friday evening in connaught place

we went for a walk in connaught place on a delhi summer evening when it was just about to rain.

see you around.

siri fort stadium

this is where badminton player saina nehwal won a gold medal in the commonwealth games in october 2010. then hundreds of people had thronged here and pushed and shoved to enter the stadium, yelling and kicking, holding their tickets high and waving for the staff to notice and let them in. 

now it's a ghost town.

because the authorities think it's a bad idea to let the 'masses' use the world-class facility. the entire place has been nailed shut. 

the siri fort stadium located within the older siri fort sports complex is maintained by the delhi development authority (dda). the stadium was completed just in time before foreign athletes flew down to delhi for the games. it was the venue for badminton and squash battles.

 a young systems engineer with six-month experience was the only person present inside the building. "i take care of security installation and circuits. i don't have much to do all day and i get bored alone," he said. "will you eat with me today?"

lakhs of rupees are spent on electricity and maintenance every day. one of the security guards, who did not want to appear here, said he has a kid in school who plays badminton. he is puzzled why the dda doesn't allow people to use the facility. the government keeps advertising about how this country's sports talent needs world-class nurturing. but that turns out a lie. the dda wants to maintain quality between events as letting people in and out freely may damage the insides.
    

another group is protesting against the stadium's closure, and they are angrily using this place for target practise.

there they are.

(with inputs from anamika nandedkar, senior staff writer, hindustan times)

khub chand

khub chand in connaught place, new delhi, turns 60 this year. it has been selling ham, sausages and salami all these years, and just recently it installed a small stove to grill ready-made kebabs for customers waiting to get their meat packed. the few people in delhi who has been buying from here continue to visit the place.

audio cassettes that used to roar yesterday have retired into the cupboard today.

tall ceiling. long-rod fan. pre-independence modern architecture. a distinctive influence of the british rule.

notable: even allowing for inflation, you have to love their rate list: pork kindney (proving that beauty is not just skin deep), sparibs and troters — two fighting clans from middle earth — and frank furter, who, if you remember, was "just a sweet transvestite, from transsexual transylvania" in the rocky horror picture show. ("that's a rather tender subject. another slice, anyone?") — sajan venniyoor

for the legendary bangalore ham shop, visit slice of history, the times of india

life insurance corporation, janpath

 the life insurance corporation building at janpath is one of the most visible landmarks in new delhi.

the sun sets.

langcha bazaar

langcha is a very, very, very sweet preparation. shaktigarh at bardhaman district in west bengal is famous for this item. langcha can be had hot or cold. it looks like gulab jamun, except langcha is considerably longer in size and tastes better.

 

 "it's very sweet. your head will reel," said a friend.

 

 for some people tea may be a bad idea after stuffing in so much sweets. but there is no harm in trying. maybe pair it with a cigarette.

       

langcha bazaar. (national highway 2, burdwan)

trinamool congress

 next to aam aadmi, walls are the first casualty when a political party wins an election. most of west bengal is dotted with this floral party symbol of the trinamool congress after mamata banerjee became the chief minister, replacing the red and sickle theme walls of the commies.

kolkata.

hauz khas village

the old hauz khas village in delhi used to be a large reservoir during the reign of the 13th century delhi sultanate. what remains today is a patch of land that seems like it has been decorated overnight by a landscape designer. houses and commercial buildings have mushroomed around the site, reducing the monument to a garden showpiece of nearby residents.

the water body that apparently used to serve as the reservoir is now a mini sanctuary for birds. For more images, visit safdarjung enclave.

(images cross processed with lightroom cp-2 option)

grand trunk road, bardhaman

the utterly butterly delicious express crawls in the traffic to enter kolkata before the crack of dawn. (en route to bardhaman, west bengal)

china in india, a glance

like the proverbial wolf, modern india in recent times has been whispering that the chinese are coming. but they already came and perhaps, left. the chinatown in kolkata is the only chinese settlement in india. its wikipedia entry says the population of ethnic chinese decreased from 20,000 to 2,000 since the 1920s. most members of the community work at nearby tanning units.

there are several chinese and 'indian chinese' cuisine restaurants in the area. some community members have made it big in the restaurant business. it is also a favourite getaway for kolkata denizens when it comes to satisfying that craving for stir fried noodles. 

the election symbol of the trinamool congress has mushroomed everywhere, even in chinatown, after mamata banerjee became west bengal chief minister, in what the media aptly titled: didi is the new dada.

enter the dragon.

(images 'cross processed' with lightroom cp-2 option)