Akshardham Temple, New Delhi

My second visit to the Akshardham Temple after more than 10 years. It remains a wonder to the eye as it was when it was newly constructed.

I frowned that they did not let our mobile with us, the fact that the beauty and the grandeur of the place could not be captured.

But trust me it's not all that bad without the camera or the mobile. You see the people thronging there, you notice the diverse population that flocks in there, you understand how rich our culture is, how varied our interests are, how much pride we take in knowing our temples, you almost don't miss the camera and you don't care that the selfie was not taken.

The peace, the calm is beyond words and to add to that the absolute cleanliness which adds to the overall charm. You could keep walking or you could rest and reflect.

The shows are an absolute pleasure for both the young and the old, we show the world that we lead  both in technology and in spiritual progress.

The boat ride is an absolute must, it's like a fast track rewind of what we were and where we are. We led in every socio, economic or scientific fields.

The laser show was a delight, it was beyond beautiful. I don't know when they started doing this but during my visit in 2006, we missed the light show because of our time constraints. I hope by doing these shows, they keep telling this generation the value of our own tradition and how we must feel blessed to be born in this sacred land.

The Delhi tomato tadka appetite

Much as I love to say everything and anything against Delhi, I don't seem surprised that I do get new things to say anyway! This time it's the food and when it comes to food, Delhi has got many an option. But, but the fact of the matter is that you can't escape a Punjabi style, tomato tadka added to every food and that's where I would rather stay home and eat my favourite 'daal bhaat' sans tomato tadka.

Okay, here we go! Delhites will add onions and tomato to each dish they cook, you will literally see the oil floating and red chilli flakes swimming in there. And what's every Delhite's favourite dish, well it's Rajma Chawal of course. The pride they exhibit when they cook this dish or the excitement they feel at just the mention of rajma chawal is beyond all kinds of imagination. What's the next favourite dish? It's curry chawal ofcourse; oh what joy!!! And let me not miss 'Chole chawal'. Ok, that's the choice of dishes they have, well well, there is also a paneer speciality which I don't mind actually.

That's far as what Delhites cook, but let's come to what Delhites eat. They basically eat what they cook. They have not developed or will never develop any taste for any other food. When my mom or my sis-in-law prepares something special and we share it, the kind of reaction we receive from these few neighbours is as though they rather not look at it. It's such a pity! The other day someone at work said no to a dish simply because the looks didn't attract him. He even refused trying, pity isn't it how they refuse to come out of their shell?

Once we happened to visit Shirdi with some of these people who never want to change anything about themselves and though the rest of us wanted to taste Poha, these guys spent their morning hunting Paranthas. And you will not believe me when I say that once in an international flight, I have come across a family who demanded paranthas for breakfast.
And that's not it. When they cook Pasta or when they cook Dosa, they will not forget adding a tomato tadka and change the taste forever!

How Delhi has taught me to be rude

Among many other life's lessons, being rude is what Delhi was taught me to be. I don't know if that is good or bad but it's the general Delhi person's characteristic and I want to give them back to them in what they excel the most.

Whether its on the roads, on the metro or shopping or eating out, you can't escape. Not that I have not met good people, but exceptions are always there!

My most recent experience is that of someone who's busy with the IPL bets and everyday asks for my mobile to check on scores. Because of my inborn sense of decency and decency that I have inherited, I allowed that and that was the mistake I made. He used my mobile as though it was his own and allowing me some calls and even telling me to finish fast with my calls and messages. So, last week when I allowed him to browse the score while I was on the cal and used a headset, he wanted to scroll quickly and he was in such hurry that he forgot that I could also click on a link. It was then I had to give him a piece of my mind and tell him that the phone belonged to me. He returned it to me without any sense of apology and made me feel as if I had erred.  Delhites for you please...handle with care!!!

The New Delhi Navratra

  No no, I won't go into the details explaining what Navratra is all about however for the sake of those uninitiated, this festival is celebrated by the Hindus across India for nine days and twice a year! It is during this period that the Mother Goddess is worshipped, she who is the symbol of strength, of beauty and purity is worshipped in different ways.

My Delhi experience of Navratras makes me want to laugh! Everyone or more specifically almost all the ladies keep a fast and the manner is hilariously unique. They prepare all sort of dishes made of special ingredients and they munch these whole day. The entire concept of fast, that is resting your internal systems gets nullified even if we talk about the physical fasting. And God forbid my mention of spiritual gain by means of fasting, well the whole day most of these ladies do is think about food, pray tell me where God is?

Nirbhaya...RIP

They call her Nirbhaya...fearless that is!!!
Her life has made me feel the fear
Her life has made the city feel the fear
Her life has made the country feel the fear....
And the shame!!!
She was Nirbhaya because the country could not take care of her...
She was Nirbhaya because the culprits in the city are all nirbhaya, as in without fear(of law)
She was Nirbhaya because we are cowards...
She was Nirbhaya because I am angry and ashamed
Her life has made us feel the 'bhay' and is this why she is 'Nirbhaya'???
She was Nirbhaya because she still tried to live
She was Nirbhaya because her family will live the pain for ever
But for now, she will be 'Nirbhaya' in her grave!

My prayer

Do I pray for her to live?

Perhaps I will be an idealist and say 'yes! Live and fight' !!!

But I think I will pray for her to die once  rather than die every day she lives for the rest of her life...

I will not be able to go and console her, I will not be able to support her...nor will anyone else who prays for her life...

She will be left to herself, and no one to ask...she will die a thousand deaths...a thousand deaths everyday...

So I pray for her to die;  just once...

Delhi, I need an answer!!!

Is it the pain of being a girl, being a female or is it the pain of being weak? I do not have an answer as how to counter the pain, how to be brave and how to fight back. Well, Delhi proved it again that it might be the country's capital but it does nothing for its weak citizens. To top it all, the Delhi CM says she does not have the courage to visit the rape victim, says things are not in her jurisdiction; well why is she here? Why does not that lady resign and demonstrate some moral responsibility?
Truth is nothing will happen, the accused might get a few years of improsonment but law and order will not improve. I don't know how the common people will make a difference and I am searching for an answer. I would want to go on a hunger strike till justice is got but will my family allow that? Will I allow that to myself, leaving my family and work and taking to the streets? The answer probably is a 'No' and no it's not because I don't want to see justice done but because I do not have the courage and the time to spend on someone else.
What can I do? Sign petitions, change my profile pic on FB to display protest and not the last, be safe. But what we can also do is stop being dumb onlookers, reach our phone and call the police whenever we are in close proximity of such an incident but may be we won't do that either. May be we will want to reach our homes and stay safe there.

What do we do then? Stay indoors and reduce the city to a ghostly forest? Or we go out and own a gun, a knife and hit at anyone or anybody who has an ill intention? Is it about time we take the law in our own hands? But we won't do that yet, that point will happen soon when the saturation limit is crossed!!!

Why do I need a boy to travel to me if I am venturing out alone? Why can't I go to a late night wedding, stay sane and not come back home safe? Why do I need someone to pick me up from the airport everytime I reach late? May be I can achieve that if I settle in the west, drive and live by myself and love and live without being bothered? Ok, that might solve my problem but what happens to the country's problems? What happens to those girls who are dependent on their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons???
OK, vulnerable places and people are there everywhere but what does it take to punish the guilty? What proof is needed now? Probably some money has to flow from somewhere so that the guilty can be sent back to their sweet home and with a pat on their back to try it one more time.The 'Breaking News' has happened and now it's time to cool down people, time to get back to your work and life and wait for the next 'breaking news'.

And at these I wonder if my blog title 'Life is beautiful' is just a lie?

New Delhi

New Delhi is one of many homes for the universal me! What I love about Delhi are it's food and shopping options while what I don't like is the money craving nature of it's citizens.

The other thing that is kind of disgusting is the fact that Delhites know so little about the rest of the country. People whom they don't like are Biharis and people in any other states are South Indians! I am left speechless most of the time at this idiotic indifference and ignorance!

I hate the weddings where no one bothers if you have come, if you have eaten and actually no one bothers when the guy and the girl get married. It just happens when everyone is eating! It's so different in my part of the country where people push each other to get the best view of the exchange of garlands. And the host makes it sure that he personally tends to each guest.

The wedding invites are so elaborate! Recently I was invited by a colleague whose invite include the card attached to a box of almonds and raisins. How I hate this show!!!

People do 'Mata ki chauki' on the streets! What nonsense! Why not set up a small Puja place at home and offer silent and sincere prayers. I hate this showing off business!

Delhi also doesn't care for it's old people. Every now and then you hear of you old people found dead at their residence, being robbed or being left uncared for. The very reason is that they don't teach their children moral values in the same way that their parents never taught them. Delhites only crave for money and they will leave their parents to their own fate. What they forget is that they will be treated the same some day!

There are some things in Delhi though which becomes a trend suddenly. Take for instance the Chinese flower which you can see in every car. Well almost!

Another funny thing about Delhi is the people's inability to understand that there exists languages other than Hindi or Punjabi. My niece as she  is growing up is picking up her mother tongue Bangla. Delhites are so worried; she will not learn Hindi, how will she survive in school? We tell them that Hindi is something that she is going to pick up anyway, we fear she may not learn enough Bangla! Once we visited some friends and the lady of the house asked us if our parents were also Bengali. Good question! They tell us that we have made our little kid a Bengali. Now, do we have an answer???????????????????????????????????????

How do Delhites translate 'student' to Hindi? Bacchha...lol...u r a bachha even if  you are a post graduate  student bcos everyone who attends a class is a bachha :D

And come Diwali...every year it scares me to hell. I just can't bear the noise, the noise of the bursting crackers....it's just too much for me to bear. Not only this, the amount of money that Delhites spend on Diwali crackers could actually lit up some poor home and brighten some kid's future but no, no one will give to charity, instead they will show-off their wealth by burning crackers way upto midnight not only polluting the environment but also causing disturbance and hassle to children, old people and pets. When will they ever learn? And the mess after that is something which is better left untouched by the ones who created it in the first place. They will burn crackers near other people's houses and won't even care to clean it up after the celebrations are done.

And the money show-off does not end. It can even lead to killings. Read this and found it totally unbelievabale but yes, it is true- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Man-who-shot-Ponty-Chadhas-brother-Hardeep-identified/articleshow/17265156.cms

Read this and you will know what I mean about Delhi...disgusting!!! http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/onefortheroad/entry/why-indian-men-rape How can someone actually gather the courage for an henious act as this and get away! It pains me, pains me much to even think of the pain the girl is going through and why does these repeated incidents happen in Delhi, the country's capital?