Wednesday 31 October 2007

Delhi-Agra Trip. Day 2: Friday

Guppy turns out to be right after all. It is slightly cold in the morning. Brr.
Ma has a meeting. Trust her to come up with work to do. Guppy and Divya leave for office. Divya supposedly has a meeting at 9. By the time they both leave, it's 9.45.
Show some professionalism, guys! :)
Ma and I drive to someplace called Vasant Vihar. Mean looking auto driver giving me looks from his auto. Snap! I take his picture. He looks even more disgruntled now. Luckily, the car begins to move, before he can think of anything erm...violent to do.
Ma goes off for her meeting. My stomach is rumbling. I buy a packet of Lays' American Style, and munch on the chips. Magic Masala not available. Waah! Me want Magic Masala. Aah well. I take a short walk around the neighbourhood. There are some shops. People try to lure me in to buy salwar kameezes that look like they're made of sequins! I mean- where's fashion taste when you need it?
I get lost for five minutes. It's a nice feeling. The area's a pretty good one. I find my way back to the car. Who was it who said I had no sense of direction? In your face! Ha!
And now it's time to go meet Guppy's colleague and bosses for lunch. We go to this great little place called Ego-Thai. Not too big, not too small- not too swanky, not too casual. Just right, as Goldilocks would have said. I have the most amazing mocktail ever. It's made of mixed fruit juice. We order red curry, green curry and rice for lunch. They had more fancy names, obviously- but they've slipped my mind now.
Tito-da and Vikash-da are very nice. They're Guppy's bosses. Vikash-da says I'm even prettier in person than I look in photographs. Ahem. He also says I'd do pretty well as a copywriter in O&M should I ever want to join. A job opening available- *whoops with glee*.
Gora is adorable. He and Guppy look like brothers. Lunch is a very enjoyable affair.
Then everyone pushes off to their respective places, and Ma and I set out for Indira Gandhi Memorial. The place is thick with history. If you've been there, you'll know what I mean. If you haven't, well- do go. It's worth seeing. We see the fragments of Rajiv Gandhi's clothes, and Indira Gandhi's sari. If you squint a bit, you can actually see the bullet holes where she was shot. The compound is really big. And then we see the place where she was shot. Unbelievable.
We buy a few key chains with this really nice line: "I don't understand how anyone can be Indian and not be proud." Courtesy Mrs. Gandhi.
The place really wakes me up. There's so much to be done for the country. I come back to the guest house all patriotic and inspired.
I don't want to become stagnant. I want to learn as much as I can, do as much as I can, and experience as much I can. Some of us have such great opportunities and exposure. We need to make good use of it.
And next on the list is Red Fort.
Old Delhi is amazing. The people are so unbelievably different. Red Fort itself is HUGE. Buying the tickets and putting my bag into the locker takes quite a while- but oh, it's SO worth it. There's a little market inside, selling all kinds of knick-knacks, bags, and many other things. We see Diwani-Am and Diwani-Khas. What beautiful architecture. How did people come up with such amazing things?
Then it's back to the guest house- Guppy orders a pizza at night. From Slice of Italy. It's really yummy. The cover is just too creative for words. It's of an Italian newspaper, with a 3-D effect of a slice of pizza coming out from it. Guppy's boss has made it.
Slice of Italy, you've simply GOT to open an outlet in Calcutta! Yeah, I know I said that about Nirula's too, but I feel the same way!
Ma looks at Divya's legs and says, "Sexy!" Divya is slightly scandalized. A bit scared too, judging by her expression.
I'm too full for dinner. Time to go to bed. Long day tomorrow.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bullet holes or moths?

Ephemera said...

oh u r in delhi...hmmm enjoy it superficially..its facades and that's all dont look beyond its a bit too hideous to be true

AbhijanB said...

trust neelu to lighten it up with a mothman-like enquiry.

but i shall not read your blogs anymore.
too many inferences to tasty food that my cornflakes and bread-butter filled tummy cannot handle the pressure of.