Giraj's Blogs

Summer indulgences, yoga and that blasphemous act

Now, this is every-year stuff. As soon as the temperatures soar up to 45 degrees Celsius – the Dilliwalahs pack their bags to shift to the hills. And because they carry a little bit of Delhi wherever they go – you would see aggression on the roads leading up to the hills, witness brawls in the parking lots and hear the clamour of laughter at the eateries at the Mall. One would experience Delhi everywhere (Dilliwalahs are, after all, omnipresent). The ones who stay back in Delhi make do with trips to India Gate in the evenings with their food, floor mats, noise and pets. The other Dilliwalahs for whom India Gate is far (or too crowded) – a drive to the ice-cream vendor at the colony market is a every day ritual (no, we don’t venture out for a stroll up to the colony market anymore). Some enterprising ones venture out to Jama Masjid at night to soak themselves in the atmosphere there while other old Delhi loyalists drift towards Giani Di Hatti for Kulfi Faluda.

The late afternoons (or is it lazy evenings) are not bereft of activity. Of the few privileges Dilliwalahs indulge in during summer evenings – mangoes, jamuns, chaat, Rooh afza, and golgappas top the charts. A stroll to the local sweet shop for a round of golgappas (served dipped in a concoction that has a spicy solute mixed in Bisleri, mind you) is routine. No one knows this better than those two thieves who ran away with the laptop and camera from the car of a senior BJP leader of the city while he was gobbling up golgappas at Ladoo Sarai. A politician got robbed was not so much of an issue though – that a man got robbed while he was having golgappas is blasphemous. No wonder the Delhi cops are not treating it as an ordinary case of theft. And rightly so!
June 21st is celebrated as the Yoga Day. Not content with beaming that Hindustan Unilever baiter across TV channels, the government feels it must showcase Delhi’s love for yoga with more vigour. All that is fine but the manner in which the authorities forced-shutdown shopping establishments and eateries in and around Connaught Place on 20th evening is not yogic by any stretch of imagination. It is only a matter of time when the establishment will force every one of us as well as our dog to do a sish aasan on Yoga day. Big Brother is here…and watching!
Post Script: So this piece puts to rest the argument that all www.stateofdelhi.in blogs make fun of that man we used to call aam admi!

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Comments

  1. June 21st is International Yoga Day, a time to remind the world that we invented it and to claim it as our. The fact is that yoga travels on its own steam and the government does little to help.

  2. It would have been amusing if not sinister how this government hijacks everything positive as it’s own doing. It is almost as if India gained Independence in 2014. That said, loved the picture of Delhi’s summers that the writer painted in one’s mind. Hailing from Bangalore, I don’t do well in the heat in this city. Golgappas, or phuchkas as we Bongs call them, are a source of comfort.

  3. Not to forget about the Dilli ki ladoo at India Gate. The water stored at India Gate for decoration purpose turns into swimming pool for so many.

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