Ode to Delhi Winter: Eggs

(Text and photos by Pupps Roy)

Students snacking before they enter for their tution class

Last year it was 1 for 5Rs. Last to last year it was 1 for 5Rs but 8rs for 2 again this year its 6Rs for 1 or 7 for 40 Rs. There's an inflation and it shows everywhere in India so why not with the egg industry? Why would they be exempted? Autumn reflects the transition from summer into winter. Mercury in Delhi starts dropping and the poultry price starts increasing. This happens every year in Delhi. So here is the story. Sometime in the month of September Egg-walas(egg-man) flock up in every colonies of Delhi with their cart full of eggs in different choice and size. Eggs, one of the notorious body warmers for Delhiites can’t wait to enter in their lives. The arrival of night becomes one and half hour earlier than summer and these Andewalas(egg-men) adorn their carts with their ingredients and utensils and they are out on the rutted roads of Delhi. They are here, there everywhere.

 

 

Eggs in different forms. You can have it boiled, half boiled, fried, half fried, omelette or toast with eggs. Just tell him and he will do it for you. He is making it right infront of you so you can stop him if he is frying your egg a little longer than you want it so. He is your egg-man, Andawala. Imagine cool breeze blowing on your face and you are taking a hot bite of a boiled eggs spiced with onion, green chili and corriander. Winter doesn’t get better than this.

Yogesh is chopping green chilli and not wearing a sweet grin. But he tries to. He is found everyday at the corner of Ljapat nagar 4 ring road

 

Mostly these egg-men hail from the rural districts of Bihar and UP. In summer they sell Kakri, a vegetable from the same family of cucumber and radish. Greener, thinner, little spirally in shape and longer than cucumber and it tastes chewy and soft as you go on eating. You have to eat it with a dash of chaat masala and lime. After the month of August Kakris slowly exit from the vegetables Market and just then they are replaced with eggs. And now eggs roll all over Delhi to bring warmth to the delhiites.


Smoking oil waiting for the chili and onion

 

Cheap diet, pretentious, tasty and considered as almost vegetarian in mostly Delhi households. So why not eggs? Have you forgotten the old commercial "Meri jaan, meri jaan murgi ki ande, Sunday ya Monday roz khao ande". This daily diet of Delhiite becomes rife in winters and around these "thelawalas(egg cart men)" become the gathering of heady passersby, mid-lifers, hard labourers, drivers, students and many of us. An uniform clad cabin crew maybe going to the fancy places for snacking but he knows exactly what he is eating now. Eggs for the evening at this nameless mobile egg cart. He devours a boiled egg in one gulp. He is sorted. The egg-wala serves one by one with his utmost pleasure and skillfull hands. Cleanly deshelled boiled eggs, nicely fried eggs without burning the white, well cooked omelet and perfect egg toasts with exact amount of chilli and salt. Because Delhiites will not pay for bad food so he has to be perfect. Your egg meal is over and you ask for napkin and he gives you a piece of a newspaper cutout. "No napkin sir, sorry!". Such a nice thought of recycling paper. Amazing!!!!

 

Fun doooo!

(Text by Pupps Roy, photo taken from google images)

Delhi sleeps early thesedays. Cops shut out the parties at 1am in the water holes of Delhi. Every day hauz khas village and GK are periodically busted after midnight. PCR vans are permanently posted at the entry of every party area. So please go home. Dont be out till late. This implies how unsafe Delhi is. But Delhi's nightlife is diverse and growing everyday. People are coming with new concepts. Tucked away, you will see everything from dive bars theme pubs, to multi-level nightclubs. Even the bars around the hedonistic, hippy side of Pahargunj close around 12.30pm.

So what Delhi banishes parties after midnight? House parties have always been favourite.
1. You can drink as much as you can without having to take any tension to go back home.
2. You can crash in there after the party is over.
3. You are safe with the people you know of in the party.
4. Its your party.

But what can you do other than parties? what if you dont like to party? Catch a night show movie in one of the malls and then sit around in some coffee shop till the wee hours.

You dont even have to spend a lot in Five star coffee shops. There are few upmarket coffee shops that are open till 1.30 and beyond. And the famous one around the Nizammudin station is open for 24 hours. So go and give a treat to yourself.

Who says that Nightlife in Delhi is considered to be luxurious and lavish life if compared with mumbai? Drive to India Gate and or a take night bus. Most of the night buses pass by India Gate with the sole intention to entertain delhite. Lick an icecream and watch the spectacular India Gate. Survey says 97% delhiite has visited India Gate in the mid night.

If you like adventure then run errand to the famous dhabas for a treat just at the Delhi Haryana Border. You may come across your colleague and his family there. Enjoy spicy paratha with home made unsalted butter. Not bad for a change on a saturday night.

Delhi is tired but not old and it has many avenues to enjoy despite its strict rules thesedays. Well rules are arbitrary and pretty needless for people who do something more insightful. Lets not go there. Lets draw a lakhsman Rekha to our fun limit and enjoy limitless. Happy Delhi, fun Delhi...there you go!

Rhyming Varanasi and Delhi all the way......

(Texts and photos by Pupps Roy)

To purify the sinful soul, for a change of wind, or just for a short holiday trip and above all to seek salvation Delhites go to Varanasi. The city of lights, the oldest, ancient city of India and city of Ghats. Surprisingly a magical similarity is found between Delhi and Varanasi. The entire Varanasi resembles old Delhi while some of the areas look little like the Darya Gunj. Narrow gullies, kids playing cricket in the backstreets, paan stains in every step you take, amazing smell of sweet wafting in the air all the time and what not. This holiest city of India has awesomely large number of cows and buffaloes roaming on the road freely without any traffic control. American visitors find the cows are fattest here compared to the other places of India. They are like the fat American cows just like the similar to that of the Prize Heifers. Have we been transported to dilli? Pinch yourself...no you are in Varansi and you are not dreaming.

 

Stop there.  The crazy sight of few red and yellow speckled snakes danced by a black turbanned man swaying to the sound of his cacophonous pipe and the beating of a miniature drum that brought everyone to a standstill situation in the bustling expanse of Pathani Tola, another crowded ignored area of old Varanasi. Isnt Delhi the city of snake Charmers? Name it to Varanasi now. Nomads are now in Varanasi. Villagers who learnt to live with buffaloes come to graze them on the city roads. The entire city is a zoo. Farmers feed on weed while the animals eat the wastes and occasional servings from some generous passersby. Not forgetting barking mangy dogs around the narrow lanes after the buffaloes. Some of them look like domesticated wolves. There are no deserts to find snakes but the charmers catch them from jungle and bring them to the city to make them dance and earn money. The teenager girl in burqa looks so cute as she pops out from the top window and then hides again. Restriction is everywhere but there are exclusions. This holiest city is a hub of non-vegetarian food but not around the ghats. You get all on the other side of the Ghats which directly doesnt keep any relation with the Ganges. There is always a love hate relationship.

 

Out of nowhere there stands a Japanese eatery. “Cafe Iba” is just next to the Assi Ghat. Decent Jap food in Varanasi comes unexpectedly. Upon entering you will see 70% are foreigners and out of which 50% are Japanese and rest are urban locals in fancy clothes trying their skills with chopsticks. An awesome Japdin can be enjoyed in just 300rs that too a hardcore non-vegetarian meal. Quirky decor and Japanese cold beverages will make you sit here for more. There is an archive of Japanese books. You either can rent or buy them or even can donate yours. But don’t compare this restaurant to that of the hoity toity japanese eateries in Delhi. This one is so different with a life and true Japanese simplicity.

 

Ghats are definitely a hotspot. Basking in the early evening heat to see the sundown and watching the Ganga Prayer from the boat is not to miss. Locals still throng the ghats while all the eateries and coffee shops around the ghats are still clearly designed for foreigners. Exotic food, cool sorbet and pizzas with home made mozarellas definitely attract foreigners. Some of them even offer beer and other hard drinks not around the Ghat though. Mint tea is served in every restaurants. But there is a smell of weed almost everywhere. It looks like every youth is high and doing their own thing unperturbed by the crowd. Have you been to "My Bar" is PaharGunj? You will find its ditto here in Sigra area called "Yelchiko". You can buy a beer for just 100 bucks. Worth a deal in a chilled bar with a chilled beer from this searing heat outside.

 

This muggy weather doesn’t make Varanasi more interesting. No saints on the road but only around the temple area near the Prayag Ghat. Their life goes on squatting around the circle listening to the super saint amongst them and then looking around for alms while smoking some pure weed as a breather. Jai ho! The whole city is so interesting with so many things happening midst of the hustle bustle that will definitely keep you busy with something or the other till the time you leave Varanasi. Many places to see and many things to do. The whole city looks like the movie set of "Delhi 6" which has scene for every climax.

 

There you go Varanasi. You are colorful, busy, quiet and serene as the ghats in the midnight, you light up like Diwali in every evening and you are like an addiction. You are like cocaine. The more you do it more you get into it except you don’t get a downer.  There’s no wonder why does the whole world come to your feet for a visit or for a dip.  Standing before Ganga I lose myself into its tranquility.  I am in my thought-shop now. Ganga is flowing in the reverse side due to the harsh monsoon this year. Maybe it’s uniting Yamuna somewhere near Delhi? I have no idea about it. I stood still.

 

 

Makeup and Make out?

 (Text by Pupps Roy and photo from Google Images)

 

Makeup and make out have sort of a way along each other. How inviting and sexy those prostitutes look in TV or in real life just before taking them in bed. Ok set aside prostitutes, what about the mujras? The neat way the desi dancers dress up and their aesome make up do! Lovely deep kohl around eyes, loud lipstick and their beauty spots. It definitely draws a mile towards making out. You cant wait to get the girl naked exploring each body part. Then again the body make up or touch up! Highlighting bosoms, bronzing the collar bones. Buy those shimmer moisturizer. What are they for? apply it in ur arms and increase the hot factor. Jergen's shimmer Moisturizer and Dove's "summer glow" does all the trick.  A little powdery effect to the whole thing? Go for Mac Bronzer powder and keep dabbing before he rubs on you! The makeup is bound to stay even after a long hot massage.

 

Oh My God you are a sex goddess straight from the vogue magazine. Its good to eat grapes off the wall paper if we can’t live in wall paper. The feeling is fantastic till the time the make up is on. How about sex proofing it? Make up running over on the pillow case during the make out session? Absolutely no! Such a turn off! Use lip gloss or those Mac Stay-on lipstick to arouse your man to your red hot lips without fear of leaving a lipstick stain on his or your linens. Even the Revlon sticks are not bad. You are safe darling. Rub a very little from your lips on ur cheeks and then blush, blush, blush. You may just try Mac Fetish or Mac Lust or even Mac Fondle. Well they are not the names of a soft porn flick. They are the latest ones from Mac. Get a screaming sex appeal with these.

 Spray some Victoria secret's sweet seduction in your favourite spots. Belive me it will work like the Axe-deo commercial. The sweet sexy smell will let him ask you for more. It reacts so well with body and gives out an orgasmic fragrance so enjoy the euphoric moment and let it just linger.

 

Not to forget the X-rated eye shadows to play with your eyes if you want to get on to your sexy side. Try shades of grey or black. There are fifty shades of grey available. So get into the gritty side of it. Add some silvery touch to it or just blacken it wholly.

 

Let him play you around for a while. To finish it spray some rose water on ur face from few inches from your face to seal the makeup. You can buy Mac's make up fix or some same make up sealers from Clinique or Chambor or even L’oreal has some nice ones. This will not crack or crease your make up. Look for one that is moisture resistant so feel free to sweat the night away with your partner. This is ideal to deal with Delhi's muggy weather. So dear Delhi girls you are sorted, no fear of spoiling your make up while making out! This will definitely make your boyfriend to stay home with you on a stag night. Have fun: All Nighter.