Conversations across national capital including on Udhagamandalam
It was a day when i was not able to decide on which part of the city i should visit. A wait at Kamal Cinema bus stand was enduring enough to goad me to take a walk to Africa Avenue. Before setting on road correction, i was amidst two school boys who had been attending afternoon school in Sec.12 R K Puram. The fees they were paying was comparatively less than what morning students pay. On the way i tried for tea but with flies having collected in the kettle, it was better to leave it at that stage. As i reached Africa Avenue and moved to the road where buses go towards S N Market, i noticed one gentleman who had taken a seat at Kamal Cinema bus stand. Having sensed that i had seen through his design, he found it fit to take the next bus than wait and become wiser by attending to the chore of finding out where i was headed for. This has been happening on innumerable occasions.
As i waited for the bus the conversation with a guy from the North East was on hardships they face in places like Delhi. Learning about completion of his graduation from Coimbatore, i broached the subject of Udhagamandalam and Coonoor, the famous tourist destinations i had visited last year. Over one-and-a half year separates me and the visit to these two places. The Manipur boy has been doing a job in a BPO in Dwarka and his discipline to gain graduation was computers. Having stayed for over three years in Coimbatore, the Manipur boy would have been much familiar with the disciplined outlook the majority have in the states of South. It was a thrill to meet him and reminisce about Udhagamandalam.
From hereon i took 610, the red coloured airconditioned bus for Mandir Marg. It was crammed to capacity and till the very end it was hard to get a seat. DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) should understand that it is better placed to run green coloured non airconditioned buses than running a skeletal service of red ones. For the entire journey from Africa Avenue to Mandir Marg the moment i used to move from left to right the left seat would get vacated and vice versa. With no seat in view i deboarded at RML. Walked a while before getting tea from an outlet which is about 200 metres from Kali Bari. Walked till Patel Chowk and took a metro. As i came out of INA station, the rickshaw i got in to reach a cyber cafe was headed in the wrong direction. Had to abandon midway and dropped the idea of mapping details of the days gone by.
Venkateshawar temple in Kali Bari Marg
The other conversation was on soon to be completed Venkateshawar temple in Kali Bari Marg. The guy who runs a flower shop in the vicinity told me that the land was allotted in 1993 and to date the temple project is not complete. There are some issues with NDMC or the body which gives the final approval. It was in 1997 that Puja for starting the temple construction project took place and since then it is waiting for the final nod. That ceremony was extensively covered in The Hindu with pictures.
It was a day when conversations across national capital brought out episodes of certainty and courage. It was also a day when i kept myself away from debates and opinions expressed which are no less than dissent.
It was a day when i was not able to decide on which part of the city i should visit. A wait at Kamal Cinema bus stand was enduring enough to goad me to take a walk to Africa Avenue. Before setting on road correction, i was amidst two school boys who had been attending afternoon school in Sec.12 R K Puram. The fees they were paying was comparatively less than what morning students pay. On the way i tried for tea but with flies having collected in the kettle, it was better to leave it at that stage. As i reached Africa Avenue and moved to the road where buses go towards S N Market, i noticed one gentleman who had taken a seat at Kamal Cinema bus stand. Having sensed that i had seen through his design, he found it fit to take the next bus than wait and become wiser by attending to the chore of finding out where i was headed for. This has been happening on innumerable occasions.
As i waited for the bus the conversation with a guy from the North East was on hardships they face in places like Delhi. Learning about completion of his graduation from Coimbatore, i broached the subject of Udhagamandalam and Coonoor, the famous tourist destinations i had visited last year. Over one-and-a half year separates me and the visit to these two places. The Manipur boy has been doing a job in a BPO in Dwarka and his discipline to gain graduation was computers. Having stayed for over three years in Coimbatore, the Manipur boy would have been much familiar with the disciplined outlook the majority have in the states of South. It was a thrill to meet him and reminisce about Udhagamandalam.
From hereon i took 610, the red coloured airconditioned bus for Mandir Marg. It was crammed to capacity and till the very end it was hard to get a seat. DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) should understand that it is better placed to run green coloured non airconditioned buses than running a skeletal service of red ones. For the entire journey from Africa Avenue to Mandir Marg the moment i used to move from left to right the left seat would get vacated and vice versa. With no seat in view i deboarded at RML. Walked a while before getting tea from an outlet which is about 200 metres from Kali Bari. Walked till Patel Chowk and took a metro. As i came out of INA station, the rickshaw i got in to reach a cyber cafe was headed in the wrong direction. Had to abandon midway and dropped the idea of mapping details of the days gone by.
Venkateshawar temple in Kali Bari Marg
The other conversation was on soon to be completed Venkateshawar temple in Kali Bari Marg. The guy who runs a flower shop in the vicinity told me that the land was allotted in 1993 and to date the temple project is not complete. There are some issues with NDMC or the body which gives the final approval. It was in 1997 that Puja for starting the temple construction project took place and since then it is waiting for the final nod. That ceremony was extensively covered in The Hindu with pictures.
It was a day when conversations across national capital brought out episodes of certainty and courage. It was also a day when i kept myself away from debates and opinions expressed which are no less than dissent.
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