Magical Monsoon and Delhi

Half way there in the challenge today.

Day 13. Letter M.

Staying in Delhi blesses you with seasons. Yes, I wrote we are blessed. Because many cities across the globe either never come out of the hot spell or are almost always under the snowing. However with global warming and environmental changes, the water compartmentalization of the seasons too around the world is getting blurred. So the summers start as early as March, monsoons go on till September-October and winters are shrinked to December-January. All said Delhi still sees all the seasons and you will always find people who have one of the seasons as their favorite and the one they hate putting up with!

So, being a true Delhiite, how could I not have my favorite?! And, given the title of the post, no prizes for guessing. I heart monsoons!

In Delhi, we are a very different lot. By the time it is June and the temperature is touching 50 degree Celsius, we pray to the One Above for rains, pray for an early monsoon. And when we see an over-clouded sky followed by a downpour, we update our Facebook status with the first rain pictures, about how the weather is so romantic that we want to go for a long drive, at that very moment all we want is a kadak masala chai with pakoras. This romance doesn’t last long though. We soon crib about the water-logging, traffic snarls at major traffic intersections, power-cuts and many other things that can possibly be blamed on the monsoon! Then, we start praying for the rains to end and winter to set in.

I agree there are problems when it rains in Delhi but the same happens in Mumbai too and Mumbaikars (atleast all those I know) love the monsoon there! My point is why to crib and sulk and blame it on the weather, when you know there is no escaping the thundering of clouds, the pitter-patter of raindrops and the water-logged roads.

All the seasons would have different emotions attached to them; monsoon is about romance and old-fashioned love. It doesn’t mean if you are single (like me) you don’t enjoy the weather. It is about feeling happy and comfortable around the familiar. The over-cast sky, unpredictable rain, the smell of earth soaked with rain, a nice song playing on radio with a coffee mug and some fried goodness in your hands, it is such a feel-good and comforting weather to be in.

 

Some pictures I took at different points of time in monsoon, almost 3 years apart:

Majestic Connaught Place on a beautiful rainy evening. View from my office situated at the 12th floor.

Rain washed India Gate.

And moi, on my birthday last year when it rained all day! Could I have asked for more?? :-)

Glimpse of a ‘Women only’ coach in Delhi Metro

Day 7. Letter 'G'.

Back in October 2010, in the backdrop of the Commonwealth Games, Delhi Metro started the concept of ‘women’ coach with the first coach reserved for women. During one of the early days of this new idea, I was traveling in metro, obviously in woman’s coach, and the coach was getting crowded by every passing station. In that commotion, we heard two women shouting at each other in a fight to grab a seat. And then, one aunty sitting close by commented, “With the fights we know we are in a woman’s coach. Do you expect women to be in a coach together and not have a fight?”

Traveling in the women’s coach is nothing short of an experience. 

A peek-a-boo into a ladies coach of Delhi Metro shall be like: 

• There are college-going girls, office-going ladies, and women going back home after doing wedding shopping from Chandni Chowk…

• Women of all shapes, sizes, colors, languages, faiths, age groups can be seen squabbling for the seat  

• Usually, they all are broadly involved in either of the 6 things while travelling – listening to music, reading a book/newspaper, loudly chatting in a group, holding a kid, alone and looking at others or sleeping

• The books they read are usually a chick-lit, a classic Jane Austen and some are seen reading religious books

• They all believe that they will fit in whatever little space there is on a seat (butt size no bar!). As soon as gates open and the crowd barges in, you can hear ‘please shift a little’ or ‘please adjust a little’ in many voices, baritones. They will sit uncomfortably, and so will those who ‘shifted’. But that never deters anyone from asking for a ‘shift’

• Women, who don’t get a seat even after the ‘adjusting and shifting’ bit, keep staring at those sitting, with eyes that spell ‘revenge’! Really!

• There is always some woman who opens her tiffin to have her breakfast (despite the ‘no eating in the metro’ sign)

• You may find a pregnant woman or an old lady standing and looking at others to offer them seats, because the seats meant for them have been occupied by some other young girl who has her ear-plugs on and pretends she is sleeping. That way, she won’t be woken up from the slumber to vacate the seat, you know.Smart move

And when you see men standing on the boundary of second coach and looking at the coach full of women, the look on their faces reminds me of the guys who roam around a girls college to catch a glimpse of  girls or their girlfriends!

Delhi – for all the reasons and seasons

Day 4. 'D' it is today.

I have been a Delhiite all my life. I claim to know the city well, yet there remains something to explore everyday. 

This talk of Delhi being the ‘rape capital’ of India disturbs me every time I read about it in the paper. I am not disagreeing to the statistics or the general sentiment people have about the city. Yes, there are issues that need to be addressed pronto like women safety, civic sense, education, health etc. but come on! Which city in the whole world can claim to be completely safe and happy for its inhabitants? There are cities across the globe with worst such numbers. Yes, we are recording horrendous number of crimes against women. And everyone, including media, just keeps bashing up ' 'Delhi' and blaming it for everything. But let me tell you what I believe in. It is not Delhi. It is never a city. It is the people. It is us or one of us who shames his family and the city. 

Delhi is like any other city if you just take it as that. If you are new to the place, you take the same usual cautionary steps that you would if you are new to say a Chennai or a Jabalpur. If you are visiting Delhi, you come with the same checklist of traveling safe like you would in any part of the world. Delhi is as safe or as unsafe or as normal or crazy as the rest of the world. Seriously!

I am writing this to tell you what all there is to love in Delhi. And I am in a correct position to write this because I know the city well, I travel everyday to work using public transport and at odd hours. Not proud of it but have a job hazard. So, whatever plus the city has in my eyes means a lot to me.

• Delhi truly is a food lover’s haven. From lip-smacking chaat, chhole bhature and Nihari on the streets to Dal Bukhara and Sushi served in five star hotels, food just gets better
• Warm and helpful people (And with this I can see a few heads shaking in disbelief!)
• Delhi Metro!
• Connaught Place 
• Our version of Chinese cuisine, Chinjabi so to say!
• Inexpensive fashion and style @ Sarojini Nagar market and Janpath
• Festivals and festivities! Delhi is at its best from Durga Puja to Diwali. I personally feel one must experience the city then. It is incredibly beautiful, lighted, shopping, hogging on delicious food in Pujo pandals and Diwali melas and happy people all around. And you must overlook the traffic jams caused by cars laden with Diwali gifts because it is all so nice and happy and the pollution level of the city on Diwali night, which I guess is coming down with some awareness setting in
• Seasons! Oh yes you read me right. As much as I may crib about the horribly hot day in May or a grey, foggy January morning, I am very used to this change of seasons. Its kind of comforting. That my favorite seasons are just a turn over. My favorite being Monsoon and Autumn. I love the rains though there is nothing in it like Bombay boasts of but that’s what we have got. Might as well love it! And Autumn is the best time to be in Delhi with the pleasant weather and Diwali around the corner

Trust me, Delhi is a wonderful city and I feel if I were to be a city, I would be Delhi. Its warm, vibrant, happy and whacky at the same time.

And a song from the movie Delhi-6 describes Delhi as ‘ye shehar nahin mehfil hai’. Really!