Good points:
1. The national anthem being played at the start to the booming of canons.
2. The jogging march of the Parachute Regiment.
3. The BSF (Border Security Force) march and camel mounted contingent.
4. The Agni Missile.
5. The Maharashtra tableau offering a glimpse into the lives of the Dhangar community that earns its living rearing cattle. The fun part was a shepherd leading his large "two men" sheep moving outside the tableau.
6. Three Jaguar aircraft fly past into a "trishul" formation.
7. General. Deepak Kapoor saluting the crowds while going back in his official vehicle "Army 1".
8. Precision in the timing of the whole function.
Bad points:
1. The huge line and mis-management of crowds even in the reserved blocks.
2. The front seats in the reserved blocks are no good because of the posse of policemen blocking your view. It is better to get a seat on the upper rows.
3. The cleaners clearing the RajPath of dung not stopping and standing still when the national anthem was played.
4. One of the bands had a drum which had "Made in USA" or something similar prominently printed on it. I think we can manufacture atleast a drum indigenously.
5. You thought atleast while going back you will be spared the lines, but the Delhi police did not remove the gates/metal detectors even when the function was over, leading to huge lines as people made their way out.
6. I had to drive through atleast 7 barricades from Noida to Rajpath, but at no point was my boot opened, a basic thing that even the shopping malls do.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Republic Day Parade
I have heard a lot about the "Republic Day Parade" being one of the finest "must have" experiences, Delhi has to offer. But even though having lived around Delhi for almost 6 years, I never made it to the Raj Path on any of the January 26th's that passed by. I planned to go to the parade this time i.e. 2009, however as is usual for me the "plan" did not "solidify" till very late. I went around CP on 24th night asking the numerous DTDC, ITDC and tour operator offices about where to get the RDay parade tickets and nobody had the faintest idea. I dropped the "plan" of going to the parade thanks to the elusive ticketing counter.
And then I woke up early on the foggy 25th morning to go practice photography somewhere around Delhi. I went to "Bangla Sahib Gurudwara" where some really pertinent preachings over the loudspeaker and a picture of a boy taking a dip in the freezing water of the sarovar were the highlights. Thereafter I decided to venture towards "Red Fort" with a faint thought that I might try my luck at getting a ticket for the RDay parade at "Gandhi Ashram", Chandni Chowk. Now I don't know if this place exists "Gandhi Ashram, Chandni Chowk", having just read it over the internet, and neither did any of the rickshawallahas. After asking some it turned out there was no such place. The "Red Fort" was closed and so was the entire market in front of it because of security reasons. After watching a thousand men line up on their haunches to have free breakfast served by the Sikh from the Gurudwara Seesganj Sahib and myself having a breakfast in the Paranthewali Gali I ventured out with a firm to find the tickets . I got hold of the ITDC Janpath number and the woman told me that she was sorry and all tickets were sold. She said I could try the "Ministry of Tourism" Office at 88 Janpath. I headed towards the same and asked a sweeper about the location of the office, he waves to his right and says it is closed today. Indeed this was the right place to get the tickets only if it was a working day. And now all hope of getting the tickets was almost gone. But still took a wild swooo and asked the sweeper, "Do you have any idea where to get the parade tickets?" and he beams at me, "Yes ofcourse, you can get them at Jantar Mantar, take the next right turn, it is closeby". I land up in Jantar Mantar and surely there is a small ticketing counter next to the unsual Jantar Mantar's ticket counter, setup by the Ministry of Defence. I park my car and hurry towards the counter, just hoping that the tickets are still available, as I had read online that most get exhausted very quickly. It is early morning around 9 and the guy at the counter is very helpful and puts my anxiety at ease saying all the different category tickets are available and then goes on to patiently explain the different ticket options available and their respective locations and prices. So now I have two tickets in enclosure 12 on the south side of RajPath, which is just along side the President's enclosure. The MOD guy gave me a sticker to put on my car with the number "2" on a green triangle, that means I would be going to parking lot "2" and he instructed me not to bring along anything with me, not even a pen. The ceremony starts at 10:00AM (you have to be seated by 9:30 AM) and lasts till noon. I am happy that I will watch the ceremony sitting there, the same ceremony that as children we looked forward to so much.
I hope people searching for tickets will find this post useful, that infact was the prime motive of writing this post, to help the IT crowd. Bottom line is that you can get a ticket at Jantar Mantar and "88 Janpath" for Republic Day parade till 25th evening. The denominations are 10, 30, 50, 150 and 300, only 150 and 300 bucks tickets are reserved tickets i.e. you will get a designated seat numbers, for others you have to go early to ensure a "good" seat. For these premium tickets the walking distance is not that great, as the ticketing guy showed me on the map, the parking is hardly more than 500 meters.
"where to get Republic Day parade tickets?" "Rday parade tickets" "republic day" delhi rajpath parade tickets
And then I woke up early on the foggy 25th morning to go practice photography somewhere around Delhi. I went to "Bangla Sahib Gurudwara" where some really pertinent preachings over the loudspeaker and a picture of a boy taking a dip in the freezing water of the sarovar were the highlights. Thereafter I decided to venture towards "Red Fort" with a faint thought that I might try my luck at getting a ticket for the RDay parade at "Gandhi Ashram", Chandni Chowk. Now I don't know if this place exists "Gandhi Ashram, Chandni Chowk", having just read it over the internet, and neither did any of the rickshawallahas. After asking some it turned out there was no such place. The "Red Fort" was closed and so was the entire market in front of it because of security reasons. After watching a thousand men line up on their haunches to have free breakfast served by the Sikh from the Gurudwara Seesganj Sahib and myself having a breakfast in the Paranthewali Gali I ventured out with a firm to find the tickets . I got hold of the ITDC Janpath number and the woman told me that she was sorry and all tickets were sold. She said I could try the "Ministry of Tourism" Office at 88 Janpath. I headed towards the same and asked a sweeper about the location of the office, he waves to his right and says it is closed today. Indeed this was the right place to get the tickets only if it was a working day. And now all hope of getting the tickets was almost gone. But still took a wild swooo and asked the sweeper, "Do you have any idea where to get the parade tickets?" and he beams at me, "Yes ofcourse, you can get them at Jantar Mantar, take the next right turn, it is closeby". I land up in Jantar Mantar and surely there is a small ticketing counter next to the unsual Jantar Mantar's ticket counter, setup by the Ministry of Defence. I park my car and hurry towards the counter, just hoping that the tickets are still available, as I had read online that most get exhausted very quickly. It is early morning around 9 and the guy at the counter is very helpful and puts my anxiety at ease saying all the different category tickets are available and then goes on to patiently explain the different ticket options available and their respective locations and prices. So now I have two tickets in enclosure 12 on the south side of RajPath, which is just along side the President's enclosure. The MOD guy gave me a sticker to put on my car with the number "2" on a green triangle, that means I would be going to parking lot "2" and he instructed me not to bring along anything with me, not even a pen. The ceremony starts at 10:00AM (you have to be seated by 9:30 AM) and lasts till noon. I am happy that I will watch the ceremony sitting there, the same ceremony that as children we looked forward to so much.
I hope people searching for tickets will find this post useful, that infact was the prime motive of writing this post, to help the IT crowd. Bottom line is that you can get a ticket at Jantar Mantar and "88 Janpath" for Republic Day parade till 25th evening. The denominations are 10, 30, 50, 150 and 300, only 150 and 300 bucks tickets are reserved tickets i.e. you will get a designated seat numbers, for others you have to go early to ensure a "good" seat. For these premium tickets the walking distance is not that great, as the ticketing guy showed me on the map, the parking is hardly more than 500 meters.
"where to get Republic Day parade tickets?" "Rday parade tickets" "republic day" delhi rajpath parade tickets
Noida Vegetable Markets
Living a single life I have to do most of my shopping myself and that includes the vegetables. I can't take out time to shop for vegetables daily and so do most of the people in the metro. The answer is the weekly bustling street markets, where the haggling, noise, good amount of walking with a jute bag is fun if you go with the right frame of mind. I have been searching for information about the famous weekly street markets of Noida where you can purchase all types of vegetables and fruits when I was new here; I could not locate it anywhere on the internet. I had to go by asking the local people and collecting the information over time. So listing it out here for the benefit of the IT crowd
Sunday - Right in front of the main gate of Sector 41
Monday - In between Adobe building and Spice Mall near Sector 12
Tuesday - Near Jal Vayu Vihar and Nithari V
Wednessday - Near Kothari Public School in Sector 50
Thursday - In front of the Golf Course Sector 37 (a small daily market is setup daily here)
noida vegetable markets "Where are the vegetable markets setup in Noida?" "weekly markets" street markets "green grocers" "where can i buy vegetables in noida?"
Sunday - Right in front of the main gate of Sector 41
Monday - In between Adobe building and Spice Mall near Sector 12
Tuesday - Near Jal Vayu Vihar and Nithari V
Wednessday - Near Kothari Public School in Sector 50
Thursday - In front of the Golf Course Sector 37 (a small daily market is setup daily here)
noida vegetable markets "Where are the vegetable markets setup in Noida?" "weekly markets" street markets "green grocers" "where can i buy vegetables in noida?"
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Indian News Channels
The content production has come to the lowest of lows for the Indian News channels, perhaps that is what attracts the TRP ratings? It really is amazing that people would be interested in what havoc streptococcus is wreaking on an aging actors body than the host of other issues that need attention and concern.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Channa and Chips
Boot Polish - That is the name of the latest album from "Gurdaas Mann", the Punjab singer. The main song goes something like this - "Roti hakk dee khaiye jee, bhavein boot polishaan kariye" ("Let us make rightful living even if by polishing boots"). The Chief Minister of UP just declared 60 crores of wealth and the height of blatant shamelessness is that the highest appellate body of Income Tax department justified her wealth saying those are gifts showered out of love and affection of her followers and it is right to consider that her rightful wealth. To add to that she plays the caste card when asked about her wealth, saying she is being targeted by the media among hundreds of politicians who do the same because of her caste. Just goes on to show that power can ensure that you can create two set of rules according to your whim - one for the masses and the other for the elite. Well you can have two set of rules and also two set of moral values, one for the masses and one for the elite. So while the middle class takes pride in their honesty and get an elation hearing songs like the one from Gurdaas Mann I mentioned at the start, a Dalit Chief Minister can gobble up crores of money and even plan to sell the area around a World Heritage site and justify all that by making the incredulous remark - "My wealth is the symbol of upliftment of the millions of Dalits".
That is to say that on the morality tray the elite can have American chips and the masses can content with the channa chor garam.
God instill some sense in the Indian voter and make them believe that they too can have the chips (it is another matter that channa is lot healthier than chips).
That is to say that on the morality tray the elite can have American chips and the masses can content with the channa chor garam.
God instill some sense in the Indian voter and make them believe that they too can have the chips (it is another matter that channa is lot healthier than chips).
Monday, April 03, 2006
IQ Test
I found this IQ test at www.intelligencetest.com, nice detailed reports and above all it is free.
My results were,
Your age adjusted IQ score is 113 and the average score for all test takers is 100. You scored higher than 79 % of all the people that took this test. Your Grade ** Higher Average **.
And now some shameless self-promotion ;-), the results of the Verbal section of the tests were as follows,
Your verbal score was 95 and your percentile score is 99
Your Grade ** Excellent **
According to this test you are a word wiz with a very high verbal IQ! You have probably read lots and are likely to be well aware of the numerous advantages of expressing yourself in a precise manner. You appreciate the sometimes subtle differences between words and can easily communicate to others what you really mean. Overall you have a much better understanding of the intricacies of communication than most people. Remember there is no ceiling to your knowledge and you can improve your verbal ability infinitely.
My results were,
Your age adjusted IQ score is 113 and the average score for all test takers is 100. You scored higher than 79 % of all the people that took this test. Your Grade ** Higher Average **.
And now some shameless self-promotion ;-), the results of the Verbal section of the tests were as follows,
Your verbal score was 95 and your percentile score is 99
Your Grade ** Excellent **
According to this test you are a word wiz with a very high verbal IQ! You have probably read lots and are likely to be well aware of the numerous advantages of expressing yourself in a precise manner. You appreciate the sometimes subtle differences between words and can easily communicate to others what you really mean. Overall you have a much better understanding of the intricacies of communication than most people. Remember there is no ceiling to your knowledge and you can improve your verbal ability infinitely.
Pastures of Heaven
Started with the book borrowed from the British Library, John Steinbeck's second book "Pastures of Heaven". The book went generally unnoticed when released in 1932 but was to later become the basis of the deft use of the themes woven around Naturalism in his great novels. It is a collection of unrelated stories and thus cant be characterized as a novel but there is a central theme and shared set of families across the stories. I found so many similarities in imagery and characters with his other monumental work that introduced me to his books, "East Of Eden". One example is how the production of beans made ppl millionairs in the war years, this information is used in both the books. He now belongs to the list of my favorites - Roald Dahl, PG Wodehouse, Gabrial Garica Marquez - writers who all have a simple style but engaging tales to tell. No wonder this great novelist won the Nobel in 1962.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
St Patrick's Day
Today is St. Patrick's Day, the patron saint of the Irish people. Read about the saint by following the photolink. I read about it in the paper today, there was an article from the Irish ambassador to India about the festival and the growing Indo-Irish ties.
About the Quit
Today I completed ONE month and ONE day of my quit effort...things are good...but overcompensating a bit with booze at the moment ;-) Adjoining is an interesting picture that I found on Flickr about quitting and the photographer has an interesting quit story as well.
South Africa kick Aussie ass
Finally they did not choke and won in great style. South Africa chased a world record total of a mammoth 438 runs in the final ODI Cricket Match against Australia in a home series. True retribution for the number of close encounters which they lost to Australia. A number of records established that day at the Wanderers...I couldnt help capturing the moment off the TV screen while all the Indian channels were focussing on this story and were showing bits of the match live on news.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Our Lady of Fatima Convent - Class X A - 1994-95
Memories of school, I think I will be able to name most of them and I am adding notes on this photo. It is only 11 years back.
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