Sunday, April 17, 2011

Salsa fever grips . is it just a fad ?

5 visits to Salsa schools in a lazy Sunday !! Depositing over Rs 1000 as token amount in 3 of them !! and 10 calls to schools teaching Social Dances !!! There should be some seriousness to the thought that strayed in my mind last night.. so am off set to create a Latin world within me .. I can already feel the blood of Incas throbbing in my viens .. Am I the Latin soul trapped in an Indian Body ? Or Do I look from Amazon too ? Well I guess the one in my mind screams that I belong to Rain Forest .. Don't I dance like Samba dancers?, don't I love soccer when Indians just cant get out of Cricket?, don't I love coffee than tea?, don't I look half African ? Hell yes !! Dios Mio !! I have been keeping my mind and thoughts in dark for so long , I swear by the mighty Amazon, I will bring justice.. and so I booked my next 8 Sundays and Saturdays to the jubilation of this new found discovery .. to the way we celebrate in Latin world, by Salsa, jive and Cha-Cha...

Latino Mundo ... In the process of creating my Latin world

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Bliss of Staying in Delhi

One country and 2 different worlds !! Delhi and Mumbai 2 vibrant mega cities of India and that is where the similarity ends. And people take time to adapt themselves if they move from one to another. My eyes almost glistened as I bid Mumbai adieu, at the Chatrapati Shivaji Airport .. with heavy heart and heavier luggage I plodded through the routine procedures and waited for the aircraft.. A blonde, in her late twenties, caught up conversation with me, from there to Delhi, chatting all the while, but I could hardly take myself out of the fact that I would hugely miss those vadapavs ( bread with smashed potatoes), local trains , the chatter, the night life, the incessant and unpredictable rains, Lonavala and the Ghats, and most importantly my buddies .....
I landed at Indira Gandhi Airport in Delhi and soon realized that as Shivaji would be name of every third road, airport, hospital . Indira-ji would be occupy the same pedestal in Delhi...
The first look outside Delhi was startling ... These weren't lanes, they were in fact mega highways from Mumbai standard, and the roads compared to Mumbai was smooth, looked lot deserted, the thinning traffic was quite bothering, instilling within the fear of being left alone .. and even though the vehicles plying were remarkably low, the animosity on road wasn't. Quite contrary to the brotherhood seen in Mumbai... there were honking, exchanging of stares that relayed message from " mind it " to " don't mess with me , am the king here" .....I reached my room at the hotel, tired and grieved and soon the day was all over .. Days went by now, Weeks passed and now its a month .. and as I discover Delhi .. I found that
a. It is the cultural capital internationally. Walk over to IGNCA, lalit kala academy, Habitat Center, and you could find a mini Sikkim , a mini Japan, a mini Germany or Brazil around.
b. Street Food is just awesome, could drive any one to finger licking.
c. Delhi is India's answer to Dubai, Singapore or Dallas in terms of public infrastructure.
d. If cops in Mumbai were greedy, the ones in Delhi are greedy and gangsters.
e. Delhi sleeps when bars in Mumbai open up.

You start conditioning yourself to sleep early because there is nothing else to do in those deserted, spectra wide roads, with abandoned food joints, with zero vehicle density, amidst the gangster cops... and this is one change that is slowly getting injected in me.. I am sleeping Early.