Archive for the ‘Delhi’ Category
Not on the map – part II, Sariska
Tigerless tiger sanctuary
We had left for a Delhi-Jaipur road trip that morning. By the time we reached Sariska, it was already evening. I had spent my childhood in a town called Alwar, a small town then, not very far from Sariska. My memory of Aravali range were these undulating hills that sparkled in the noon sun due to the presence of trace amounts of mica. That evening, the Aravali hills surrounding Sariska had looked a dull greyish-brown in the setting sun.
Although the tigers at this tiger sanctuary are now all dead or departed, many wild animal species such as leopards, hyenas, jackals, spotted deer (cheetal), wild boars, sambars and four-horned deer are still there. A casual visitor these days is likely to see only monkeys. We didn’t encounter any that evening.
Truck Spotting
I don’t mean the English way of truck spotting. I mean a more interesting version à la mode India. Our trucks are whimsically decorated and often have amusing slogans.
Not on the map, Part I – Getting out
Sharing the road
Last spring, after poring over several weekend getaway guides, we decided to go on a Delhi-Jaipur road trip via Sariska, a tiger sanctuary, Bhangarh, a ghost town, and Abhaneri, site of a 8th century stepwell.
It is always hard to find good maps, even in Delhi. We had to go all the way to Rajasthan Tourism Center in Connaught place to find a map of the state. And when we finally found it, we couldn’t locate either Bhangarh or Abhaneri on it. We didn’t let that deter us. All of us had traveled to remote places in India without maps. Besides, the distance between Delhi and Jaipur is only 250 kms, so even if we got lost, we would only be half a day away from home!
I must be going native
Sharmila's daughter
I ate a huge amount of biryani for lunch today. Till yesterday I was amazed at locals vacuuming up piles of rice for meals. Not any more.
I also noticed that I no longer hesitate at the curb when crossing a busy road. Like others trying to do the same, I assume that I have a reasonable stock of good karma and stare down auto-wallahs while standing in the middle of the road with vehicles whizzing by in front and back. So far I am alive with all my limbs intact, so my karma is holding, although I would not know if it were running out. Come to think of it, it is a poor user interface not to make the user aware of remaining karma. So true that God only thinks he is Steve Jobs.
I am using sms abbreviations like pls and thx. Oh dear. My only solace is I still shrink from gr8 and lol.
Don’t know why this photo is interesting, but it is. Incidentally, the woman in the photo in the photo is Sharmila Tagore’s daughter.
India and King George V
Coronation park
Brits left behind not only the railways, an education system design to mass produce petty bureaucrats, and cricket, but also a number of statues of king George V and others who bore the white man’s burden bravely. So what did we desis do to those statues after August 15, 1947? Why, we carefully arranged them on pedestals in the Coronation Park where old George had announced his coronation to the assembled flunkeys on Jun 22, 1911.
The little enclosure in Coronation Part with the statues is still maintained, after a fashion, by some little remembered part of the bureaucracy. The lawns are mowed, the trees are trimmed, the statues look in good repair … it was creepy.
Locomotoring 
