Quaint Signboards!

Quaint Signboards

I had clicked this one in a small corner of Cannought Place while waiting for a bus to Manali (our eventual destination was Spiti).

I wonder how many generations would have worked for the same business as the board says the shop was established in 1929.

Jaipur Foot

A Man with the Jaipur Foot, New Delhi Railway Station

I saw his man walking with a Jaipur Foot in hand and with a water bottle inside it. I wondered if I should click a picture but then decided why not. His leg that is not visible in the picture was a Jaipur foot too.

I liked his spirit. For me it was quite strange to watch a foot being carried in a hand but for him it must be a useful and familiar extension of the body, so much so that he can keep a water bottle inside it!

I wish I could take better pictures with my cell phone but for know this has to do.

Announcements at IGI, New Delhi Airport

Last Call to Board a Flight

Has it ever happened to you that your name was called on the PA system because you were supposed to board your flight?

Never happended to me, though I always get curious as to why people are not at their boarding gates!

Scorching Hot Weather!

Ice Cream Van Near London Eye

It is so scorching hot in New Delhi at the moment that all I could think of posting is the London fog and ice cream van near the London Eye. I mean my brain is trying to shut down, even though I can handle summer quite easily. Can't believe it that just a month ago I was cribbing about the weather being too cold at UK.

Flying from Delhi to Jabalpur and Back on Kingfisher Red Airline

Kingfisher Red Flight IT 4375 Approaching Jabalpur

I tried to get train tickets between New Delhi and Gondia (a station close to Kanha) but June being school holidays all the trains were running packed. Then my dad insisted, "fFly, why do you wish to spend so much time on a train?" I was paying for the journey to Jabalpur/Gondia so I was obviously looking for train tickets. But flying and paying made hell lot of a sense because I would otherwise never stay at such a place like Safari Lodge, Banjaar Tola simply because I am not their target market. But then I digress, let me go back to the flight from New Delhi to Jabalpur and back.

When I booked the flight the departure time from Delhi was 7.30 am or thereabout. But while I was checking my itinerary online, the time was changed to 10.40 am. And my flight (Kingfisher Red IT 4375 and IT 4376 when it comes back) finally took off at 11.30 am after spending a lot of time on the runway. I was in a good mood and didn't mind the delay at all.

Kingfisher and Jet Airways Planes Parked at New Delhi Airport

Once the flight took off, all was well. Kingfisher Red is actually the new name of Air Deccan. I know that Air Deccan had no refreshments on board so I was not sure if there were any on this flight. The flight was just about one and a half hour long so it was no big deal . But I was actually hungry and to my pleasant surprise they soon served snacks on the flight. It was cheese and potato burger, corn and chana chat and a sweet dish. After gobbling all this up I was quite content to read a book and look out and chat with a lady sitting next to me.

Soon the flight started to make its descent. I had made video of the take off from Delhi and I whipped out my camera and started to make a video (the video above in the post) again. There was a lot of turbulence but then I have flied in smaller crafts before (this flight used ATR Turboprop) in turbulent weather. So I kept making the video even though I was not feeling too well. If you have watched the video you would notice that it ends quite abruptly. It is because I realized I was quite nauseous and might need that air sickness bag after all. The lady next to me sensed that I was unwell and tried to make small talk. I told her I am finding it difficult to talk. And then I threw up all my snacks in that sickness bag!

That is how I arrived at Jabalpur and I am quite surprised that I can get sick in air too, I mean on hill roads I know it is going to be bad, so I take avomine. But this was a first. On my flight back, I was quite scared as I still had no avomine with me. I decided to sleep as much I could after all that is what I do when I take avomine. I was quite tense at landing but this time there was less turbulence and I managed fine.

But the landing at Jabalpur was the only part of the trip that was not good. Rest of the trip was wonderful.

The Passport Saga

I tried calling a friend from IIT Kanpur days as I needed his help to get my passport. I got his number from another friend. He of course did not pick up my phone, it was an unknown number for him. I had not been in touch with him for past 7 years! I had been calling people left right and center in the hope that someone would help me in getting my passport reissued and he was not even my best hope.

I applied for the renewal of my passport in early March after taking an appointment online. I had relevant supporting documents and they accepted my application after a token protest, which is the hallmark of many a government employees. Still, this was a pleasant experience as I said when I blogged about it earlier.

Then someone managed to get my police verification done. And I thought I was all set to get the passport soon. But that was not to be.

There were many people who tried to help me out. Some said my police verification has not been received and some said that it has been! To cut through all this confusion I decided to use a travel agent. He initially asked for a lot of papers and said he would try. Each day gone by was bringing my proposed travel date to UK even closer. So, I was waiting anxiously to hear from the travel agent on Tuesday when he said with a lot of regret in his voice that it could not be done unless I could get a form signed by a government official verifying my address. My police verification report was stuck somwhere.

The Office Blocks near India Gate, New Delhi

That is when I was making a lot of phone calls. When my friend did not pick up his cell phone I wrote a SMS to him saying who I was. Within two minutes I got a call back. I must have not been making too much sense to him because one of the first things he told me was, "please take out that panic from your voice, your work is done". Then he asked me, "Now tell me what is to be done?" I tried explaining to him about Annexture F, he said he don't know which form this is but he would get it done by tomorrow if I was willing to run around a little! He told me to meet a friend of his in the office blocks in front of India Gate. He would arrange for my entry into those office blocks.

He knew I was very nervous and told me, "if I do not pick up my phone for a while tomorrow please don't panic, I sometimes go out of my room and leave the phone behind." But when I called him the next day, he picked up my phone promptly and coordinated every minute till I got into the room of this lady officer who looked at all the relevant documents and then gave me the letter I wanted. I gave it to the travel agent in the afternoon and got the passport by next day evening.

The moral of the story is that apply in the Tatkal (immideate) scheme if you can get the Annexture F made. That takes out the hassle of police verification. Because when I went to collect the passport in the evening there was a gentleman standing in the line in front of me who had applied for the passport in January and still not got it!

When I was standing in the line to pick up the passport on Thursday evening, the counter did not open till 5.20 pm. The notice above the counter said the distribution time was 5.00 to 5.30 pm. There was a very pretty girl in the line who could not speak (along with a fatherly figure, they were talking in sign language) and almost in tears. The gentleman in front of me went inside the office and came back with the reassuring news that they do not go away without distributing the passports that have been promised that day.

By 5.45 I had mine. Next day 8.00 am I was at the VFS UK and it was so orderly out there. Get your token (I did not had an appointment this time), wait your turn, submit your documents and go back home. I am still keeping my fingers crossed though, after all I was quite optimistic even when I successfully submitted the passport application form.

The biggest surprise in this entire episode was the friend from IIT Kanpur. I mean maybe someone else too would have done the work for me but the speed and consideration he showed to me has left me speechless. I have thanked him many times and he has never failed to tell me that the pleasure is his! And that when we would have talked at IIT only a few times and I was making this call after 7 years of no contact.

I can't name you my blog, but then whenever I will travel for the next ten years and hold that passport in my hands I would ask the folks up above to grant your every cherished wish. Thank you, without your help my passport would still have been stuck in some dark corner of an office.

PS. Why can't the police verification report be scanned and sent online? Would make our lives just a little bit more easier.

And there is a possibility of doing an edited book on the experiences of getting the passport issued in India, I am sure many of us have stories to share!

Another Kind of Twitter- The Birds Twittering

Birds Twittering at the Lodhi Garden.

I too twitter but the sound that the birds make is much more pleasing. We went to the Lodhi Gardens one evening quite unplanned (actually we stopped and decided to spend the surplus time waiting for a train there rather than at the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station) and I was rewarded with this recording. The amount of noise these birds make! It sounds good in the evenings but sometimes when they go off like this early in the morning and wake me up, I feel anything but pleased.

Central Park, Connaught Place (CP), New Delhi

We wanted to visit Daryaganj Book Market last Sunday. Once there, we were told that the book market didn't happen because ex-President of Pakistan visited the place in the morning (this is pure hearsay I have no idea if it is true or not). Whatever may be the reason, the book sellers were not there for sure. So, we headed to Connaught Place instead. On a whim we decided to go inside the Central Park. The entrance is free. I was also carrying my SLR (inside my shoulder bag) and they did make a hue and cry that cameras are not allowed but then let me go anyway. I wonder why they do not wish to allow cameras (this is also not stated anywhere near the park) and unless they ban cell phones too what is the use of such a policy?

The Open Air Amphitheater at the Central Park, Connaught Place, New Delhi

It must have been a litlte past five in the evening and the park was reasonably crowded but not near the amphitheatre. We were quite intreguied with the happenings there. There was a small crowd and the lone gentleman on stage talking about random things (at least to me). Then another person requested to get onstage and talked about politics a bit. Then a bunch of students went up and tried their usual song stuff. By this time we decided to move on.

The LIC Building at Dusk from Central Park, Connaught Place, New Delhi

I liked the idea of the open air theatre and people spontaneously going on stage to do something. And the crowd was quite decent too, apart from one group of students who were, well behaving like students you see in Indian ads. But even they were within limits.

I was scared to take out my SLR because of the goofup at the entrance so many of the pictures are from my mobile. I wish I would get out within Delhi more. We plan to go to Daryaganj sometime later in the month.

Mind the Gap, Not London Underground but on Delhi Metro this Time

Mind the Gap, Delhi Metro

I first became aware of the phrase 'mind the gap' when I used the London Underground in 2007. Soon after, I realized that Delhi Metro also has its own version of mind the gap. But it was finally yesterday that I managed to record the Delhi Metro 'mind the gap.' So here is the mind the gap video for you. The lady says 'mind the gap' towards the end of the video and she has such a good voice. I wish my recording equipment was as good. So please mind the gap!

How Not to make a Video

Flowers at Jamia Millia Islamia University Campus- How Not to Make a Video!

I have done quite a few posts on the flowers that I saw at the Jamia Millia Islamia University Campus. On a whim I also made a video, uploaded it on Youtube, changed the voiceover of the video and forgot about it. I managed to see it again today and I know a little about how not to make a video.

I mean I know I used to do a lot of competitive middle distance running in a bygone era but there was no reason to run from flower to flower as if there was a prize for it! Then I was so monotonous, zooming in on every rose in the very same way as if there was another prize for consistency!

And whatever little you could have seen, Youtube managed to mess it up. On my realplayer, the quality is not that bad. I wonder why Youtube made it so grainy!

Lazy Sunday Photo- Sunny Spring Day

Park Bench on a Sunny Spring Day

I was interested in taking this picture because of the blue bird sitting in the right hand corner of the bench. Once again I am reminded of the fact that the zoom of my cameras is pretty poor. And I have yet to manage to buy a good zoom lens.

This picture was also taken at the Jamia Millia Islamia University campus.

A Dozen Roses

I could have posted all the 12 roses one by one but then it would have taken 12 days! So here I go, a dozen roses all from the Jamia Millia Islamia University campus in New Delhi.

Red Rose

Yellow Rose

White Rose with Colored Dots

Orange and Red Roses

Red Rose with a Shade of Yellow

Pink Rose

White and Pink Rose

Yellow Rose

Pink Rose

A Bunch of Roses

Red with a shade of yellow again

A Bunch of Red Roses

Roses- One of the Unforseen Benefits of Attending Conferences

Rose in Bloom

Since Monday, I have been staying at my sister's place and attending a training program at the Jamia Milla Islamia University.

Multicolored Rose

Apart from the main benefit of attending the conference, I was able to capture at least 20 beautiful images of roses. Jamia is just full of them.

Burning Bright- Another Rose from the Jamia Millia Islamia Gardens

But for me to be able to process more variety and some of the really good pictures, I have to reach Gurgaon first. So I would be blogging from the home base from tomorrow.

Jamia Millia Islamia University and the Surroundings in Pictures

Jamia Milla Islamia Campus

If you stand in front of the Vice Chancellors gate, this beautiful structure is visible from outside. But I have been so busy at the workshop that I can hardly find anytime to visit other parts of the campus.

Muslimshousing.com

I saw this interesting sign Muslimshousing.com near a Jamia bus stop. I have no political interest in the issue, I just found the signboard interesting, as I found BPOshaadi.com interesting.

Another part of the Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi

I have to admit that the Jamia has beautiful gardens within its premises and outside the workshop sessions I have been found meticulously clicking images of roses and Dahalias among other flowers. Pictures would be posted soon.

Busy as a Bee!

Till Friday, it is going to be raining photos at Travel Tales from India. I really liked the results I got with the photo of the yellow rose with a bee. I have taken it with my Nikon point and shoot with absolutely zero expectations. And what a beautiful shot it turned out to be (at least in my eyes).

Yellow Rose with a Bee

Siesta Time

No, there was no siesta time for me and I am not on a holiday. I am managing to take these pictures during the course of my day spent at another university in Delhi.

Too Busy for Words!

I am too busy for words but definitely not for pictures. Never knew the Jamia Millia Islamia University had a FM radio station of its own! Have to tune in one of these days.

Lazy Sunday Photo- More People who Read Books Needed in This World?

More People with Books rather than Bombs are Needed in This World!

Lazy Sunday Photo- CP, New Delhi

Pavements of Connaught Place, CP, New Delhi

I had not planned to take a break from blogging but by just taking the Monday off for the Lansdowne trip, the work got piled on and could not manage to post anything. So, I thought I would start with the usual lazy Sunday photo.

From the Sunday Daryaganj Book Market

Daryaganj Sunday Book Market

One of the few pavements in Delhi where Maradona, Chambers Dictionary and Jigsaw Puzzle can be found on the same shelf. I still remember how annoyed my nephews were with me that I just brought this picture home rather than the Maradona book itself. And it was almost two years back that I went there! About time I headed that way once more.