Birds-ctasy!

A little rain in the night meant that it wasn’t a very bright morning, so it was all very well that our plan got delayed. We were to reach the Ridge near the polo grounds by 7.30 am, but reached only at about 8.45 am.

A little bit of mist was still there in the air, as we turned our car into the first left after the statues of Gandhi Ji and his followers at the end of SP Marg. It was going to be our very first birding jaunt in this part of the Delhi Ridge. Right after the turning there were a few tenements of construction labourers, whom we asked for directions. We were told that the army polo ground was just down the road.

We drove over the rough road, and suddenly came upon a large regal tree, and the polo ground behind it. Oh the joy of discovering a beautiful place which is so near yet so completely hidden from us. The polo ground and the area around it was like a wind-blown hill station, especially on that winter morning. We got out of the car, and were struck by the crispness of the air and the sheer beauty of nature all around.

The tree next to the polo ground

We walked along a motorable road lined by tall trees, with the polo ground on our left and inviting forests to our right. We could hear a variety of birdcalls right away, and there were so many, that we quickened our steps to get into the forested area.

The road leading into the forested ridge

Birds, trees and butterflies at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park! - A Photo Walk.

It was a dreary January 1st 2011, when at about 8 am, we set out for the Yamuna Biodiversity Park. We had only seen the directions on the website of the biodiversity park, and went straight on the ring road after the ITO crossing, looking for a place where the road was split into two by a divider. We found it and took a right turn over a 'nalla', and entered the lane alongside the 'nalla'. This lane was supposed to take us to the biodiversity park, and was also supposed to have a few signboards. There were no signboards, and it took many turns and twists before taking us to the biodiversity park. 

We had taken the wrong turning after the divider. We should have gone on straight on the ring road and taken a right turn after a petrol pump, where there was a signboard of the Yamuna Biodiversity Park.

Not withstanding that, we came to a road that went alongside the Yamuna river. On this road, we saw some pretty interesting areas where birding could be a possibility. Finally after reaching a place called Jagatpur, we reached the biodiversity park.

The time was 8.55 am, and we walked into the gates. We were met by a few grizzled old men sitting around a small bonfire. They told us that we could not enter the park wihtout permission or without the scientist-in-charge being there. However an old man was very helpful, and made a few calls, and on contacting one of the people in charge, he allowed us to go for a small round with one of the men  there.

The man told us that there were many snakes in the park, and in the summers they are often seen on the paths, which is why it was mandatory to go with someone from the park. 

We set out, and the first thing we saw was a signboard about the nursery.

A sign board that captures the basics of the park 

It was a cloudy day, but the park was looking wild and inviting.

The wilderness is taking shape

A very large area and clear walking routes

Thick undergrowth perfect for small mammals and birds

We saw some interesting plants, including cactii.

From cacti to all kinds of exotic flora

Arctic chemical waste dead poison river drain Yamuna - A Photo Walk!

It was a cold December morning, and we reached Okhla Bird Park. We stepped on to the bamboo bridge that joined the main path to watchtower no. 2. It was a sturdy and exciting bridge.

We walked to the watchtower and a little beyond right up to the water, but there were very few birds around. A purple heron was waiting to catch some fish.

Seeking more excitement, we came back from the watchtower and drove down the road that goes along the water body and on to the Kalindi Kunj main road. Surprisingly, there were a huge number of swallows flying over the water.

There were quite a few black headed gulls too.

We drove onto the main road and turned into the lane that goes along the 'nalla' flowing parallel to river Yamuna. We wanted to get aboat ride, but the fishermen there had shifted across the river on to the other bank. On the way back we saw a rapotor perched on a tree, it lookde like a Serpent Eagle but finally we agreed that it was nothing more exciting than a Black Kite.

On reaching the other bank, after driving into the road that heads out towards 'khader', we negotiated with a fisherman to take us around on the river. We stepped into the boat amidst an arctic landscape. It wasn't snow or ice though, it was industrial affluent foam that had formed a thick layer over the river water.

How to reach Yamuna Biodiversity Park - with photos, landmarks and contact number!

We made a few mistakes while reaching Yamuna Biodiversity park, so I thought I could take a few pictures to help others reach it (many were taken on the way back so are unclear, still they might help).

The basic route as currently given on websites and blogs is something like this, directions to Yamuna Biodiversity Park, Delhi:

Go along the ring road straight down ISBT (kashmere Gate), for a couple of kilometres beyond Majnu Ka Tila. Go towards Wazirabad, till you come to the big Wazirabad crossing (for ID – there is short divider here which splits the straight-going lane into two). Carry on straight and then take a right after the Wazirabad crossing. Go across a nalla. Once on the other side, take a left so that you are running parallel to the nalla. Now, look out for and follow the Yamuna Biodiversity Park signboards. Take a right again which will lead you to the Yamuna Biodiversity Park.

HERE ARE THE UPDATED DIRECTIONS FOR YAMUNA BIODIVERSITY PARK:

Go straight along the Ring Road pass ISBT, keep going straight till you come to the Wazirabad Crossing.

                                                        On the left it says Wazirabad! 

                                              The Road Directions near Wazirabad crossing!

At this point a divider appears on the road that splits the road in two, however there is a lot more too. There is construction happening on a large scale, and there are screening boards on both sides.

Fishing, birding, bathing and beering!

A trip to Marchula and Bhikyasen in the Corbett area.

We started from Noida at about 11.30 am, after several false starts. A critical component of the trip was going to be the incredible photography equipment that my friend KP from Bangalore had got along. Incredible by my standards, as the best I ever had was a Nikon digital camera that had 10X optical zoom.

He had a Canon D40 digital SLR with a plethora of lenses, including a 100-400 Canon, 70-300 Sigma, wide angle, 60 mm Canon besides several other lenses and accompaniments like filters, extenders and what not. The second most critical component of the trip was of course going to be the two fishing rods that he had also got along.

As we began to do the final loading of the bags in the car, which was a very complex task indeed, KP suddenly realized that he couldn’t find the battery of the camera. This was serious as not finding the battery, would render all the above mentioned equipment useless and our trip would be a disaster even before we set out. As for the camera’s battery, it was playing truant the second time. That very morning I had picked him up from another friend’s place, and there too at the time of leaving he had left the battery of the camera behind, and we had to turn the car back, search for it and bring it reluctantly along. The whole house including maids and helps went into a frenzy looking for the tiny grey black camera battery. After a few minutes the consensus was that it had got absent mindedly packed into one of the bags. We quickly got all the bags back into the house, and one by one started to unpack them. After ten minutes it was found inside a slot in the big camera suitcase. There was general joy and we got everything back into the car, and set out.

The journey was comfortable for a while, but then the roads began to crumble. The entire route had been a relatively smooth one until a few months back, but the recent rains had made large stretches of the road into stretches of potholes with occasional islands of intact road. Nevertheless, our spirits were high and we chugged along. There were frequent sightings of this bird and that, but we didn’t stop, our destination was many miles away and we didn’t want to do too much of night driving.

As we drove, KP mentioned that most of the towns that we passed looked like belched out industrial slag, and I agreed whole heartedly. We could see an inhuman desperation on the faces of the people who lined the roads as we passed through town after town. At places where it was particularly bad, we even imagined what it would be like to live there, and came to the conclusion that to be happy in life, each of us should spend 3 compulsory months running a hardware shop and living in such a town, so that we can better appreciate our so called terrible lives in Delhi and Bangalore respectively.

We stopped for a sad bit of lunch and a Thums Up bottle at a road side dhaba. Their toilet was well marked as ‘to let’. We ate very insipid yet chilly hot food, and then set off again.


Waiting for food at the lunch stop!


The toilet that was to let :)

The coal basket and the Bhagavat Gita!

This is a story I got by email, I thought I should share it with all of you!

An old farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson.

Each morning grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavat Gita. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavat Gita just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagavat Gita do?"

The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time", and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house.

The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See grandpa, it's useless!"

"So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.

"Son, that's what happens when you read the Bhagavat Gita. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Lord Krishna in our lives."

How to keep your peace with you!

This is going to be a short post, because it is very simple to keep your peace with you, even in the most difficult and trying circumstances. 

Forgive. And as quickly as possible, forget. But don't you dare forget the lesson. The lesson being to completely and totally avoid those people and those situations/circumstances. 

You either have to forgive someone or you have to forgive some situation/circumstance, and you can keep your peace with yourself. If someone makes you angry, in the quickest time possible, forgive that person. You are stuck in a bad situation or your circumstances are such that you are greatly troubled. As soon as the situation or circumstance ends, forgive the whole thing.

And you will be a peaceful person most of the time. There are also times when you have to forgive yourself. Just forgive. And let peace reign supreme.

Bombastic self important buffoons!

Everyone's met them, everyone's had to deal with them.

They have the loudest voice, they are completely and insanely focussed on themselves, and they are devoid of human emotions. And in their narrow minded quest to fulfill their bloated demented egos, they can do anything. Willingly destroy their own children's happiness, scare little toddlers so that they can feel important and powerful, attack the weakest to feel strong themselves. And if you manage to place yourself within their circle of influence, they will hound you till you decide to leave the premise, the neighbourhood, the town, the state, the country and even the planet if that were possible. They are God's way of teaching us patience and tolerance.

So, long live the bombastic self important buffoons.

Is life such a big deal?

You are born, you grow up, you die. Ahem... the end? Nope, I don't think so. It can't be. All this struggle with inner and outer demons lasting your whole life so that you can turn into food for earthworms. Doesn't quite add up. There has to be more to life than living. We are not organisms destined to breed and spread. We can't be. So you became very successful, you made a lot of money, you wielded a lot of power. So what do you do with all of that in the end, feel worthy. Worthy for whom? Yourself? You mean to say you did all of this so that you could prove something to yourself. Oh my God, that's a humoungous waste. Just be happy with the way you are, you'll save yourself a lot of unnecessary pain and frustration. 

So what's the point? Why are we here, and what are we here for?

And here I will tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was a housefly who wanted to become the most awesome housefly ever. And he practised being an awesome housefly and being a perfect housefly. And he did become the best housefly there ever was. And then the housefly died. One man who had noticed that this housefly had become the greatest ever housefly, decided to write a book about it. He did, and the book became a bestseller, and the man became famous and rich. Then the man died. But he was remembered for years afterwards as the man who wrote the book about the greatest ever housefly. But this whole episode in the housefly's and the man's life wasn't a big deal really. But the housefly was happy while it lived and the man was happy while he lived, and that was a big deal for both of them.

So, if you live the best way you can, you'll be happy in your life. But it's no big deal really. Try to live happy, and let live happy. Happiness is better than unhappiness. If you have a mind that can unravel mysterious thoughts then you will find deep meaning in these words. Else you can just chill and be happy. And don't blame me if you feel you've read something that didn't quite add up, nothing in real life does anyway. 

Anjaana, Anjaani and me!

Watched the movie, wouldn't say its average, so would put it at slightly above average. Ranbir and Priyanka look good, and the plot is considerably different from the usual fare. The shots of the US are quite nice and some scenes were quite funny. I would say, its just about worth a watch! It was 15 minutes too long, but managed to tackle 3 hours pretty okay.

So, if you've got nothing fantastic to do, you could go and watch it. Priyanka is nice eye candy. And now to get back to my existential dilemma...

Hyper-metro-surrealism!

From eyeing possible seat vacaters to nodding off holding your satchel, the metro ride is a study in abstract art. The crazed crowds in the metro mega station where all trains converge to the sheer contrast of the wind blown emptiness of a train heading home late in the evening. I can't make up my mind about the metro, sometimes I feel it is a wake up call to open my mind to the diversity of human kind and sometimes I feel it is a crushing force that stuns you by its whims and vagaries.

The metro in Delhi is like a force of nature, and we the metronomes who ride the metro are slaves to its mesmerising power.  

Posting via email

Yup, this one's posted via email. 

It's very simple, just log into your blogger account, go to settings and then click on the email and mobile tab. You will then find an option to complete the name of the email account where you will have to send an email to, to post automatically on your blog. Now, put in your 'SecretWord' and then from any email account at all, just send in the email. 

If your email account tends to add some extra bits of stuff at the bottom of the email, just add #END at the end of your post.

We'll I am testing this out so lets see how it goes!

Waiting for the watchtower

I was pacing up and down the road in front of my house. Everything was ready, I had woken up by 5 am and was ready to go by 5.15. All my books, binocs, water bottles, paper devices et al were ready. So what was stopping me from going to Okhla Bird Sanctuary.

Disorientation due to slow speed was.

A friend who stays a few kilometers away was to join me and we were to proceed together. He had decided to cycle down to my house, and it turns out, he lost his way because landmarks and turns came much slower than usual (i.e. when he drives). It was an unusual case of disorientation due to slow speed.

Anyway, a half hour delay later we were off. At 6.10 in the morning the freshness in the air and the freshness in the mind is something else altogether. The photographer duo were already there, happily chattering way about this that and the other, and of course settings of their cameras, angles, colour versus black and white and aperture versus speed.


Early morning the bird sanctuary looks pristine and inviting

We went straight for watchtower no. 1. Up till the great Peepal tree, we only saw crows. Once in the grassland after the temple, the air was abuzz with bird songs. There were prinias and babblers everywhere, but that was almost it. A few pied mynas, crows, a pied bushchat or two, and prinias and babblers.


A crow's profile (Copyright Yamini Chandra)


Striated Babbler (as corrected by Ramit, thanks!) in flight (Copyright Yamini Chandra)

As I walked into the grassland following the trail to the watchtower, suddenly there was a disturbance in the tall grass to my left and out came a dog. Earth brown in colour, with liquid hazel eyes and a wistful expression, the dog wordlessly looked at me, and came forward a few steps and then signaled me to follow.


The leader of the pack takes a water break

‘Why don’t the birds pose?’, ‘Half naked forest guards!’ and other bird watching revelations!

There were four of us this time. Peer pressure forced me to get out on time, and we were at Okhla Bird Sanctuary at 6.15 in the morning. The first thing everyone noticed was the sizzlers of OBP, and there was talk of birds roosting and then ‘roasting’ on the electrical wires. In very bad taste, but the wires do sound like they can fry an African elephant if it flies up and perches on one of them.

Two of my friends had super professional cameras, one a Canon DSLR and one a Sony DSLR, both with 80/300 zoom lens.


A beauty of a butterfly (Copyright - Yamini Chandra)



Yellow Bellied Prinia

There was an air of excitement, early morning freshness and birds everywhere. There were clicks galore from the two bird photography enthusiasts, accompanied by remarks like - ‘Whaa where did the bird go…’, ‘Oye yaar it flew away…’, ‘Why don’t they stay still for a second…’, ‘The birds are telepathic…’ etc etc.

That’s when the revelation hit them, ‘When bird watching. Especially when taking photos, birds don’t pose, they fly away just as you are clicking’.

There were frantic discussions between them on shutter speed, lighting, settings, zoom, manual focus et al, and meanwhile birds were flitting away everywhere.


Striated Babbler (Copyright - Yamini Chandra)

In my capacity as most experienced bird watcher I was pointing out rarities like pied mynahs, jungle babblers, ashy prinias, green bee eaters, purple herons, common moorhens and others, which drew ‘ooohs’ and ‘aahs’ as I puffed out my chest and experienced ‘renowned bird watcher’s’ pride.

The curse of R, birdwatching, deceptive cellphone alarms and an angry bull

11.30 at night my friend R, ditched me in favour of a night of binging (who can blame him?). I decided to change plans from Yamuna Biodiversity Park to Okhla Bird Sanctuary. I taunted and teased R in an attempt to get him to come along, but he was helpless in the face of alcohol and women. I think at some point he wished me ill, and I brought upon myself, the curse of R.

I set the alarm to 5.29 am, 5.31 am and 5.35 am, and prepared to sleep.


Alarm Timings


Suddenly a few minutes after midnight I got a wave of inspiration to do something about a perpetual problem with my digital camera. When I am in sunlight or even bright light I can’t see the display. Which means that I can’t see the picture that I am taking, which means that I cannot take a picture. So I set about making a cardboard device to solve my problem. A pen, a pair of scissors, an old cardboard folder, scotch tape and a metal scale (which I found much later) were at my disposal. I first made a dummy with some white paper, made some minor changes to the die, and then constructed the all-light-digital-camera-display-enhancer device. I proudly reproduce it here. It may look simple, but I had to make pretty precise openings for the camera strap, the clicking and zooming switch and for sliding in the camera.


all-light-digital-camera-display-enhancer device


all-light-digital-camera-display-enhancer device another view


all-light-digital-camera-display-enhancer device yet another view


all-light-digital-camera-display-enhancer device aaargh yet another view

Well the great thing was that it worked wonderfully, I could take pictures in bright sunlight. But then the curse of R was upon me. Three things contributed to my not reaching Okhla Bird Sanctuary before 7.30 am.
1) The cellphone’s alarm was highly deceptive and I forgot to change the setting to every day, instead of weekday, as displayed below:


Deceptive alarm settings that regularly deceive me

How not to plan a bird watching jaunt

There are two main approaches to Sultanpur bird sanctuary, one that goes through the Hero Honda Chowk on NH8, and the other that goes through Bata Chowk, Bus Adda and Farrukhnagar. The last time I and a friend, who is a new birding enthusiast, took the Hero Honda Chowk route. We missed the Chowk and overshot by several kilometres, back-tracked and after a few minor detours reached Sultanpur. This time however, a very helpful gentleman at IFFCO Chowk (the crossing where the main Gurgaon Mall Road meets the NH8), advised us to take the shorter and easier route through the Bus Adda and Farrukhnagar. Both of us being terrible navigators, we felt thrilled to have found a much easier and better route to Sultanpur bird sanctuary. As we chatted excitedly about the birds we might see in Sultanpur and some that we saw as we drove along, including Indian Grey Hornbills and Indian Rollers, we suddenly found ourselves in an area that seemed extremely unlike the route to Sultanpur. A kindly gent, who proceeded to take a lift with us, informed us that we were about nine kilometres off-route, headed towards nowhere in particular.


Indian Grey Hornbills


Wood Sandpiper

We made two critical errors in our bird-watching jaunt. First, we didn’t decide beforehand where it is that we would go and do our bird-watching, and second, we didn’t bother to get detailed directions to our destination (reasonably difficult on this particular occasion as we didn’t even know where we would head out). Anyway, we reached Sultanpur at about 10.30 in the morning, whereas we should have ideally reached the gates of the sanctuary by about 6.30 am ( at this point I would like to add, that we started late, our rendezvous happened at Saket at 7.45 am, after which we had spirited discussions about where we should go birding).


Common Moorhen (Thanks to Pankaj, have corrected this!)


Disapproving Common Moorhen (Thanks to Pankaj, have corrected this!)

Naturally, I emphasise, naturally, our bird-watching results were dismal. We saw very few birds. The general conclusion was that they had all retreated to the highest branches and the most hidden parts of the most inaccessible trees

Bad Birding Pictures, Good Birding Trip

I have a 6 mega pixel Nikon S4 digital camera, that is as good or as bad as most digital cameras, except for a decent 10X optical zoom, and a swivel screen.

That said, I can now be forgiven for the quite sad to very sad quality of pictures that I took of birds I saw during a recent birding trip to Pangot.

The Jungle Lore Birding Lodge in Pangot, is such a wonderful place to holiday in, and if you are a birder (or are trying to become a birder, like me), then it is heaven on earth.

It is about 15/20 kilometers from Nainital, ahead of Kilbury. The road leading to Pangot, from the point where it turns off from the main Haldwani Nainital road, itself is a high. A meandering badly maintained but safe road that sees not more than two vehicles an hour, it goes through beautiful forests and swerves along streams and then reaches the hamlet of Pangot.


Red Billed Blue Magpie



I’ve been to Pangot many times, and sadly each time there is a little bit more construction around the Jungle Lore Birding Lodge. I feel a little bit sadder, but it remains and will remain a fabulous getaway. Just a few cottages, very carefully placed on a hillside, with just the right balance of trees, shrubs, open space and natural beauty.

As it happened on almost every visit to Pangot, there was an expert birding guide in the lodge, and he was relatively free. As soon as he saw my binocs hanging from my neck, he asked me if I was a birder. I replied with a ‘uh uh… kind of…’ answer, and told him that I was a very keen learner.

Ganesh was from Nepal but shifted base to India about seven years back and has since been working with Mohit Agarwal, who runs the lodge and several other nature-laden properties across India.

I sat in the porch of the main wooden kitchen cum dining cum meeting cottage, and started to spot birds. Ganesh was busy for some time, so I walked a little downhill and sat on a quaint little bench amidst trees and shrubs and low bushes. As I looked around, I saw a beautiful green bird with orange around the edges of its wings (Orange Flanked Bush Robin). I got clicking, getting some awful pictures, what with auto focus, that usually focuses on the background, lighting problems that doesn’t let any photo be taken unless it is bright sunlight and the many other problems of trying to take a picture of a bird that keeps moving and flying off, with a regular digital camera.



Verditer Flycatcher



All of a sudden I saw several other varieties of birds, and my heart started to

Footgolf

Yep, you read it right... footgolf. As I allowed my imagination to swerve wildly (most probably on the path of a bana kick), while trying to concentrate on my work at hand, I came upon a vision of Ronaldinho teeing off with a football (with his foot of course!).

Then I saw him being cheered by the onlookers as they saw the ball curve over the footgolf course, and land a few feet away from the first hole. Ronaldinho would give a short salute and walk off (without a caddy, as there are no foot golf sticks, just your own legs). The onlookers would, unlike the uppity golf crowd, be drinking beer, showing skin, cheering madly and doing Mexican waves.

Next we would have a veteran like Zinedine Zidane teeing off, with a precisely powered kick that would send the ball even closer than Ronaldinho’s. This would draw loud cheering from the crowd and Zidane would just smile and walk away.

The television audiences would be watching with bated breath as at the seventh hole, Ronaldinho is on a flamingo (footgolf lingo meaning three below par). He finally manages with two kicks what others do in five.

Footgolf can have all the biggest football stars as readymade superstar players, and could be a game of incredible skill and excitement. While they would go on playing their soccer games, footgolf would become an added on sport where they can win huge money and become mega champions.

Footgolf sounds like a very interesting idea to me. Any takers?

Google Wave

I'm quite interested in Google Wave, unfortunately no one I know has access to it. If you or anyone you know uses Google Wave, it would be great if you could send me an invite at sanjeev.saikia at gmail.com

Awaiting a wave of generosity from someone out there.

:)

A trip to Chandni Chowk

We took the metro. From Noida to Rajeev Chowk in Connaught Place, and then to Chandni Chowk, the famed amazing market that was maybe as old as the city itself. We changed the metro at one station. The number of people crowding into the state-of-the-art metro turned it into a most inconvenient way of travelling. But it was fun. The rush of people was such that when getting out, if we hadn’t pushed and shoved like mad, we would have got left behind. Getting on to the connecting metro was equally difficult. We managed to reach our destination station – Chandni Chowk.

We got off and walked a while and got onto a cycle rickshaw. On enquiring from fruit-wallahs (fruit-sellers selling from hand carts) and random people, we were told that our destination was the ‘Gharhi’ (watch) market. Through roads that were permanently crawling, we reached the market. The journey was most interesting with people, shops and transportation from what seemed like a different era. We walked into the dingy ‘Gharhi’ market, and looked into a few shops. It wasn’t what we were looking for. We got back on the rickshaw and headed towards Sadar Bazaar. En route we saw shops that dated back to 1940s and even earlier. Everything here was packed into unimaginably small spaces, be it buildings, cars, shops, roads, electric wires, billboards or people. There were people and more people and more people and still more people. We saw a haveli (old colonial kind of house) with several floors that was most intriguing. We tried to imagine who lived there now, and who must have lived there a hundred years back.

Enjoying the bustling marketplace from our cycle rickshaw, we entered a road that was incredibly choked with traffic (all of Chandni Chowk is incredibly choked with traffic, but this was something else altogether). All around us, there were a million cycle rickshaws, scooters, bikes, cars, mini trucks, vans, hand carts, bullock carts, cycles, jeeps, auto rickshaws, pedestrians and cows. As we inched ahead, suddenly our rickshaw went into turbo mode and shot ahead. A motorbike behind us got impatient and started to push us ahead. The rickshaw wallah was barely managing to avoid hitting pedestrians in front. He kept hitting the backs of other rickshaws very hard, but it didn’t evince any reaction. Hitting the rickshaw in front to stop your own rickshaw was a necessity and the norm.

We reached Sadar Bazaar and came to a section where rickshaws were not allowed. We alighted. Suddenly there was a commotion and we saw a policeman mercilessly whacking a man with a stick. The man was rolling on the road and whining, he looked like a wasted drug addict. I asked someone what had happened but the man only shrugged and walked away. We walked ahead and after much asking and enquiring discovered the ‘Gubbarey Wala Gali’ (the balloon alley).

It was very narrow, if you stopped at any of the teeny meeny shops on either side of the alley, it actually caused a traffic jam of the people walking along the alley. We were weaving in and out of the shops in that alley and several connecting alleys for about an hour, and we found everything we wanted, at one third the price. The bargain was great, but the whole experience was far greater.

When we reached the metro station to get onto the train, we discovered that we had been pick pocketed. Cool. We lost about 1500 rupees. We reached home, happy, sad (at losing the money) and filled with a sense of awe for this awesome amazing market called ‘Chandni Chowk’ (Silver Crossing).