Hopping In and Out of Delhi

It started as a mistake. All I wanted was to go to the National Gallery of Modern Art to attend an exhibition that I was planning to attend since the past 2 weeks. Being part of the location-based services industry and having armed myself with a companion as supportive as Little Talk (oops...I wanted to write a review of this newest addition to my gadget family. Shall do it soon.), it was quite natural to explore more of my city that I haven't had the time to explore in detail. So there I was at the bus stop on Parliament Street waiting for just another bus that can drop me off outside the India Gate circle. I intentionally avoided boarding the Metro despite having a smart card for wanting to be dropped off on a closer location saving the long walking time from Central Secretariat.

Enter the Purple Giant

Suddenly it emerged from a blanket of the Sunday morning fog, the purple bus. I know that this is a new concept and works better than the older version of DTC's Dilli Darshan, and the bus looks hospitable and cozy. After chasing it all the way to the other end of Jantar Mantar (After a 2-3 year gap, it is a little uneasy for me to chase buses now, though it has helped me to be fit all these years) the driver finally stopped and opened the door. The young lady at the conductor seat walked up to the door and ushered me in with a smile. I am told that this bus is a sightseeing bus, it covers 18 key destinations in Delhi, and that the boarding pass for a day would cost me Rupees 300 (approximately US $7).

The staff was friendly

For a moment I thought if it is actually worth the cost. Well, I decided to take a chance now that I was already in. As per my experience with the DTC, the first action of managing to hop on a giant is to rush to the conductor and secure a ticket. I made no difference here as well since I had more than one bad experience of paying up fines due to the conducotr's follies. Here the conductor (I would learn later that she is a Guest Relations Executive, and not a conductor as in the usual green giants) actually made me sit somewhere, walked in to my seat with a bag, sat with me and explained the route of journey, gave me a brochure with a route map and a  the bus time table and explained how the HoHo (hop on hop off) system works before asking about the ticket. That was indeed friendly, especially given that you are on a bus (that too a sarkaari bus) and not on SpiceJet or Kingfisher. Though I have spoken at length on various events about customer delight, this was one of the rare experiences where I felt delighted as a customer. I'll write about that in the other blog.

The journey was informative

The Guest Relations Executive on board has a pretty good idea about what s/he is explaining her guests on board. I don't expect them to be passionate about history or architecture (I am very particular on a few such matters though I do my own research before actually making my travel) but for a commoner the trip is quite informative. Even a non-active local like me, would raise eyebrows when she said "The erstwhile Connaught Place comprises 2 concentric circles renamed officially as Rajiv Chowk (we already know) and Indira Chowk after the two late Prime Ministers of India." Maybe I didn't pay much attention to the old signboards, but the new ones are flashier, largeer and scream out their place names visually louder.

Changes I like to see

Paying up Rs. 300 for a week's trip is great indeed. Locals like me trying to save working days can use two consecutive weekends to explore their city. Though it was a nice experience, there are some features I would like to see improvements on:

• On-board snacks: Since several areas including Raj Ghat, the Museums, India Gate, etc. do not have any eatery around. I couldn't have lunch or snacks since it was an effort trying to save time on visits or wasting time on bus-stops. The time gap for buses is 30 mins, so you can't walk out too far to try a quick lunch. And the bus picks you up only at the bus stop only (adventurers beware!). Given the matter that most buses ply with near-vacant occupancy in these areas, it would be delightful to provide some snacks at an affordable rate.

• Cheaper water: It would be worthwhile for DTC to follow the best-practice of providing free water bottles (200/250 ml) to guests on board. This can be provided along with the boarding pass, and the bus can charge people for each subsequent bottle and make the effort profitable.

• Better language: I want to appear too nosy here like a teacher of English grammar, but it would be meaningful not  to make comments like "This tomb belongs to Hazrat Nizamuddin Ouliya" (I'm sure HNO was no Tutun Khamun to  acquire the land and get the tomb created before his own eyes). After paying up 300 bucks for the service, this is not what I want to hear from a host. Not sure what international guests would say.

The bottom-line

Overall it was an effort worthwhile and despite being a local, I enjoyed the sightseeing experience I never did before in any city of my residence. I would like to rate it 4 on a scale of 5. Good effort, madam Chief Minister!

Have you lived in Delhi or plan to visit here? I am curious to know about your sightseeing experience in your city of residence as well as others. Do please make your comments in the box below.

Previous Entry:  Stories From the Canadian Arctic

Up Next: LittleTalk - Talking All the Way

Image Courtesy: YogeshSarkar.com 

The Story of Sam and Lola

Sam is a determined owl. Unlike the wild owls in the tropics he was Blanco white, matching the arctic snow. Above average build, he stood tall above all his brothers and is a little too proud of that fact. But there was something that swept him off his feet: The little beauty called Lola. She never took him for more than just another hunk that follows her everywhere. She too is pretty, and beautiful. Ptarmigans have their own charms. They are beauties themselves. One day Sam disclosed his love (or was it devotion?) to her. She didn't expect him to be serious, but it suddenly appeared to be so. One day Sam sees Lola with another Ptarmigan. She introduced him as her husband. Sam was shattered. He never knew she was taken. Now that he's disclosed his love and devotion, there's no going back. Ego rules. It's a matter of his pride. So he did the unthinkable.

He lured the ptarmigan out to the jungle, presenting himself as a friend, and they flew too deep inside. No one knew what happened there. Even till today. Sam returned alone. Rumors started spreading that Sam killed Spark. No one listened to Sam. He's branded "Killer Sam." It was sort of thrust on him. Not only did Lola refuse to talk to him, she ridiculed him in public whenever she got a chance. It was heart-breaking for Sam, because no one listens to him now. That's when Sam tells Lola, what I've said and done was true from my heart, and in good spirit. If you are not able to see it, then I leave you for good. And he files away.

A moment of this interaction is captured through the wonderful imagination of a painter and is available for display in the National Museum here in New Delhi. The lives of the Inuit people - the natives of the Canadian Arctic - are full of folklores. It is truly said that man is always hungry for stories. I'm no different. I was able to liken many of them to the little stories that I grew up with, the essence of these simple somethings that still is within me as a sound investment.

I want to thank to the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa and the National Museum, New Delhi for this event. Special thanks to Little Talk, I am able to find out more such happenings around me now. I’ll write about this newest member of my family soon…well, around Christmas when she’s a month old.

Gadgets, gadgets!

Sometimes, it is a trying experience to handle gadgets. They behave in a funny way when we least expect them to. As per my friend's advice, I was browsing through some product reviews before I make some purchases. When I started visiting sites where users themselves share details about products, I feel more confused. What I infer from the comments is that there isn't any brand (as far as I can remember the brand in existence in the local Delhi/Noida market) of refrigerators that offer a tolerable after-sales service. It causes panic for a semi-active customer and a sales person such as me. I can bear with a bad working product, but never with a bad after-sales service.

All these thoughts prompted me to take a look at the products I've already used. Meanwhile I'd like to reiterate that I am that kind of customer every marketer dreams to have. The one that goes more by the heart, buys things I like (not necessarily what others also like), and not regret. Maybe it's all in the family. My father who was (yes, he's less so now a days) quite brand conscious even during the days when we weren't swept away by a consumerist culture, has the habit of taking good care of all domestic appliances, irrespective of where it is used. Therefore it is quite normal that the domestic iron we use to press clothes and a wonderful table-fan we have is a little older than I myself am!

In my case, I've inherited this very same habit from him. It was a little surprising to see that the products which the media promotes as "un-responsive" and "bulky" are the ones that fascinated me, and the ones I bought served me well. My first touch-screen mobile, Nokia 7710 is still my favourite though the battery went bad, and it doesn't work anymore because the manufacturer called off the product due to lukewarm product response. It is a little slow to respond, and is quite bulky (I named it "The Brick") but it served its life, since I took good care of it.

So when I hear comments like "it catches dust very soon" or "it doesn't work if you spill water over it" seems a little odd to me. Touch-screen phones need to be covered from dust, especially if you live in a dry, dusty city like Delhi. It is also natural that if your body sweat gets into the phone's interiors (I don't want to get into the chemical reaction parts here :P) or any liquid material for that matter, it suffers some damage. Having said that, I should also say that my gadgets give me irate moments and lots of suffocation when I can't express my instant disappointment in public. Little Lappy (my baby notebook) starts believing that she doesn't have a keyboard of her own, and that she needs an external keyboard to function. Thank God, I was in the airport lounge trying to read an e-book to get rid of the boring extension caused by a delayed flight; and not in a meeting room with a value-added customer. But when I went into the details in peace later, I found the reasons.

Well, I'm keeping fingers crossed about some recent purchases I want to make. Shall update more on this, possibly followed by reviews at time intervals.

To The Little Girl Who was Part of My Childhood...

I know this is not the best of times to write you, and neither of us is having a great time in our independent lives. But is was my deep desire to write something to you, and perhaps the first time I am doing something of such intensity, in an open room such as this blog.

Our journey started a few decades ago, with a minute time gap of 2 years between us. Not a significant gap between us, and that cause d many things positive and negative to happen between us. All the childhood days we lived in the Hill Palace, we have been only with ourselves, and we have a very large world to explore. The good days were so good, and the bad days were so bad. During some such bad days we made all in the family believe that the prime purpose of our individual existence is to eradicate the other, and they strongly believed that if we were left alone in at home for some time, only one of us would remain, by the end of the day. Still, we managed to stick together and survive.

And survival was key

I don’t know if it was Amma’s loss that brought us more closer together and made us more able to come to rational terms with each other. Whatever it was, this mutual acceptance of rational existence made us more stable, and emotionally closer even together. And it would be so for many many years to come. Even after I moved out to new cities and newer phases of life, our sense of togetherness never changed. It was always nostalgia.

I owe you an apology

I missed your wedding. Had it been done in a little more organized manner, I would have had the chance to attend it. I had to “stay focused and committed to the organization,” which after 6 years of sweat and toil asks me back as to what I have done so far. The reply to that, and related matters shall be part of another blog entry; this one is purely for you.

I have some surprising clarifications to make

Let me see if you remember any one of these.

1. I never picked up Bejoy Wilson’s biscuit box. We went into the school bus together. When he offered to share a piece, I gratefully accepted. This is the true, un-abridged version. You blackmailed me with this accusation you blackmailed me for almost a decade. Well, it didn’t work out beneficial for you as well.
2. I never mentioned the Bishop Tirumeni with an abusive word. It was the fantasy of someone (I forget the name) to get me wrongfully caught. He was retaliating for something.

And there is Sanaa, my little angel

Though we were not her biological parents, both Manju and I loved and cared for her as if she is our own. Now that life has offered us different cups, life will never be the same. As for me, Sanaa is always my little girl. I see you in her. It will always be so for me.

Happy Rakhi!