Little Johnny wants to play

Y'know, if it hadn't been for the weather, a LOT of people would have struggled for conversation. And bloggers for content.

But this is a case of discontent.

First Delhi heats up like a veritable tandoor. The sun beats down mercilessly. Tempers rise. Water runs dry. Power cuts only add to the collective misery. Everybody prays for rain. The weatherman goes into overdrive and (without fail every year) announces - "the monsoon will be normal."

Then it clouds up. Dark clouds. Thunder. Stray bolts of lightning. Gusty wind. And a whole lot of dust that envelops the city just REFUSING to settle.

And finally, Hallelujah. It actually rains. Motorcyclists get drenched, pedestrians get stranded at bus stops and under trees. The earth smells amazing.

Everyone happy? Well, not quite!!

The pot holes fill up with water. And (horror of horrors) new ones materialise overnight. Traffic clogs up everywhere. The air is stickier than superglue (creative idea for Fevicol's next!?). The sweat doesn't flow - it just forms an irritatingly thin surface all over your skin and you end up sticking to anything you touch :(

Hot roadside pakoras or dal vadas and chai are the saving grace.

Winter is the only season which hints that God could be a Delhi-ite!

I Feel Privileged...

...to have railway-ed these stretches:

Delhi-Dehra Dun: The wisps of fog in the bleak winter sun as the Shatabdi tears across the plains of Western UP are an unforgettable sight. But the best part is the home stretch into the Doon valley post Haridwar. The track actually cuts across dense jungle that is a part of the Rajaji National Park and there is an upper limit to the speed for the sake of the elephants that may wander onto them. Pitifully, many a beast has lost it's life on these very tracks.

Konkan Railway: One cannot affort to sleep on this ride. The best train perhaps is the Delhi-Trivandrum Rajdhani as it traverses the entire stretch in broad daylight. The western Ghats are mesmerising as the train snakes in and out of HUGE tunnels and crosses bridges that are amazing feats of structural engineering. The best of them all is the span across the Zuari in Goa. The most picturesque station is Ratnagiri (can't find words to describe it). And after Goa, the sea plays a tantalising game of hide and seek with you. Beautiful.

Ratlam-Baroda: Picturesque. The hills look as if a gigantic hand has etched lovely designs on them. The terrain forces the tracks to take big, loopy curves enabling one to get a full view of the entire train as it cuts across the landscape.

Mumbai-Pune: Need I say more. I've been lucky enough to have traversed this one in the monsoon. It's the expressway that hogs most media coverage but it's not a patch on the rail stretch. Not by a long distance.

Delhi-Kurukshetra: Pure nostalgia. I can still rattle off names of more than half the stations that the EMU halts at.

Churchgate-Andheri: Nothing great, one would think. But at 6:30 p.m. On a working day. In a Virar fast local. Believe me, it's worth writing home about. (Ok, on a blog at least!)

The Metros: Both Delhi and Calcutta. Spanking. Delhi scores hgher due to the amazing views of the cityscape on the elevated section.


Food not to be missed:

• Chilled Rabdi at Abu Road.
• Piping hot Bhajjiyas for breakfast at Godhra
• Masala Chai anywhere in Maharashtra or Gujarat
• Chholey Bhature at Mathura
• Rajma Chawal at Jammu

Yummmmmyyyy!!!

Cant wait to pack my bags for:

• Delhi-Udhampur (and a few years from now, Srinagar)
• Any hill railway (I can't believe I've missed all of 'em - an ultra-short ride on the Nilgiri one notwithstanding)
• Konkan (again!!)
• Palace on Wheels (yeah, I wish!)

I wonder if anyone noticed two songs in recent releases (Dhadak Dhadak, Bunty Aur Babli and Kasto Mazza, Parineeta) didn't just feature trains extensively in the visuals, but the chugging and clatter on the tracks forms an integral part of the rhythm. Awesome.

Noida

Finally broke the PVR/DT mould and hit Noida for an evening out yesterday.
Wave is good.
Will now seek to break the psychological barrier and go there more often.
I'd say Gurgaon and Noida are equidistant from my place but Noida just seems farther off!

Mr and Mrs Smith.
All about Chemistry.
And Angelina Jolie.
And Brad Pitt's irrepresible one-liner deliveries. (Best one comes at the very end: "Ask the sex question again!")
And Angelina Jolie.
And about slick effects.
And Angelina Jolie.
About a climax sequence that's choreographed to (what sounded like) Latin American music.
And Angelina Jolie.
(I think I've conveyed my point!)

Dinner: Lavanya
(Once vaguely knew someone by that name. Will check out the meaning.)
Standard North Indian fare.
Yummy.
Service could've been quicker though.
Waiting for roti with food on plate is not very pleasant.

All for now...