27th December 2014.
Delhi is my only city on the tour where I am not a traveler, I am a friend here. I am here to meet people, people I adore, people who have been my pillars of support, these couple of days here would be about them, about getting to know my pillars more.
The funny thing about the people I am meeting here is that, when I met them for the first time, we shared no connection, they weren't classmates, they weren't friends of friends or friends of friends of friends, in fact, I had this great bonding with some of them even before I met them. Also, if you're reading this blog, then, I'd thank them because they were the one who helped me come up with Chintu.
I arrived at Zostel Delhi early in the morning, the fact that my train had actually arrived before time in the season of foggy delays was a surprising fact. I had a booking there, but since the check-in time was 11 AM, I had to wait in the common room, the guy on the counter was friendly enough to allow me to use the WiFi and the common bathroom and restrooms to freshen up, I took a short nap on the comfortable sofa in the common room, and was woken up by the guy on the counter by about 10 AM. He told me that some people had checked out earlier and the room service had cleaned the bed, I could check-in now. I knew that my Kiran was in Delhi too, he made a stop here to take a quick tour to Agra, I got the same room as his, it was supposed to be his last day in Delhi, he was leaving for a 4 day trip to Manali which included a trek that was 3 days long. Trekking, that is something on my wishlist.
Dosto ki Delhi
Tripti, a VCRites(the group I was talking about above is called Velocity and the members VCRites I'd write more about the interesting story of how we became a group) had suggested this famous place for Chola Bhaturas just opposite the railway station, I took Kiran with me for a breakfast there, the Bhaturas as suggested where the softest I've ever had, the Cholas were the best they can get. All this delish food for just 50 bucks sounded like a crazy deal, given the price I've paid for some of the shittiest food. The Bhaturas were followed by a Large glass of Lassi, I was sure if I ate anything else, I'd burst. Kiran did some shopping for his trek in Manali, and went back to the Hostel, I moved to Rajiv Chowk metro station, Tripti and Nitin(I was meeting him for the first time, but I never felt that) were waiting for me there talking about the over-priced coffee CCD sells(they were waiting for me inside the CCD outlet at the station), Gargi was waiting for us on the platform, we got down at the Green Park metro station, and collected Rirshi from there, like me he was a guest in Delhi, we made a quick stop at Triptis(she took us there via a maze of lanes and streets, which probably none remember, though it is right near Hauz Khas Fort) office for Tea and Coffee, Arjyajyoti and Radhika were waiting for us outside the fort, Radhika wasn't expected as she was supposed to be on a vacation, but her flight got cancelled and she decided to surprise us (actually to surprise Rirshi, because of some internal gags I won't mention), we were later Joined by Surabhi and her friends though just for Photo sessions, they had to leave in a few minutes because they had to present their social startup the next day at the Alumni Meet in IIT Delhi. When I was in Delhi the last time, Radhika had bought a cake for us, this time she brought a Chocolate fudge, she is an amazing cook! Radhika had to bid us goodbye, because she had to be present at the hospital(She is a Doctor, in final year of her internship, we have people from all sort of jobs in the group, teachers, lawyers, engineers, professors, linguists, entrepreneurs, doctors,software developers, finance managers, published writers, and students). Later we went to this place for lunch, where they charged us 95 rupees for a bottle of mineral water which had MRP marked as 18 rupees! I'd take a moment to thank the Chola Bhaturas and the huge glass of Lassi I had for breakfast. After lunch and another session of selfies, everyone except Tripti, Gargi, and, Nitin left.
Chuski Paan
After dropping Gargi at the Railway station, we moved to India Gate, the place was slightly crowded by people coming out with families on cool Saturday evening, there was another session of photos here, I got lost a couple of times and had to call Tripti to find them, later we took an auto to Connaught Place popularly called CP , one of the famous shopping and fooding destination in Delhi, the place is known for its Gigantic Flag and the posh market. Tripti and Nitin asked me to try a Chuski Paan, they told me that this paan is not remembered for its taste but for its experience. Curiosity made me try it,
This is how it's served.
- The guy at the counter creates a big paan with all the regular ingredients that go inside a meetha paan, a lot of crushed ice (Chuski) and flavoured syrup of your choice, I went with Chocolate.
- The guy asks you to open you mouth wide and won't listen to any requests to serve it on a plate instead.
- You give up on the pleading and open you mouth as wide as you can, he shoves the icey paan down your mouth, against all your will.
- You try to battle the taste of the syrup and the cold induced by the crushed and trying to keep everything in your mouth, if you try to speak for the next five minutes, I'd call you adventurous, or misadventurous, because deciding to try the paan was an adventure in itself.
We had a quick snack at one of the multi-chain outlets in CP and dropped Nitin to the Metro station followed by a Rickshaw ride to Railway station, from where Tripti took a turn to her house and I took a turn to Zostel.
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| Nitin and Tripti, I am never eating anything they want me to try. |
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| I was trying to say a lot of things and keep my mouth shut at the same time, because Chuski Paan. |
