to make friendship with a whole city is quite hilarious.

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  11. Awesome stuff!! Keep it rollin'.

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  12. Hey there! Read your poem on RM's blog, and thought of you. You haven't been posting in a while. I have checked back often, and have missed your posts. Hope all is well with you, and that you get back to blogging soon. :)

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    1. Hey, so lovely to hear from you. Feel awful that I haven't been posting. In fact, I have hardly been writing either. But I will hopefully get back to blogging soon.. :) Thanks for writing in...

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