Phantasmagoria

Property For Sale in Parwanoo / Parwanu (HP)

2010-08-13T16:14:00.002+05:30

This property is in Parwanoo in sector 1-A. It's a free hold plot. Plot size: 300 sq Yards (35x90 feet. Three sets of one-bedroom sets have been made. There's provision for another one-and-a-half floors. Contact - +919459368459

Laser solution to all problems

2009-05-09T12:52:00.000+05:30

Tired of flaunting your old tattoo or your girlfriend whose name you tattooed on your arms has become an ex? Remove all those ugly scars of your past life with the help of new age cosmetic wonders. Says Dr Ramanjit Singh, Dermatologist and Cosmetologist, and owner of FOS Laser Spa in Sushant Lok I, “With newer concepts in skin care technology, skin-related problems are a thing of past now. There are new age cosmetic wonders to cure Age related problems like wrinkles, open pores, uneven pigmentation, sagging facial muscles through laser techniques.”
Armed with new state-of-the-art technology from Promoitalia Wellness Research, the FOS Laser Spa is the first in this part of the world to use this technology for weight reduction. In fact the spa has also introduced the Ultra Violet B therapy for the first time in NCR to treat psoriasis and vitiligo.
The laser spa not only caters to the needs of people with skin problems but also has a separate plastic surgery and cosmetic dentistry wing.
“We are the only ones who can do 2500 grafts in a single sitting,” says Dr Amit Gupta, a specialist in micro follicular hair transplant. Trained in Brazil by the doctor who invented it, Dr Gupta says, “One doesn’t need to fly to foreign shores for hair transplants. We use latest technology and our results are impressive.”
Well, the youngsters of Gurgaon are throwing up in large numbers for scar less breast augmentation programme as well as liposuction. For the BPO industry employees suffering from Delhi-belly, Dr Singh advises them to undergo colon hydrotherapy to detox the intestines. “Especially with hot and spicy Indian food, lots of toxins tend to accumulate in the intestines. It’s a must for all to cleanse these intestines and detox them. It’s all about healthy living,” says Dr Singh.
Apart from customized nutritional counseling to an Ayurvedic massage packages, FOS Laser Spa is all about wellness under one roof. With a strong team of specialized doctors and trained nurses, the experience here is rather different from a normal beauty spa.
“We use the latest techniques for body sculpting and facelifts. Areas with localized fat and extra volume like arms, abdomen, waist lines, inner thighs, saddle bags can be treated easily,” adds Dr Singh.
As for the cost, one can get a smile makeover for as low as Rs 3,000. The weight reduction packages start from Rs 20,000 depending on the individual’s requirements. Presently the spa is offering complimentary oral check ups for Gurgaon residents.

Miracle & a spa

2009-05-09T12:41:00.000+05:30

To help combat work stress, Gurgaon residents have another option in the recently opened spiritual spa — Miracle World Spa — in DLF phase IV. A combination of Buddha statues and bamboos imported from South Africa adorn its walls and corners. Its owner Geeta Dev Sharma says, “As soon as customers walk in here, we want them to relax in peace here. Their experience should be soothing so we have designed the interiors accordingly. Spa means to dip oneself in mud and meditate. And unlike other spas in town, we try to follow it in its essence.”
Juxtaposing the elements of earth, water and fire in its theme, the Miracle World Spa has two bamboo huts, beautiful spa rooms, beauty room, counseling rooms, hair saloon, and are building a hydrotherapy unit which would be functional shortly. It has an in-house academy to train the staff and each department has its own exclusive staff.
However, talking about the clients who are visiting the spa, Sharma says, “Right from top corporate honchos having back problems to even school and college students, all come here. Examination stress is a big problem that children face. We help them ease out stress with meditation and exercises. Our USP is that we have separate rooms for men and women and we have no cross massagers.”
A centre of excellence for Thai Yoga, Marma and sports massages, the spa also lets you experience all forms of massages using different aroma oils. However, there’s a Samaritan side to the spa. The money earned from here goes for treatment of the poor in Ajmer. “My spiritual guru is Baba Sahib Badam Shah of Ajmer. There’s a charitable hospital in his memory where poor are treated free,” Sharma says.
A legal-eagle by profession, Sharma has designed the interiors of the Spa herself, crediting designer instincts in her to her father who was a chief architect.
Packages start from Rs 1500 to 3500 per session and all kits used in the treatment are disposable. The spa at present is giving summer discounts and one can also opt for annual membership.

Bad roads, broken sewers and resident's miseries

2009-05-09T12:34:00.001+05:30

Bad roads, broken sewers and authorities giving a royal ignore to the resident’s plea to maintain them. That’s the price you pay to live living in those high-rise spacious luxury apartments in Gurgaon. Turn your head towards any side, the condition will remain the same. And try to improve it any which way you can, nobody will listen.
Residents of sector 55 are facing a similar kind of problem. The road leading to their apartments has disappeared, thanx to the broken sewer which floods the roads so badly that even the SUVs find it a problem to chug through the muddy pool, forget about small cars.
“We feel ashamed to invite our relatives and friends to our place. When the sewage water turns the road into a pool, the foul smell emanating from the road adds to our miseries. We have to take a long detour to avoid this road,” says RC Goel, a retired scientist and a resident of Paarth Apartments, Sector 55.
Goel, who shifted from Delhi’s Pitampura area, feels that Gurgaon is nothing in comparison to Delhi in terms of providing civic amenities. “Only thing good about Gurgaon is the space available inside your apartment compound and your home. Outside it is just like any other urbanized village,” Goel adds.
The road also leads to the Sushant Lok II residence of District Congress leader Satbir Gujjar. According to Gujjar, “On my insistence HUDA had once repaired the road. But with broken sewer it came back to the same position again. If residents approach to HUDA again, I am sure they will repair the broken sewer and make the road metalled.”
However, Goel says, “Several times we have brought it to HUDA’s notice, but nothing has been done till now. We are confused now, whether the road actually belongs to HUDA or falls under Gurgaon Municipal Corporation or some other civic body.”

Smriti Vatika's ugly scar

2009-05-09T12:21:00.003+05:30

From the outset it seems that Gurgaon’s Smriti Vatika Park in sector 55 is well manicured and maintained perfectly. However, once you enter the park reality seems to be pegged differently. An open sewer dissects the park into two leading with foul stench emanating from it perennially. Maintained the horticulture department of HUDA, residents feel Huda should intervene and do a cosmetic makeover of the park.
Catering to the needs of residents of Sector 53, 54, 55 and 56, the lone park in the area is a hub of activities. Morning walkers grace the park quite early here, feeling the need of proper lighting facilities here.

“Most of the walkers come here before the break of dawn. It is quite dark at that time. We just need that Huda should keep the park properly lit up,” says ML Chawla, a resident of sector 56.
Most of the sectors around the Smriti Vatika have apartments of Central Group Housing societies. Unlike private developers, they don’t have parks inside their apartment complexes. “This is the reason why this park draws a huge crowd,” says Subhash Sharma, resident of sector 56.
“If there’s a will, this park can be developed nicely. It can have a space for children’s park, a separate platform for people to practice yoga, and some more rain shelters having benches for old people to sit and relax after walking,” adds Sharma. Out of the two rain shelters, one is right next to the sewer, rendering it useless.
“The need of the hour is to close down the sewer that passes through the park. If HUDA can put pipes instead of the open drain, it will help us in reclaiming lot of waste land and using the entire area of the park,” says RS Kataria, President of morning walker’s association of Smriti Vatika.
However, 81-year-old Om Prakash Joshi feels, “A certain stretch of walking track is slanted and is rough for walkers. People wearing waist belts and old ones get jerks here. It should be leveled so that people like me can walk properly.”
“HUDA has done good job in some parts of the park. The manicured lawns and well kept garden at the entry is commendable. However, the open drain is an ugly scar and should be removed,” says BL Mehrotra, resident of Sun City heights, sector 54.

Why Gurgaon won't vote?

2009-05-02T12:17:00.000+05:30

Are the Millennium City residents feeling left out of the poll process? Yes, say many residents who haven’t seen the face of a single candidate in their area. “Gurgaon is called the Millennium City, but surprisingly, the candidates haven’t even bothered to call upon us. We get the election update of our area through media. We are feeling left out,” says Subhash Chandra Sharma, a retired banker and resident of Sector 56.
With New Gurgaon voters forming only 10 per cent of the total electorate in Gurgaon Assembly constituency (which along with eight other Assembly segments forms the Gurgaon parliamentary constituency), all the candidates are focusing their campaign on rural areas.
Armed with the urban issues and problems, a few believed that candidates would come to woo the elite class of Gurgaon. However they are stunned by the royal ignore they have received from the candidates. “If you travel to Old Gurgaon, at least you can see banners and hoardings and you realise the campaign is on. In New Gurgaon the entire election paraphernalia is missing. Perhaps we are too few for these candidates to matter,” says Sunil Kalra, a DLF phase II resident.
Besides, there are people who have received their voter ID cards, but still they are unaware about their polling booths. “During morning walks, I meet so many people who don’t even know their polling booths, but they have a voter ID card. At least in other towns, parties make it a point to inform their voters about these things. Here political parties aren’t even courteous enough to make a basic point of contact by giving this information to their voters,” says Pooja Khan, a resident of DLF Phase V.
“New Gurgaon doesn’t form a vote-bank for politicians, so they ignore us. However, they tend to forget that the large chunk of revenue that the state earns comes from this area. And it is this achievement that they boast of on all political platforms. However, it’s unfortunate that they feel the residents of the same town are insignificant for them. Sad part is that the aim of a candidate is to win polls, so they focus on rural vote banks. And this is the main reason why urban middle class has become cynic for the electoral process,” says Shashi Sharma of People’s Action Group.
However, RWAs are miffed by the fact that voter’s list is not complete. “There are more than 1000 people living in Hamilton Court, but only 127 names are there in the voter list. Lots of names are missing from the previous list. This is the reason why New Gurgaon residents form such a small minority group to attract the attention of candidates contesting elections,” says Om Prakash Khetan, President, Hamilton Court RWA.
Khetan’s son and daughter-in-laws names are missing from this year’s voter list. “There are lot of people in our apartments who have ID cards and have cast their vote in 2004 elections, but their names are missing from here now,” Khetan adds.
V.N. Kapoor, President of Regency Park II RWA also complains, “Political parties are more interested in addressing slum issues than our problems. They know they will get chunk of votes from there and hence hardly waste time in contacting us. We are useless for them.”
Residents of Regency Park II also face the same problem as that of Hamilton Court. “The names of only 40 per cent of the eligible voters in our apartments are there in the list. Rest of the names is missing. Four years back me and my wife applied for ID card, but till now only I have received my card whereas my wife’s card is missing. In other parts of the country party workers of different political parties help the voters in getting them registered. In Gurgaon, none of the political party workers even bothered to help us out,” says Kapoor. “They don’t know that a small initiative taken by them would have helped them secure a chunk of votes of new Gurgaon,” says Khetan.

NBCC planning to expand Gurgaon Project

2009-05-02T12:00:00.000+05:30

It’s good news for people looking for cheaper homes in Gurgaon. National Building Construction Corporation, who had earlier announced 800 apartments for Gurgaon, is all set to expand their project here.
According to NJ Singh, Senior General Manager, NBCC, “We have received around 21,000 expression of interest (EOI) applications, which is 26 times the available number of flats.”
The PSU has planned Pent Houses in Gurgaon apart from several apartment options of two, three, four and five bedroom apartments within the price band of Rs 25-45 lakh.
“If we start processing the applications at this stage, very few people will be getting allotment in this scheme. With an intention to satisfy the need for maximum number of applicants, we are in the process of acquiring more land in Gurgaon,” said Singh.
Moreover, the Election Commission’s Code of Conduct in effect, some permissions and approvals are getting delayed.
The country’s largest PSU in building sector is planning to come out with formal project details by June next month.

Raisina Residency project voted the best

Tata Housing’s Raisina Residency in Gurgaon’s sector 59, built on the theme of Art and Culture, has won the CNBC Asia Pacific Property Awards 2009 for best development marketing in Residential category. This award is the Asia Pacific edition of the International Property Awards, the industry’s most prestigious award programme globally.
On being successful at the Awards, Brotin Banerjee, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, TATA Housing said, "It gives me immense pleasure to receive these awards. The awards are a testimony to the high standards and expertise of TATA Housing to develop landmark projects in the country.”
The International Property Awards are split into regions covering America, Asia Pacific, Europe & Africa, Arabia and UK and the participants enter at their relevant national level. Each region then have winners in prescribed categories under given parameters and the highest-scoring winners from each region are automatically entered into the overall International Awards, which ultimately determine the world's finest property companies.
TATA Housing as an award winner in the Asia Pacific Property Awards, 2009, are invited to attend a glittering awards dinner for the Asia Pacific Region on July 16, 2009 where the star ratings for the projects would be announced.

Old Habits Die Hard

2009-05-02T11:57:00.000+05:30

Hundreds of Delhi residents might have found their dream houses in Gurgaon but they haven’t gotten over with their Delhi hangover yet. For them ‘daily needs’ have changed into ‘weekly needs’ and a weekend trip to Delhi is a must for buying mutton, soaps, pulses and in some cases vegetables, too.
Rajesh Kalra, a resident of DLF Phase III, does his shopping from Delhi. “I first lived in Daryaganj and then moved to South Delhi. I feel comfortable buying stuff from there. In Gurgaon, you don’t have the comfort factor. I know my old kiryana shopkeeper won’t cheat me,” Kalra, who still goes to his old barber in Green Park market, said.
Ankit Batra of Shri Morning Palace, a retail store in E-block market Hauz Khas, said, “We have customer who have been buying stuff for the past 40 years. Some have shifted to Gurgaon but they come on weekends here.”
Before shifting to Sushant Lok, Akshay Saxena lived in Malviya Nagar. “I still go to Malviya Nagar for shopping. In Gurgaon, there is little option of buying daily need items within the colony. One has to go to far off places where parking is a hassle. So I go to my old shops in Delhi.”
Same is the case with former East Patel Nagar and Rajinder Nagar residents who have shifted to the Millennium City. “Most of my customers come from Gurgaon to buy fish, mutton and chicken,” Sanjay, owner of Sanjay Meat shop at Pusa Road, said. Most of them call him up in advance to ensure they don’t return empty hand. His USP – apart from mutton, chicken and varieties of fish, he also sells ducks and turkey.
"All our household items are bought from Hauz Khas market. Actually we are so comfortable with our kiryana store there that even after shifting to Gurgaon for so many years, we make it a point to go to Delhi for our daily needs stuff," says the DLF phase II resident.

The night they can never forget

2009-04-24T11:31:00.000+05:30

Owning a farmhouse in Gurgaon can be fearsome. Ask Fernandes couple if you don’t believe us.

Owning a farmhouse in Chhattarpur, Ghitorni or Sultanpur area might be a style statement as well as comfort factor for many in Delhi, but, in Gurgaon, even if you dream of buying a farmhouse, think twice. It can actually be a pain, a cause of fear, mental agony and helplessness. If you wonder how, read on.

A couple (in their mid-60s) residing in their farmhouse on the outskirts of Gurgaon realised it the hard way. Running a successful restaurant 'Bernandos' in DLF Galleria market, the Fernandes couple was too scared to come out for an interview. However, their brush with the law thereafter left an ugly scar on their memory and set them talking.

On August 1 last year, at about 1.30 am, they were returning to their farm from Gurgaon after folding up the day’s business. As soon as they hit the unmetalled road leading to their gates, they saw a man flashing a revolver and asking them to stop. Behind him they could see few shadows. Without thinking twice, the husband pressed the accelerator of their Maruti Esteem. However, the man with the help of the revolver smashed the windscreen of the car and was knocking on the door. They could see his face clearly now.

“We just kept speeding away. The men fired at us thrice. We were lucky to escape unhurt,” says Mr Fernandes. “A few labourers who stay in adjoining farm came for our help. But by then, the miscreants had sped away on their bikes.”

After about an hour, a PCR van came there, but the cops wanted the couple to come to the main road and fetch them to the scene of crime. “Imagine the kind of mental agony we were in and then such an odd request from the cops leaves you numbed. When we got them to our farmhouse, they wanted to know how much we are worth and not bothered about us or the shooting. They never bothered to visit the spot and left saying ‘come to the station in the morning’,” says Fernandes.

The incident and inaction by cops only led the couple to hire a private armed security guard and a cab for their office and back. They were too scared to drive alone. It was only after intervention from senior cops in Delhi, that the couple were able to get them heard at the police station.

Meanwhile, the armed guard they had hired started carrying out probe on his own. The Lal family was in for a shock when they found out that their own servant for four years was part of the gang which attacked them. “Later, we remembered he used to talk much about robbery, crime, etc in the area. He was trying to scare us about the environs. His cousin was the main man behind the attack. And the gang they hired to kill us was arrested by cops in a case of murder in some other district of Haryana. When we saw the news, we were relieved that worst is over. However, none of the cops came to us when they arrested him,” says Fernandes.

“After a few months, a constable came to us and told me that our life was in danger and they wanted to kill us for property. Since our children stay in Delhi and everybody thought we live alone here, the property mafia wanted this prime land. However, after the incident lots of our friends visit us regularly so the notion has been done away with,” he adds.

The couple feels that recession in property market has also helped their cause and the reason why they are alive too. “Land prices have gone southwards, builders have shelved their plan of developing property here and that’s the reason why we are safe right now,” says Mrs Fernandes.

Nine months have passed and Lals still haven’t forgotten the deadly night of August 1. Although they still live in the shadow of fear, but they can’t leave the place which they have nurtured for years.

Gurgaon's own brewery

2009-04-24T11:00:00.002+05:30

With Haryana only among four states in India allowing brewing of beer by restaurants, Gurgaon has become the first city in north India to brew beer. Currently beer is being brewed and served fresh at Galaxy Hotel’s Howzatt and Rockman’s Beer Island at the Ambience Mall.

Enter Howzatt, and the aroma of fresh beer leaves the connoisseurs of the ale awestruck. Cricketing ambience just adds to the flavour of the IPL season. According to restaurant manager Hemant Nautiyal, “All ingredients are imported from Germany. And the end product doesn’t have any preservatives added to it but retains the nutrient quality of beer. In fact we are the first in the country to brew fresh wheat beer.”

Imported bottled German wheat beers are available in India but nobody has brewed a wheat beer in the country till now.

Even the fizz in the beer is kept to a bare minimum level saving the patrons of the restaurant from ugly burps. The brewery which is right behind the bar is separated through a glass and the patrons can see the two levels of the brewery.

However, the pub also sells other liquor beverages and is showcasing the telecast of Indian Premier League. Cricket décor also revs up the ambience. With sofas in the shape of cricket glove, bar stools in the shape of bails, flags of cricket playing nations adorning the ceiling, it’s the right place to be in for watching the electric IPL matches from South Africa.

The Process
It takes 14 days to brew a beer. For starters, around 300 litres of water is added with malt and kept in a Mashton. After two-and-a-half hours, the extract (wort roughly around 250 litres) is shifted to a Wort kettle where it is boiled for 90 degrees. The hops are added here which gives a taste of bitterness and aroma. After approximately three hours the boiling wort is mixed and freezing water (kept in -250 degrees with glycol as anti freezing element) at 10 degrees temperature. Yeast is also added here and then the liquid is sent to fermentation vessels, where it is kept for 11 days. After 11 days, the beer is filtered and then kept in bright beer tank after which it is served directly to customers.

What ails the Kings’ sport

2009-04-18T11:20:00.001+05:30

After a gruelling season of polo, Samir Suhag—one of India’s top polo players—is finally enjoying a well-deserved break. A proud Gurgaon resident, Samir is busy overlooking the construction of a new shed for his six horses that are lodged in his friend’s farmhouse at Chhattarpur.
“You need to pamper your horses and one has to be extremely careful with them. You have to ensure that they drink enough water and the grass that they eat is of fine quality besides taking care of their eating habits,” says Samir. Almost all his horses have come off the race course and he is now busy training his latest two acquisitions for polo.
“It’s very hard to train them in the blazing sun. You need to give them proper rest and also maintain their fitness level,” he says.
The game, too, has taken a hit in times of recession as there were few sponsors and tournaments. “Until two years ago, sponsors outnumbered tournaments. Royal patronage and the celeb touch the game gets in India draws many corporates towards the game. We hope it continues for the next season,” he adds.
A resident of Residency Greens in Sector 46, Samir feels that somehow Polo, as a game, hasn’t been able to take off among the sponsors and corporate, the way golf did. “In the early 90s, polo and golf started at the same level. However, after 15 years now, golf is at a different level than polo. There are no endorsements in the game like golfers have,” he says.
However, he is hopeful that things might change with celeb endorsement. Samir says, “Karishma Kapur’s husband Sunjay is a polo player. Recently, Diya Mirza and Randeep Hooda, too, have taken to riding. With the celeb quotient running high on the game, it’s high time the game gets a boost now.”
The game currently has just about 20 professionals in the country and 90 per cent of them are based in NCR and Jaipur.
Apart from training his new horses, Samir is coaching youngsters in Mumbai and Delhi. He is also looking towards western shores as polo season will start in Europe. “I am looking forward to play in Europe. Season starts in May and continues until July. Also it’s a good break for wife and kids.”
Samir wanted to join Army. His father, Maj Gen (Retd) B.S. Suhag, too, was a polo player. “I played polo when I was young, but I never imagined that I would be a professional polo player. It was Naveen Jindal who saw me playing and offered me a job in 1993 and I couldn’t resist. I was getting paid for what I liked the best.”
But he finds living in Gurgaon a bliss. “It was two years ago that I shifted from Noida to Gurgoan and the two cities are poles apart. Gurgaon is more metro, has malls, lot of golf courses, wide roads and superb cinema halls. The best part is that almost all brands are available in Gurgaon and is far less polluted than other parts of the NCR region,” he says.

Parking parents jam Hamilton Court road

2009-04-18T11:10:00.000+05:30

It’s a traffic nightmare for a little over thousand residents of Hamilton Court in DLF Phase IV from 8 am to 8.30 in the morning as well as 2.15 pm to 3 pm. For them having The Shriram School as their neighbours is a pain as hordes of vehicles come here to drop and pick up children from school.
All these vehicles are parked on the main road and the main gate of Hamilton Court is being used by these vehicles for the U-turn making it nearly impossible for the residents to go out during these times.

“Earlier, there was no problem as there was a vacant space next to the school from where the parents used to pick up their children. Now some construction is going on there and thus there’s no option for parents but to park on the main road,” says Om Prakash Khetan, president, Hamilton Court Residents’ Welfare Association.
“We have approached the previous police commissioner, Mohinder Lal, as well as the DCP Traffic to solve this problem. We are still waiting for their response,” says SK Dutta, General Secretary of DLF City Senior citizen council and a resident of Hamilton Court.
According to Khetan, there are three solutions to this problem.
Either the authorities make this road one-way during 8 am to 9 am and 2 pm to 3 pm or the school authorities stagger the timings of the school. If both are not possible, then there’s a huge vacant land next to the school. If it is cleaned up, parents can easily drive there and pick up their wards from there.
Estate Officer of Hamilton Court, Surender Sharma, says, “It’s not only about traffic jams here. There can be accidents as nobody follows rules here. The school kids can be in danger as they come out of the school. A solution is urgently needed.”

Gurgaon’s own Forrest Gump

2009-04-18T11:07:00.000+05:30

For some, running is not just a plain sport, it is also a platform to share and support a cause. For Gurgaon resident, Harsh Thakkar, who has participated in the Mumbai and Delhi half-marathons—he has recently got himself registered for the May 31 Bangalore Marathon also—it’s not just participating, instead it’s running for a cause as he has registered himself as a Care Champion and is promoting the cause of an NGO — RangDe, a society that aims to make low-cost micro credit a reality.
“I have registered as a ‘Care Champion’ and am committed to raise social investment (not charity) of Rs 1 lakh for NGO RangDe. This will help increase their visibility and will also help them with their work of supporting micro-entrepreneurs on the lines of what Noble Prize winner Prof Muhammad Yunus did. I would be running 10 km to raise Rs 1 lakh,” says the TCS employee and a volunteer of Maitree.
“RangDe connects a social investor to a needy individual looking for a means to set up or expand his means of livelihood. RangDe believes in providing a sustainable alternative to charity and this has been endorsed with a 100 per cent repayment rate after more than a year of operation,” he adds.
Says Thakkar, “People say I am addicted to running. If I really am addicted then it’s a good addiction to have. For, before any marathon I have to follow a strict 18-week
fitness regime.” That does it!

Project Chauraha cries for help after fire engulfs slum

2009-04-18T11:05:00.001+05:30

Last week’s fire in the slums behind DLF Phase-V, which left close to 100 families homeless and without food, also spelt doom for over hundred kids studying in a school run by Edwell Society.
Named Project Chauraha, the school used modern technology to impart education to more than 100 kids working as rag pickers in the slums. However, undeterred by the losses, the slum dwellers have approached Edwell again to restart the school as they were happy with the results the project has managed to deliver within a few months time.
“I salute their courage and their willingness to educate their kids as they have approached us again. However, we have to start all this again from scratch,” Edwell CEO Vivek Tyagi says.
“All the books and furniture have been destroyed. We are not getting any funding from any organisation. Whatever we had invested was from our own pocket,” he adds. Tyagi is now banking on support from Gurgaon samaritans to start his project in the slum again.
“I just request people to contribute in which ever way they can. We wish people or institutions, which really believe in changing lives of underprivileged, should come forward at this time of crisis and help us in bringing these families to normal life,” he adds.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

2009-04-16T13:16:00.004+05:30

Separated by the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, the two halves of Gurgaon are two different, but inseparable worlds -:

Separated by the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, the two halves of Gurgaon are two worlds, each with a distinct identity. Old Gurgaon is like any other small town district headquarters, with a railway station, an ISBT, the local transport system, at least a strong police presence and the entire district machinery is located here. On the other hand, New Gurgaon is a jungle of high-end concrete masses separated by wide roads with shopping complexes where you don’t bargain. The economy of New Gurgaon mostly runs on plastic money.

Old vs New
India’s top polo player Samir Suhag, a resident of Sector 46, says, “New Gurgaon has wide streets and accessibility is great. However, it is incomplete without Old Gurgaon. If you want to buy the smallest things for your home, you need to rush to Old Gurgaon. I think the problem the Gurgaon residents face is that the two are badly interlinked.”

It was 11 years ago that Sunnaina Sachdeva shifted to Gurgaon from her Vikaspuri apartment in Delhi. A resident of Sector 56, Sachdeva has lived on both sides of Gurgaon. “Old Gurgaon is way too crowded but New Gurgaon, too, has its problems areas. There’s water shortage in New Gurgaon, sewage system is broken in most places and the authorities are hardly bothered to repair it. Only good thing about New Gurgaon is that you’ll find good companies, malls and housing complexes. I feel girls are far more secure in Old Gurgaon than in New Gurgaon. You don’t have to worry about travelling in public transport in the old city. In the new city, you are stranded without your car,” says Sachdeva.

Raza Khan, a resident of DLF phase V, says, “New Gurgaon has wide roads, apartment complexes are clean and the gentry is good. However, unlike Old Gurgaon, you won’t find shops where you can bargain. There are malls and high-end shopping centres. In old town, you find range of commodities. It’s then on the consumer to choose. The standard of living in Gurgaon is much higher than South Delhi.”

Sachdeva agrees, “In the old town, I have an option of buying a thing for Rs 10 as well as Rs 100. However, in New Gurgaon, you will only find costlier products.”
So does Samir Suhag when he says, “You will find well-settled old dealers of products. There are certain things which you will only get in old shops.”

The Great Divide
Virendar Dawar, owner of Dawar Internationals which deals in consumer durables, says, “The New Gurgaon residents look down upon residents of Old Gurgaon as well as don’t even think this place as Gurgaon. Whenever they come here for shopping, most of them relate to New Gurgaon as Gurgaon, as if they have come to a nearby town. But most residents of New Gurgaon will come to shop in Old Gurgaon. It is economical; they get value for money which they won’t find in the new town.”

Arjun Gulati, a businessman from Delhi who has recently invested in the Gurgaon real estate, says, “Old Gurgaon is just like North Delhi or the Walled City, where people will go with wads of cash to shop while in New Gurgaon, the purchasing power is triggered by plastic money.”

Agrees a restaurant owner located in Galleria market. “During the times of recession, we hardly have any crowd here. Earlier, we used to struggle to find space for all our customers. There was a huge waiting line and our customers used to flaunt their corporate cards. It’s all gone now. Until last year we used to reach home by 2 am but now we wrap up by 11,” he says, pleading anonymity.

E Factor
Vivek Tyagi, CEO of Edwell Society, feels the only thing that lacks in Old Gurgaon is an entertainment centre. “Old Gurgaon is a complete city in itself but without a good entertainment centre, it is incomplete. One has to go to New Gurgaon for entertainment. All good malls and cineplexes are located there,” says Tyagi, a Palam Vihar resident.
Raza Khan says, “Come what may, but the two towns are inseparable. Old Gurgaon residents have to come here and new ones have to go to Sadar Bazaar to shop. You can see bustling life there on the streets. But, in New Gurgaon, residents are safely ensconced inside their condominiums having their own little world. So the best part for a Gurgaon resident is to enjoy life in both worlds.

Recession ke side-effects

2009-03-27T13:37:00.003+05:30

For those who have lost jobs, there is a logical stress. but for those whoare in jobs, the fear of losing job and an uncertain future haunts them

Work stress during recession is hitting employees hard. Take the case of Manya Kumar (name changed), a 30-year-old senior executive working in media, buying a house in Gurgaon. Manya returned home feeling feverish last Friday. Just after an hour, her heartbeat fastened and she had breathing problems. There were also allergic reactions in her body. After going through a complete check-up, Manya was diagnosed with too much of work stress and thus had suffered from a panic attack. Doctors have advised her to take rest for two months which she cannot. Manya is still a regular at work. “I am on probation. If I take rest for two months, I will have to quit. And quitting job in times of recession is hara-kiri. I hope to survive this ordeal,” she says.
Only five months ago, Manya joined a new company in Gurgaon. She was unhappy here as she had to settle with much less work than she was promised. She tried looking for options which was nearly impossible during the recession. That’s how her problems began.
Manya is not alone. Ahana (name changed), 25, a junior executive in a public relations firm, is also battling with recession-related stress. A Gurgaon resident, she joined this new organisation in Delhi seven months ago. Due to a freeze on hiring, her company extended her probation. Now, she has been working on weekends, too. With no rest and too much of work pressure, stress took its toll on her. Ahana suffered an attack last Sunday and doctors found her BP on the lower side, low calcium and high levels of sugar in her body. To add to her woes, she has been diagnosed with a straightened spine. She has again been advised rest and physiotherapy, but Ahana, too, is regularly attending office.
“If I tell this to bosses, I can lose my job. Another stress factor now is the kind of medical expenses I will have to bear. On top of it, parents’ pressure on me to get married is another stress factor,” she says.
Dr Deepak Raheja, consultant psychiatrist at Paras Hospital, says, “Cases related to work pressure in offices have shot up. The problem is that people are going through real stress and perceived stress. This imagined threat is bothering them more, and it is even more damaging.”
Dr Vinita Malhotra Jha, a consultant psychiatrist, says, “For people who have lost jobs, there is a logical stress. But for those who have their jobs intact, the fear of losing job and uncertain future haunts them. It is this group which is very difficult to treat.”
According to Dr Jha, to battle work-related stress, I suggest them to think rationally, exercise and do yoga, stay calm and stable and work harder.
Dr Raheja feels there’s a positive side to recession also. “Recession will make people more adaptable. You can’t leave a job as there are no jobs in market. So, whatever reason they had for quitting, they have to adapt to it. Recession is also giving an opportunity to feel happiness and pleasure. Almost two generations have seen boom in the markets. The present condition will help people to adapt to real situations and face real life. It’s all about differentiating real stress and perceived stress and still be happy,” he says.
The impact of recession stress has hit hard on employees from BPOs, IT industry, real estate firms and those who have taken huge loans for house and cars. Due to stress, their coping mechanism can also affect their health. Stress leads to irregular food habits and increased cases of smoking and drinking alcohol, which is bad for health, Dr Jha says.
“Comparatively employees from health, pharma and telecom sectors are the most secure as there are no lay-offs here. However, they are also on a quiet mode and working harder as they know in times of recession they won’t get good hikes and perks,” she adds.

Jai Ho!

2009-02-28T17:30:00.001+05:30

NGO helps Gurgaon slum kids realise dreams

From a ragpicker to the Slumdog Millionaire, Jamal Malik, played by Dev Patel, is on an Oscar high. One thousand miles away from Kodak Theatre, a little over 100 ragpickers, living in shanties behind the DLF Phase V, are trying to live the same dream.
An NGO, Edwell, is making their dreams possible. The NGO has launched Chauraha, an adult education programme, for these slum kids. “We started these classes last week and children have already learnt alphabets of both English and Hindi. We wish to bring these kids more innovative ways of teaching and better infrastructure,” says Vivek Tyagi, CEO of Edwell.
“This is a 40-day capsule programme and after this we will arm the children and women of the slums with vocational training. Children can learn candle-making and instead of ragpicking can do much constructive work,” says RC Vidyarthi, Head Project Development & Planning, Edwell. “Ragpicking in Gurgaon is a huge business and these children are its mainstay. They set out in the morning to collect garbage from different parts of town and then they sort it out here. The waste is then exported for recycling,” he adds.
“Chauraha owes its success to its unique pedagogy and production design that has an interesting mix of fiction, animation, puppetry and narratives,” says Tyagi. Edwell plans to involve the women and children of the slums in the production of smokeless fuel (briquetted fuel) to be used in an improved version of Chullha (twin stove) for cooking, water boiling and room heating.

BREAKING NEWS: Tata Motors announces the launch of Tata Nano

2009-02-26T12:29:00.005+05:30

Nano Mein Sapna

Tata Motors today announced that the much-awaited Tata Nano will be launched at a function in Mumbai on March 23, 2009.
The cars will be on display at Tata Motors dealerships from the first week of April 2009. Bookings will commence from the second week of April 2009.
Since its unveiling on January 10, 2008, the Tata Nano has evoked an unprecedented interest in the country, with its website having recorded over 30 million hits in the past one year and the creation of over 6,000 interest groups and communities.
Tata Motors is making arrangements for the widest possible network to book the car, so that prospective customers can conveniently avail of booking facilities at their locations, across the length and breadth of India. The booking process and other details will be announced on March 23, 2009.

Grave problem for Sector 28 residents

2009-02-21T16:46:00.000+05:30

None of the cities in India have come up so soon than Millennium city of Gurgaon. While all sectors are seeing a phenomenal growth rate in terms of occupancy, sector 28 which is just a stone’s throw away from the posh DLF market Galleria looks like a desert. Located in the heart of Gurgaon, there are around 350 plots in the sector and only 25-30 families have built their houses here since it came into existence in 2003.
Its nemesis lies on the presence of a cremation ground on plot numbers 324,325 and 326. This is a classic case of the great urban-rural divide in the country. Villagers are up in arms against the sector 28 residents. The residents feel threatened so much that they refuse to come in front of camera or mention names in the story.
The residents received a rude shock on Valentine’s Day as Gurgaon MLA Dharamvir Gabba inaugurated the crematorium with much fanfare. “The villagers encroached on HUDA’s land earmarked for building houses and built the cremation ground here,” says an RWA official of sector 28.
“Authorities are turning a blind eye to our plea. Forget about us, the cremation ground is clearly visible from Delhi Public School’s primary section. Think about the children studying there,” says another resident.
Sector 27 located opposite 28 has more than 50 per cent occupancy. The rates in sector 27 too are higher by Rs 10,000 per square yard. “Nobody is ready to buy a plot here despite the land rate being so low. It’s Rs 35,000-38,000 per square yard here,” says a resident.
And much to the chagrin of residents, even during “correction” time the rate across the road in DLF area anywhere between Rs 60,000-75,000 per square yard.

Construction delay worries DLF investors

2009-02-21T16:40:00.004+05:30

Buyers are worried after the news spread that DLF has stalled construction of its much-hyped project DLF New Town Heights in Sector 90. However, a statement issued by DLF says, “DLF has not stalled, deferred or put on hold any project where we have made commitments with our customers, including DLF New Town Heights and Express Greens in New Gurgaon. Commitment of DLF remains unchanged and we will put all required resources to deliver the projects on time.”
Naveen Chaudhary, a resident of Princeton Estate in DLF Phase V, says, “I have made 50 per cent payment for my flat. DLF had promised us possession within three years. One year has already passed, but only basic excavation work is done on the site. There is no way that DLF can build this in two years now. Last week I went to the site I saw only a few machines and no workers.”
Delhi resident Sachin Jain, a CA by profession, bought a flat in New Town Heights for Rs 44 lakh. After two months he received a call from DLF that he had been allotted a flat in Sector 86. “I gave them the allotment amount and submitted three installments. When I was supposed to sign the buyer’s agreement I was told that the price was raised by Rs 5.78 lakh. When I protested, DLF officials told me they will reimburse the money but will deduct Rs 7 lakh,” Sachin says.
Sachin Jain has paid 35 per cent of the money. Now the company has asked him to deposit the rest of the amount. “Only a board stands at that place. Construction hasn’t started on the plot in Sector 86. The DLF is asking me to pay installments in time and if I don’t they will charge 18 per cent interest,” he says.
“DLF New Town Heights was launched in Q4 of last fiscal. It took us a few months to get necessary approvals to commence work, and since then we have already completed the excavation/foundation work. It should be noted that 24-storey buildings require a significant work below the ground, which takes time,” Sanjey Roy, Sr General Manager, Corporate Communications, DLF Ltd, says.
However, a few of the investors hope the construction giant completes the project in the remaining two years. A group of investors are meeting DLF officials in Delhi on Saturday.

No slowin’ down, house that!

The unending euphoria of realty sector witnessed during the last few years is finally showing signs of recession. But even in times of downturn, Tata Housing, which launched a project in Gurgaon last year, assured its investors that the company was committed to the construction, execution and delivery of its project, Raisina Residency.
Reaching out to its customers, Tata Housing Development Company, Managing Director, Brotin Banerjee, said, “With the slowdown impacting industries across, the realty sector is going through a bad phase with nervous consumers avoiding high value purchases. The biggest concern for any buyer is the transparency in dealings, credibility and reliability of the developer and the deadline.
“We, at Tata Housing, are committed to make landmark projects in terms of quality with timely construction, execution and delivery, even in these difficult times. Our entire team is dedicated to safeguard the trust of our customers and we will deliver the product as scheduled,” he said.
Raisina Residency is a premium and exclusive residential complex in Gurgaon inspired by the theme of ‘art and culture’. It is scheduled to be completed by June 2011. Last year, Tata Housing signed Kapil Dev as its brand ambassador. The premium apartments are priced over Rs 1 crore and are being built in Sector-59 on Golf Course Road.

Udyog Vihar's traffic nightmare to end soon

2009-02-21T16:40:00.002+05:30

Authorities are planning to connect Udyog Vihar, Phase-5, to NH-8 from here.

Office-goers in Udyog Vihar are a harried lot as for all the phases, there is only one entry/exit road connected to Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. However, there's another potholed, unmetalled bumpy road that takes commuters from Udyog Vihar towards Old Gurgaon or Kapashera border, but nobody prefer using it.
A factory owner, on condition of anonymity, said, “When we bought plots here in the early 80s, we were told that it would be one of the best industrial townships in the country. However in the last 25 years, as new Gurgaon developed, Udyog Vihar took a beating and its decline is inversely proportional to the rise of new Gurgaon."
Going to Udyog Vihar or returning from here can be commuters’ worst nightmare. "You see mixed traffic here. From cycle rickshaws to Mercedes Benz, all ply on these two-lane roads. We don’t even invite our foreign guests to show them the office or factories. We meet them in swanky hotels of NCR,” he adds.
But there’s a ray of hope for the office crowd now. Satendar Gupta, DCP (Traffic), said, “We have proposed that the road leading from Udyog Vihar, Phase-5, should be connected to NH-8. However, the toll agency can put a barrier there to collect toll as the exit point is little further than the Toll Plaza. This will ease traffic problems of Udyog Vihar.”
However, the proposal seems to be in paper only and will take little time as DS Constructions haven’t received the proposal from traffic cops yet. Sachin Sharma, Vice President DS Constructions Ltd, said, “We haven’t received any such proposal from traffic police until now.”

Millennium Outsourcing

2009-02-14T12:29:00.003+05:30

If you’ve ever wondered where the nation’s outsourcing hub gets its service industry from, just take a look at the nearest village

Aya Nagar Village is just one kilometre from Gurgaon

For India, Gurgaon is synonymous with outsourcing. International companies from all over the world outsource their business here. But where does the Millennium city outsource its service industry from? The answer does not lie in the high-rises that have come up in the city. Instead, it lies in small one- or two-bedroom houses in the villages surrounding the city. The entire population of these border villages caters to the needs of the city’s high and mighty.
Take Aya Nagar, a small village located barely a kilometer from the Gurgaon border on the MG Road. Nearly 15,000 youngsters from the village work as drivers, parking attendants or in the city’s numerous malls. And it’s not just the boys. The village girls, who, earlier, used to married off at an early age, are now working as salesgirls or trolley assistants in the malls. Nobody even thinks of marrying them off soon these days, claims a local resident.

The Millennium City of Gurgaon

Gurgaon’s affluence has brought prosperity to surrounding villages like Aya Nagar, Chakkarpur, Ghitorni and Nathupura (in the city). “There are many villagers who are working as drivers for DLF residents. In fact, most of them drive to work in their own cars. It’s not that they need the money. They do these jobs to keep themselves busy. Otherwise they might turn to crime,” says Ved Pal, a former NSUI national vice-president and an Aya Nagar resident.
The villagers have built complexes with one-bedroom apartments which they rent out to people working in Gurgaon. Instead of paying Gurgaon’s exorbitant rent rates, people working in the city’s service industry get these one-bedroom apartments for as low as Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,500 per month.

Manoj earns just Rs 8,500 per month as a driver, but drives to work in his own car.

Manoj, an Aya Nagar resident in his early 30s, works as a driver in Gurgaon. He drives to work in his own Maruti Zen. “I earn Rs 8,500 per month. Half of that is spent on fuel for my car every month. But I don’t work for money. Work keeps me busy. About 10 years ago, most of our village youngsters had no work and had taken to criminal activities. With work keeping everybody busy, the crime rate in our village has also gone down,” he says.
“For us, Gurgaon is our capital city. Delhi doesn’t help us in any way. It’s only due to Gurgaon that prosperity has come to villages bordering Gurgaon. Earlier, people from our village used to either have government jobs or used to work in fields and were in the milk business. Everything has changed with the turn of Millennium. The younger generation hates to see their wives and mothers working in fields or milching cows. Villagers here aren’t worried about any recession or meltdown. The village’s economy hasn’t been affected,” adds Ved Pal.

Ved Pal, former National VP of NSUI and a village leader

It’s not just the villagers who are prospering. The influence of the Millennium City with its high-rise designer buildings is very easily visible in these villages. “People from Gurgaon’s service industry have bought land here and are building houses. They have become a part of the social fabric of these villages,” says Om Prakash, a property dealer in the village.
And with new houses being built, the village now has a cosmopolitan outlook. The marketplace all along the village’s roads is bustling with activity. There’s stiff competition between Darjeeling Kitchen, a Chinese food joint, and the local halwai. The village roads which, till a decade ago, saw only bullock carts and the occasional DTC bus, now see call centre cabs burning rubber on them every five minutes.
“More than a lakh people catering to Gurgaon’s high and mighty live in these villages. Almost all people working in factories in Udyog Vihar are residents of this village. About 20 years ago, we used to rue that we are not strategically located and that our village would suffer in terms of development. But with Gurgaon’s rapid development, the village is on a high now,” says Om Prakash.

‘Driving beyond NH-8 is a war-like experience’

2009-02-14T12:25:00.000+05:30

Life on the Gurgaon Expressway is moving in the fast lane. Driving seems to be a smooth affair on NH-8. But for Gurgaon residents, life comes to a standstill when they get off the NH-8. They get busy handling the clutch and brake pedals of their vehicles. And for this bumpy experience one doesn’t need to go far away from the Expressway. Just drive through the numerous tunnel-like passes if you want to cross NH-8.
“It’s a war-like experience if you drive here. It’s utter chaos with animals and people driving in the wrong lane,” Sunil Yash Kalra, a DLF resident, said.The NH-8 literally divides the Old and New Gurgaon.
“Below NH-8 flyovers, one can see the amalgamation of modern transport system and the slow moving rural modes of transportation. This mixed transport system is a bane for the urban Gurgaon residents,” Mukul Oberoi, who works with an MNC here, said.
"Absence of traffic cops adds to the woes of the commuter. Cops are present at bigger crossings like Iffco and Hero Honda. For small crossings, traffic marshals of DS Constructions are present who can hardly handle traffic,” Pooja Khan, a Gurgaon resident, said.
The situation, however, looks grim as cops say there is shortage of staff. “We have limited traffic cops. We prefer places where the need is more. Once we have more cops, other places will be taken care of. For other things related with NH-8, we have talked to DS Constructions and they assured us that they will improve things as and when pointed out to them,” Satender Gupta, DCP, Traffic, Gurgaon, said.

TIME TRAVEL

2009-02-07T14:26:00.000+05:30

A museum in Gurgaon will transport its visitors, in a time machine, to the way things were before flyovers, expressways and high-rises

A heritage transport museum near Manesar will play host to vintage and classic cars, and take Gurgaon residents back to the way things were in the 19th century. And prominent collector and Chief Operating Officer of Delhi's Le Meridien, Tarun Thakral, is the man responsible for this journey into a time machine.
This project, with an estimated cost of Rs 50 million, will commence next month and is expected to be completed by November this year. “The museum will let you travel through time. Each section will be devoted to an era. If you are strolling through early 1900s, the paraphernalia and ambience around the vehicles displayed in that section would correspond to that of the year 1900,” Thakral explains.
“It’s a pre-fabricated construction and will be built within three months. However, the work on the museum will take a bit longer. I have almost finalised on the curator,” he adds.
The museum will showcase India’s transportation history and display mixed modes of transport from the bygone eras including bullock carts, camel carts, palanquins, horse carriages, cycle rickshaws, bicycles, manually-pulled carts, trams, buses, vintage cars, railways, aircrafts right up to Metro Rail.
It will trace the evolution of the transportation system in India right from the early 19th century and display more than 75 cars from 1929 to present, mostly from the hotelier’s personal collection. It will also boast of a beautifully restored 1930 Royal Rail Saloon, as well as some old aircrafts.
“The aim is to collect and preserve automobiles and other modes of transportation for future generations and to tell the story of their impact on Indian society. The museum aims to depict a social history of the way we were, the way we are now and the way of the future,” says Thakral.

Located on Bilaspur-Taoru Road off NH-8, the museum will be spread over a three-acre plot with a total indoor display area of 40,000 sq ft. It will also have library, cafeteria, lounge, office, souvenir shop covering an area of 18,500 sq ft. In fact, the museum could be an ideal venue for future car launches or even a shooting venue for Bollywood films.

Renuka Dam in troubled waters

2009-01-06T12:34:00.001+05:30

Delhi’s water scarcity problems were supposed to be solved after the completion of Rs 2700-crore Renuka Dam in Himachal Pradesh. However, the project is running in troubled waters after the affected families have rejected the compensation being offered to them by the Himachal Government.
The residents feel that the compensation is “too meagre” and even local NGOs in the area are resisting the present structure of the dam. For a 24-kilometre long water reservoir a 148-m high and 430-m wide dam is being built to store water from Giri Ganga river in Himachal. If deadlines are met then the dam, which is primarily being built for storing water in the reservoir so that Delhi’s drinking water needs are taken care of, will be complete by 2014.
However, if the state government of Himachal falters in acquisition of the land, then the project can get delayed for years altogether. The state government has allocated the ambitious Renuka Dam Hydro Electric Project to the H.P. Power Corporation for execution in a time bound manner.

The Agitation
The affected families have now formed an organization Renuka Bandh Sangharsh Samiti (RBSS), and are now protesting the land acquisition. The organization alleges that project is being implemented keeping the local people in the dark. Convener of RBSS, Yogendra Kapila says, “The state government has just given a lollypop in the name of compensation. They haven’t built a resettlement colony for the displaced families. How are we supposed to leave our homes? Moreover, around 80 per cent of farmers have areas that are less then five bighas, means compensation package of roughly Rs 10 lakh. The local farmers can hardly buy a land to build a house there, if you go by market rates.”
Kapila also feels that, “if we are leaving our land so that people of Delhi can drink water, we should be given compensation according to the land rates prevalent there.”

Himachal Optimistic
HP Power Corporation MD Tarun Kapoor, however, is optimistic that the issue will be resolved with the affected people and the dam work will be awarded to the contractor by June 2009.
"We are in talks with the Sangharsh Samiti and those affected by the project. The process of land acquirement is on and some people have already given their land," he said.
The government if offering a price of Rs 50,000 per bigha of uncultivable land, Rs 1.5 lakh per bigha of un-irrigated cultivable land and Rs 2.5 lakh per bigha of irrigated cultivable land. The samiti is very cooperative in talks and we are hopeful that the issue will be resolved soon," Kapoor said.
After the work is awarded in June 2009, the work should start by September/October, he said.
Regarding people transferring land, the RBSS Convener says, “These are only local property dealers who, eyeing an opportunity, had bought land at cheap rates long time back. Since it would be of no use to them now, they transferred the land.”
The RBSS is holding its meeting on January 10, where villagers from all 32 villages are coming together. “On this day we will discuss the strategy and chalk out a roadmap regarding our agitation. We will hold a huge rally and then start a countrywide agitation,” says Kapila.

Delhi keeping fingers crossed
However, Delhi government is hopeful that the local government in Himachal would be able to resolve the problem. "The Renuka Dam project is right on track and it should get ready by 2014," Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta told Metro Now.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests has already given its clearance and work on the dam will start soon, he said.
Wherever there is displacement, there is protest. But not many people are being displaced by the Renuka project. Those few hundreds being displaced are being suitably rehabilitated, he said.
The Himachal government is making the displaced people aware that they are not at loss. "For this they need some time. The protest should not be a big problem. We will meet the officials in Himachal by April again," Mehta said.
The dam, on Giri Ganga River, will offer a storage capacity of 542 million cubic meters of water and an installed capacity of 40 MW of power and will supply Delhi with an additional 275 MGD of water. The dam has been planned keeping in mind the requirements of the Master Plan for Delhi -2021.
Water from the Dam will be brought into the Yamuna through the Giri; it will then be released at the Hathni Kund barrage and from there passed into the Munak Channel and finally brought to the Capital.

Families affected
The protest of these displaced families can take gigantic proportions as according to local panchayat register, only 450 families in 32 villages covering 1,630 hectare of land are registered, however the actual number of families in these 32 villages is much more than 1,600.
The villagers are also protesting about the construction of three tunnels near the holy Renukaji lake. “For the construction of the tunnels, blasting will take place. The tunnels just 350-metre away from the lake and thus the holy lake as well as shrine of Lord Parashuram can be in danger. Even the dam is being built very close to the lake. It can be a disaster,” adds Kapila.

NGOs too join in
The agitating farmers too have got support from a Himachal-based NGO Himalaya Niti Abhiyan whose Chairman is Kulbhushan Upmanyu. Upmanyu who started Chipko movement in Himachal and a close confidante of Sunder Lal Bahuguna, says, “We are not opposing the dam. The dam is of national importance. However, the compensation that has been decided is very nominal. With that money, farmers won’t be able to buy land elsewhere. Even if a villager gets Rs 2.5 lakh per bigha for fertile irrigated land per bigha, the minimum rate to buy an unirrigated land in Himachal is Rs 10-12 lakh.”
Upmanyu is opposing the height of the dam. “If you keep the height of the dam below 100 metres, lot of flora and fauna would be saved. We demand a study to be conducted on the ecological destruction of the region due to the dam’s construction. Moreover the destruction of forest wealth due to the reservoir will harm the survival needs of the local residents,” he says.
The NGO is also of the viewpoint that farmer’s income is in perpetuity through farming. However, once he gets the money after selling land, after sometime it will finish and they won’t have any source of income. Farmers are not trained money managers. And with the amount of money they are getting, they won’t be able to become farmer’s again.
“We’ll wait and see what happens on January 10, when the agitating farmers ups its ante against the local goevrment,” said Upmanyu.

Out of tihar, arms dealer shoots babes

2008-10-14T14:00:00.000+05:30

Flamboyant playboy, who also dabbles in multi-crore-rupee arms deals, Abhishek Verma is finally in his element — in the company of playgirls. Verma, who till recently kept residence in Delhi’s Tihar Central Jail, can now be found in the company of gorgeous blonde models. It may seem as if he is having fun, but this time, it is all about work.
Verma, who is well known for his love for alabaster-skinned blondes — remember he was engaged to a former Miss Universe runnerup from Greece — is working hard to find the right beauties to feature in his calendar. That is right, the maverick son of literary and politician parents who gained notoriety for his suspect business dealings and love for fast cars and hot chicks, now wants to be like Vijay Mallya, who in turn is accused of being a Richard Branson wannabe. Verma wants a calendar to beat Mallya’s Kingfisher offerings.
Two of the shortlisted models, Nicoleta Macarencu and Susana Musat, are from Romania. Work is in full swing at a suburban hotel where the two girls are showing their mettle — and skin — near the pool. They have already finished shooting in Kolkata.
For starters, 22-year-old Nicoleta is no novice to covers and centre-spreads having graced the covers of lad mags Playboy and FHM. Susana has also done some campaigns in Europe for upmarket designers and editorials in fashion magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Vogue and Tatler.
The calendar will be produced by Abhishek’s company Atlas Group and will be launched and distributed by invitation only to the company’s corporate clients and VIPs after its launch in January 2009. The 2009 Atlas swimsuit calendar will be shot in Delhi, Kolkata and Goa.
Nikhil Oberoi, from the Atlas Group, said, “Six international models will feature in this calendar which will be shot by renowned fashion photographers Gilles Gagnan from France and Rana Bose. Bose has already shot the two Romanian models this weekend in Kolkata.”
He also explained the choice of Romanian models as the company does good business in that country. The company has a joint venture in telecom sector in Romania hence the two Romanian models for the first stage of the shoot. The Atlas Group is trying to rope in models from countries where it has a presence.
This is not Verma’s first foray into the world of bikini babes. He had tried his hand at calendars in 2005 with Delhi photographer Rohit Chawla. But now, he wants the exclusive and exotic calendars to be a regular feature every year. “For 2009 calendar, the theme is swimsuits. And we have models coming from Sweden, Czech Republic and Ukraine in November. After Kolkata and Delhi, Goa will be the next destination for the shoot and the French photographer Gilles too will be flown in then,” says Oberoi.
Taking inspiration from the Pirelli calendar, Verma’s company is aiming to break the barriers next year and take the shoot to more exotic locations abroad. And well, next year the theme would be different from this year’s swimsuit version.
On their first trip to India, the two models are thrilled to be here. Nicoleta, who is pursuing her degree in Journalism, says, “At 22, I am too old for modeling now, so I need to focus on my career after modeling and hence a course in journalism. In our country we start modeling pretty early. I started at 14.”
Last year Nicoleta was Romania’s Miss Bikini of the Year and after that she shot to fame with her picture on the cover of the Playboy magazine in Romania. Having walked the ramp at the Milan and Paris fashion weeks, Nicoleta finds India beautiful and the weather too good in contrast to the cool climes of Bucharest. She is dying to see the Taj Mahal.
About the shoot, she says, “I loved the pictures which Rana took in Kolkata. It’s very good stuff and I want to be featured in the summer months in the calendar as I love summers.”
Although she couldn’t meet any Indian models, Nicoleta finds Indian women beautiful. “I love the way they wear a saree, and I too have shopped quite a bit of sarees to wear back home,” she adds. The only thing she that did not agree with the model was the food – being too spicy. This is for the first time that Nicoleta is shooting for a calendar.
Unlike Nicoleta, Susana has modeled in many calendars. She too, had started early, becoming a pro at the age of 14. “I had a nice experience shooting in India. I found the people involved in the project very talented and professionals to the core,” she said.

BMW: Being rich a bane for Sanjeev Nanda

2008-09-04T16:14:00.000+05:30

Is Sanjeev Nanda paying for the crime of drunken driving committed nine years ago on a foggy Delhi winter morning or is he being punished for being rich, driving a BMW and first trying to buy forgiveness and then the entire justice system? The collective middle class conscience may say he is being served his just desserts but for those who know him, it is simple a case of really bad luck.
Grandson of former Naval chief Admiral SM Nanda, Sanjeev is one of the two children born to Suresh Nanda. The fact that he was born with a silver spoon became his nemesis as he became the target of the media.
A regular Delhi lad, Sanjeev studied at the Modern School and then moved to University of Pennsylvania to do his graduation. He shifted to Paris to do his masters in Business Management at Insead, one of the world's leading graduate business schools.
Unfortunately he couldn't complete the course as just days before returning to his university, Sanjeev and his friends met with the accident.
The German automaker must thank him as BMW, after this accident, became a household name in India. In 1999, only a select few could buy a BMW. The fact that a rich kid was driving it made it all the more a high profile case. Had he been driving a Maruti or an Ambassador car, he would have just got a passing reference in the list of road accidents. As the case progressed, Nanda become synonymous with the Bollywood rich kid image of being a spoilt brat, partying all night and drinking while driving.
Up close, his friends paint a different picture altogether. People who know him, just can't believe it. "He is such a well-behaved, soft spoken boy and a perfect gentleman. What has happened to him is too harsh. In hindsight, it seems, that since the accident, he has changed. He quit drinking after the accident and in all the parties that he attends, he kept to himself and always maintained a low profile," says a close friend on conditions of anonymity.
Sanjeev was first arrested in January 10, 1999 and he spent nine months in Tihar Jail. Obviously he couldn't complete his MBA from Insead, but that did not make him bitter. During his nine-month stay in jail, Sanjeev acted the good Samaritan and volunteered to teach computers to inmates. By the time he got bail, he was labeled the 'Computer Master' at Tihar.
The nine-year-long case took its toll on Sanjeev. He lost the youthfulness of a 20-year-old. Although the Nandas paid hefty compensations to the victims, his "rich-kid and spoilt-brat" image made him a villain. For nine years, he tried hard to shake off his identity as Sanjeev Nanda, the BMW guy.
According to his family members, "Sanjeev became recluse because every time people addressed him as a 'BMW' guy, he felt he was being punished. The conviction may have come today, but Sanjeev Nanda has been punished everyday for nine years. If you see his images in the year of the accident – you will see a Sanjeev with a full head of hair. Nine years later, he has lost it all."
Being rich, a bane
Coming from an affluent family, the Nandas tried all the machinations and intrigues to win the case. However, it proved futile as the rich and the mighty in this country cannot be set free. Sanjeev 's affluence and the imported car that he was driving turned out to be his nemesis. Whoever has met Sanjeev, believes that he has been punished more than enough. He was in Tihar for nine months and after that for nine years the case hung over his head as a sword, prohibiting him from leading a normal life.

Naresh Iyer rocks!

2007-08-09T22:53:00.000+05:30

Although a year late, but it was worth the wait for young singing sensation and AR Rahman’s protégé Naresh Iyer. The ‘Super’ singer was chatting on the internet catching up with his friends at his Matunga flat in Mumbai when the news broke in that he has won the National Film Awards, 2005 for best playback singing for Rang De Basanti’s ‘Roobaru’.

In fact Roobaru was his debut song and as a debutant he boasts of sharing the credits for the song with AR Rahman and now this song has won him a national award. Due to litigation in Delhi High Court, the announcement of the 2005 National Awards were on hold until it was finally cleared and announced in August 2007, almost a year late.

“News was in the air that I was getting it. But I was anxiously waiting for announcement. Main thing for me was that the song was doing well. I was confident that I will get the award, but with this official stamp on the song, I can say that mission is accomplished. There’s a sense of completeness in this song now,” he says.

The 26-year-old, however, doesn’t forget to share the credit for success of his song. “I thank AR Rahman sir who has guided me throughout my journey. Also I want to thank Raakesh Omprakash Mehra and lyricist Prasoon Joshi who banked on a debutant like me for this song. Actually all credit should go to them, as they were the one to tolerate a newcomer like me.”

Recalling the incident of him accidentally getting to sing Roobaru, Iyer says, “It was at 4.20 am after almost 12 hours of tiring recording session, that Rahman sir asked me to sing Roobaroo. I never knew that my version would be used for the movie. I was dead tired, but who would miss such an opportunity? I recorded the song but made a mistake in two lines. Though Rahman sir was supposed to sing the whole track himself later, when the film's music was released, I came to know that he had used my track. The part where I had made a mistake was sung by him and thus I got to share credit for this song with him. This was my first Hindi film and I can just thank my stars for this."

However, stardom for Naresh has mostly come in the southern parts of India as being a Rahman protégé, Naresh is mostly involved in regional language films. “In Hindi, I would be singing for the movie Woodstock Villa and I have sung couple of hindi songs for Rahman sir’s upcoming movie, although I don’t know the name of the movie,” he says. “Last one year has been quite busy. I have been traveling a lot meeting a lot of people and I hardly get time to spend with myself and my family members. Me and my mum both miss each other,” he says.

In fact Naresh was doing a course in Chartered Accountancy before being spotted by AR Rahman in Channel V’s Super Singer talent hunt. Although Naresh didn’t win the show, but Rahman found his protégé in him and the rest as they say is history.

“I should thank my family as they supported in my endeavours. They were very cooperative and showed no resistance at all when I ventured out to become a singer. Success is not easy in creative field but they stood behind me. Moreover, my granny wanted me to become a singer. Had she been alive, she would have been happy.”

Being a playback singer has its own disadvantages since visibility is nil or very less. But Naresh seems to be lucky enough. “Down South, I get called up for lots of television shows. I make it a point to be visible enough for people to recognize me. But visibility or no visibility, one has to take all in your stride,” he quips.
However, what may surprise you is despite being a singer, Naresh Iyer hardly listens to music. “I am not an ardent listener at all. I just listen sometimes to catch up with the latest style of singing and music. Although I love MLTR,” he says.

Wagah-Attari: Celebrating 60 years of Freedom

2007-08-09T22:51:00.000+05:30

After a successful launch of his second album – Jhoomo Re — singer Kailash Kher is gearing up for another musical spectacle at the Wagah-Attari border as part of celebrations for the 60 years of India and Pakistan’s independence.

“I would be performing along with AR Rahman. Rahman once sang Gurus of Peace along with the great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. This time I would be jamming with Rahman for the rendition of this song,” says Kailash Kher. Apart from the two, Sivamani would be performing in the concert.

The concert is being organized by Friends Without Borders in conjunction with Routes to Roots. The main attraction of the concert is that singers will perform from two stages — one in India and one in Pakistan — to be set on either side of the border on August 14.

Among the Pakistani musicians, great Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s nephew Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shafqat Amanat Ali and Atif Aslam would be performing from across the Wagah border. The concert would be hosted by celebrities include Bollywood great Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, Wasim Akram and Shainne Malik.

“It’s a novel concept and I am honoured to be a part of it,” says Kher. “This concert is an effort to bind the two countries together with music. When there is no line in the hearts, then why should be there on land. If there’s a line on one’s heart, then the person gets a heart attack. Just think what will happen to land when people draw line on it to divide it,” he adds.

In fact, Kher is excited about singing rendition of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, as he idolizes him. “I am greatly inspired by his selection of the lyrics. I am a sufi singer too, but when it comes to listening it’s just Nusratji. I don’t listen to other singers. I am happy that Sufi has gained much acceptance now. It is the newest flavour of music and has a blend of spiritual as well as entertainment.”

Sex, Kink and Delhi

2007-08-03T19:59:00.000+05:30

Call it Western culture influence or anything, kinky sex has become the IN thing. A lot many couples are experimenting with their sexual tastes. There is a kind of bedroom revolution among Delhiites. However, it is also causing breakdown of marriages and relationship troubles as few are able to cope with their partners’ weird sexual desires.

Experts say one of the main reason for several such couple heading for divorce is their failure to understand simple fact that sex is a two way process and both partners have to enjoy it and be comfortable doing the act. But sometimes the situation takes an ugly turn as in the case of Harpreet Singh Suri who has been arrested for raping and forcing his wife to do anal sex.

While Singh's case is expection, there are several others who are enjoying bedroom experiments. Men and women both have now fewer inhibitions about talking about their preferences and sexual exploits. Eight years back when Michelle (All names of case studies in the story have been changed), then studying in Delhi University's north campus college, refused for a fellatio and anal sex with her boyfriend. Almost eight years later, working in an advertisement agency, craves for sex and loves fellatio and anal sex.

"There were inhibitions earlier when I was in college. Sex for me till then was just missionary position. Initially I used to enjoy it but my boyfriend used to hate me for that. I know every man's dream is a blowjob but I wasn't prepared for that. But after couple of years it got boring and then I started experimenting new positions and I loved it. Now I don't hesitate to perform fellatio on my boyfriend even in a moving car. It's so exciting," says the 29-year-old Vasant Kunj resident.

Dr Surendra Nath, Head, Department of Anthropology, Delhi University says, "Media is always full of news about sodomy, oral, anal and even group sex. When people read and see in television about this, they also feel adventurous and the need to experiment. They too want to see the different side of sex and hence the behavioral changes in society."

Take the case of 21-year-old Shikha, a JNU student. Her boyfriend got a shock when she asked him to have sex in the common bathroom of the hostel instead of his hostel room. "I love having sex in public places. The feeling of getting caught by others while having sex makes it kinkier. My boyfriend got a complete shock when I asked him to pee on my vagina in hostel bathroom. I love it, but my boyfriend hates it. But he cannot help it. Whatever I say he has to do it," she adds.

30-year-old Amit, a Sainik Farm resident, says, "I have many sex partners and I shuffle around with them. Although I always believe in protective sex but sometimes the demands of girls are such that it's not possible with a condom. One of my girlfriend asked me to make out with her in a moving car. And while riding on me she asked 'what if my mom was on top of you'. I was completely shocked when I heard. Once another girl asked me to have sex inside the rest room of All American Diners in India Habitat Centre. After we were done with it, the guard confronted me when I came out. He knew what exactly had happened. As I am a regular there, I just walked off." Amit gets his HIV test done every four months. "It's so risky these days. But sometimes I really feel what will happen to them when they get married. How would their husbands react?" he says.

"With husband it's just plain simple missionary position sex. All these experiments are meant to be done with only boyfriends or sex partners," says 22-year-old Ruchi, an executive working with a PR company. "Blowjobs and anal sex excites me. But I can't do it with my boyfriend as I am getting married to him. So I have a sex partner too with whom I simply practice uninhibited sex. We meet once a week and it's a kind of relaxation therapy for me, a stress buster.

25-year-old Shabana, a Vasant Vihar resident, says, "When I was in Class IX, our school took us out for picnic to Lodhi garden. I along with my friend Swati saw a guy screwing a girl behind the bushes. I got excited about this and one night few years later I asked my boyfriend to have sex at the same spot. We sneaked in the park and spent some two hours there fondling and groping each other. It was exciting."

Central Asian Flavours of Delhi

2007-08-02T19:31:00.000+05:30

The Uzbek prostitutes operating from Lajpat Nagar

Sex, prostitutes and cocaine forms an integral part of the Delhi's underbelly. Especially, white-skinned prostitutes from the CIS countries are most sought after but it's not easy to lay your hands on them. You should be connected within the sleaze network in order to lay one. The catch is you should know the ring leaders namely Neelam, Nafisa, Nargis, Sofia, Diana or Angelina, operating from Lajpat Nagar, under whose directions they work. On Wednesday cops arrested Neelam from Lajpat Nagar after residents complaint about their illegal activites. Five call girls from Uzbekistan who were part of the sex racket were also arrested.

So how these sex racket runs? From where these girls come? These blonde chicks come from all countries but most of them in Delhi are either from Russia, Ukraine or Uzbekistan. They come on a three-month tourist visa to India. But coming here isn't easy job. They have to bribe the officials in Indian embassy in their respective countries, through agents. India and Dubai are the hotspots for these prostitutes. Some even try a visa for Doha , although it's a risky affair there.

According to an Uzbeki prostitute operating in Delhi, "We have three months to earn money in Delhi. Earnings of one month takes care of the bribes that we paid to get a tourist visa here and earnings of the rest two months is what we take back home. It also takes care of legal expenses, if any, incurred if we land in a soup."

And one of the biggest clients of these chicks in city are the event management people who sadly have expanded their role of organizing entertainment party to procuring these girls for affluents clients. Event managers often keep "Madam" of these girls on speed dial to entertain their high profile clients including business executives who are on official visit. In one such chance encounter with an event manager who was organizing girls for rich clients, I was surprised to see that the clients turned out to be a well-known businessmen and a small time politician from UP who also owns malls. Surprisingly the venue for the meeting was one of the various State sadans at posh Chanakyapuri. The politician was staying there and he had contacted the event manager to supply these white-skinned girls for entertainment.

It's pretty obvious when you get a blonde to govt sadan there are fears of getting caught. So when the event management guy, called the ring leader, he kept his fingers crossed. Although the ring leader, let's call her Nafisa, knew this chap, but still asked, "Where will you take her? We only allow girls to private places. You cannot take her to any government property. Only to city's five star hotels, if you can manage or private residences in south Delhi or private farmhouses. The girl doesn't know English and all dealings through phone only."

The event management guy, let's call him Sid, didn't tell her that he would take her to govt Sadan. Deal was fixed. For every shot it he was supposed to pay Rs 3,000 to her and not more than two men per girl. He had to cater to two girls hence he asked for only one. Nafisa knew Sid's car number and so she asked him to give a missed call to her once he reaches next to Sai temple at Amar Colony in Lajpat Nagar.

At around 1 am Sid reached the designated place. It was dark and the air standstill. One could hear the whistling of the gatekeeper somewhere in the bylanes of Amar Colony. Slowly the car door opened and a five-feet three-inches tall girl entered the car and settled in the rear seat. Well, this one had jet black hair, clean skin, blue Caucasian eyes, a great figure wearing blue denim jeans and laced black top with her hair falling free and black ankle-length boots. She could be easily mistaken for a member of a girl band.

After whizzing past the narrow lanes of Lajpat Nagar, and crossing the cops' barrier, the car hit the Ring Road. There was a stunned silence inside the car. The monotony was broken soon as her cellphone rang. Nafisa called her to check if everything was 'Ok'. Well it wasn't Nafisa, it was another friend of hers' who was talking to her in her native language. (Later Sid told that they all know English but pretend to customers that they are alien to English) The girl was down with her menstrual cycle so was at home and hence was in touch with all her colleagues who were on duty doing favours to the rich and famous of the society.

As the car parked into the driveway of govt sadan in Chanakyapuri, Nafisa called up Sid. The girl behind had told her that the car was in Chanakyapuri and Nafisa was fuming over it. After Sid pacified her and told her that there are no chances of getting caught, she agreed and let Sid take her to the Sadan. Nafisa clearly told Sid that it's Rs 3,000 per shot. The businessman knew the rules of the game and took his own time. 'Coz once a guy cums it's considered to be a shot. The politician was unaware. Excited to the hilt he asked her to do fellatio on him. He was done in 15 minutes. The deal with Sid was only one single shot per person. Thus the girl politely wore her clothes and sat on the sofa and called Nafisa telling her that she was done.

While Sid was waiting in the car, he proceeded to the room to fetch the girl. Politician was agitated and asked her for another shot. She clearly told in broken English that she was ready but they need to pay another 3k in advance to do so. This was the first time the girl spoke in broken English. The politician in his drunken stupor held the girl by her hair. Before things could turn ugly, Sid entered the room and took the girl away. It was 3 am and Nafisa called Sid to drop her back as there's another client waiting to pick her up. Another client, another bed, well the sleaze can’t stop here in Delhi.

Batsmen can’t wait for umpire if game is to walk tall again

2007-07-18T19:10:00.000+05:30

Christopher Martin-Jenkins believes that a modern tendency has been responsible for demeaning the game’s fundamental spirit

At Lord’s on July 15 the Chief Cricket Correspondent of The Times delivered the seventh annual Cowdrey Lecture, from which this is an extract. The lecture was inaugurated in 2001 in memory of Lord Cowdrey of Tonbridge, a past MCC president and England captain. The previous lecturers have all been former international cricketers.

Rooney & Zoonie, the love of my life

2007-07-11T20:20:00.001+05:30

Zoonie

Rooney

A Lesbian Affair

2007-07-11T20:16:00.001+05:30

(As told to yours truly)

Those who think I am a lesbian, well, I must confess that I am a bi. However, it was in college that I got attracted to my teacher with whom I have shared some wonderful years together.

About myself, I have a bit tom-boyish looks and that’s how she, 28, (say Rita) got attracted to me. I was her student,19, and we used to board the metro from the same station in CP for DU. Although I lived in New Delhi area, she used to come from East Delhi. Her husband was into research and later she confessed to me that he was a gay too and had a south Indian partner.

I was a third year student then and Rita used to teach me. Since we traveled together there was an attraction. I thought it simply to be a simple teacher-student relationship confiding everything into her. Even my feelings about my friends delving into relationships and flings that I used to have in college. Suddenly, I realized she was getting too much involved with my life and surprisingly I too started delving into her affairs.

In emotional moments she used to hold my hand and be very touchy at times, I thought it was normal. I was in college and am pretty adventurous. I too started responding to her overtures. I loved her neckline so I was too physically getting attracted to her. I was open for experiments. All those metro rides to and from DU and long walks to college in campus or on cycle rickshaws, started taking its toll. I was in a relationship with her.

Why I chose her?
I had my childhood friends. They all were going around and had a bustling sex life. But in due course of time, all were getting bored of their relationship. I could see them, both boys and girls weren’t happy. They had their own trials and tribulations. So when it came to me, I thought the best-suited option for me was staying without a guy in my life. I had few quick-fire relationships which were enough to fulfill my bodily needs.

As for her, her husband had a regular sex partner. She had a tumultuous life. Since she had few friends as she shifted to Delhi after marriage, she had few friends to bank on. I provided her that badly-needed shoulder when she needed me. Few say that lesbian love or male-bonding only happens if they are too frustrated or have been-there-and-done-that a bit too much that you get bored out of sex. Hence the need as well as the urge to try alternate sex happens. Maybe this was the reason apart from my experimental nature.

During this time I met a guy. He was simply my sex partner and nothing else. I confided in him about my relationship with Rita and being liberal, he encouraged me. And it was on the Valentine’s Day, that we went on a date to CP’s Barista. We spoke to each other at length, caressed and spoke about her marriage, my future plans, etc. Evening we went back home. Nothing happened!

A week later, she called me home. Her husband had gone to his village on a ‘study tour’ along with his gay partner. Rita was home alone and she invited me home. She loved my boyish attitude and I was curious about experimenting. I was game for it just for the hec of it. Initially I enjoyed a lot. We were like two unsuspecting lovebirds enjoying our love life free from the cudgels of society. Had I got a boyfriend, it would have been hellish for me but with a woman along with me, I was like a free bird. However, I didn’t notice her growing possessiveness about me.

I passed out from college and shifted to south Campus. I was staying in a hostel so I was free from family bondage of going back home early, etc. I started staying with her and made a boyfriend in class. I enjoyed best of both worlds. We used to sleep and explore each other in bed in front of her husband. He had no problems.

However, Rita’s love for me was becoming obsession. She wanted me home by 7 pm and was repulsive towards my classmates. She felt stupid that I was going out with my classmates, it didn’t matter to her whether they were guys or girls. Moreover she was insecure about me, especially when she came to know I made a boyfriend. That day she created a huge scene at home.

When in hostel, she started keeping check on my boyfriend too. I didn’t like this attitude. We started having constant fights. To tease her I asked my boyfriend to sometimes give me love bytes on intimate parts so as to make her jealous. I also used to make stories that I slept with other girls and she used to crack up. This was my way of teasing her. I renewed my relationship with my sex partner. That day I spoke all about my relationship with him. I used to hide certain facts with him. But high on drinks, I told him all, each and every intimate details of our one-and-a-half-year-old relationship. That day too she created a huge scene. She hated me talking about him but enjoyed every detail about my lovemaking with him. She became violent in bed. I somehow didn't like it.

As time passed by, sex became boring and no more was I infatuated towards this chubby, clean-skinned sexy partner of mine. I started keeping a distance from her. Two months back we separated. Sometimes, she calls me but I don’t feel like responding to her overtures. She talks and she’s still insecure about me. I can’t help it. Life has to go on and I have to move ahead. Be it a guy or a girl, what’s in store for future is mystery. And I like solving mysteries.

I don’t lie, I don’t lie, I don’t lie; cocaine

2007-06-29T14:42:00.000+05:30

Recently I bumped into an old colleague of mine and the first question she asked was, “Do you do Cocaine?”

I was stunned. Well, I asked why had she asked such a question. She answered, “You have such an in-depth knowledge of cocaine that you must be a cokehead yourself.”

I grimaced and could offer just a polite “No” as my answer. But she wasn’t finished yet. “Well, all dopers say they don’t do drugs.”

I could say nothing more. All of these are occupational hazards when you cover narcotics.On hindsight I must admit that I was one of the few guys in school who occasionally tried smoking a few joints of hash. But that was all there is to it. Nothing more!

I was a momma's boy then and never went in for crazy cocktails. For starters, cocktails, in our public school lexicon, wasn’t the usual alcoholic stuff served in hotels. It used to be a concoction of Phensydyle or Corex, Coke or Pepsi, mashed Brufen tablets, Proxivon, a quarter of whisky and a tinge of Iodex balm.

Ingredients differed according to the taste of the mixers. Whatever the mix was, it was enough to calm the nerves of 10-12 students for an entire evening. The ‘pharm’ kick would sometimes last till chapel service in the mornings.

But I have never tried the Pharms even as it has begun to gain in popularity in recent times. Pharm Parties have become a rage in Delhi. On days when Cocaine peddlers are in hiding, they are the next-best-thing. You get the right kick, nobody catches you and even Delhi Traffic Police’s alcohol metres fail to detect that you are on a high as you drive.

Coming back to the tree-crowned hills of Shimla, the place is famous for its babas — a terminology used to refer to those who partake of Shivji ka Prasad or hash. Babalog are a different breed altogether. They swear by their prasad and say ‘Jai Bholenath’ to greet friends. Alcoholic drinks are a strict no-no for them. I still meet people from the babalog breed in Delhi.

They work in swanky offices, drive luxury cars, do white-collar jobs but they don’t forget to drive to Manali once in a while to fetch their Malana Cream (best hash available in this part of the world). Old habits die hard.

One of the good things, if you can term it so, is the babalogs have lived up to their reputation by staying herbal and not venturing into chemicals. Observing the Delhi drug scene, they definitely are the good boys of high society.

Arki Heights

2007-06-19T17:12:00.001+05:30

Arki Fort

Arki is a quietgetaway hidden away in Western Himalayas boasting of a rich cultural heritage.

Arki. Does this name ring a bell in your head? Well for starters, it’s a quaint town tucked away on the midhills of the western Himalayas. Located about 40 kilometres from Shimla, Arki was once the headquarters of the princely state of Baghal and still boasts of India’s last living crowned king — Raja Rajendra Singh, who was crowned as the King of Baghal just before India’s independence.

Well, we are not going to talk about the Raja here. Instead we’ll talk about his heritage fort, which has now been converted into a hotel — The Palace Retreat, Arki. But if you are a great listener, then you can indulge in a story-telling session with the King. He has plenty of stories to tell you, including the times of India’s freedom struggle, about the lores of Arki and how in his kingdom, no one was hung to death.

The hotel is part of the 17th century heritage fort complex built by Rana Prithvi Singh, the ruler of the former Baghal State from 1695-1700 AD, in a Northern-Indian, Rajput Mughal style. The fort has a rich history behind it. The Arki fort was also the headquarters of the Nepalese General Amar Singh Thapa for eight years from 1806-1815, when he ruled Himachal.

The Arki kings also patronised art in a big way. The palace is famous for its frescoes executed in the Arki Kalam style, thanks to the art-loving Raja Kishan Chand (1840-1876). The roof bears a splendid floral design, while the wall murals depict battles scenes and episodes from the Puranas and other epics. Do check out the brilliant representation of Kalidasa’s poem Kumarasambhava.

It’s a pleasant country-side retreat for travellers on the way to Manali, Dharamshala and Shimla. Whichever way you are going from Delhi, if you take a slight detour, you are bound to get mesmerised by the palace and the small town of Arki, which means a sunny place. Baghal is the short form of Baghalaya, translated as the land of leopards. Well, Leopards are a rarity here now, but if you trek to the hills, you might have a brush with them. Arki is a place to unwind. Far from the maddening crowd, it’s a loner’s delight. One can relax in the fruit orchard and flower garden here. You can also go for long walks in the forest. Ancient cave temples are also located near Arki. One can go on a trek there too. Naldehra Golf Course and the hot sulphur springs at Tattapani are also not that far off from the place.

The view from the Cliffend-Bar-N-Cafe terrace is especially charming at night illuminated by the lights from nearby hillside towns and villages. The rooms are beautiful as they still retain a regal charm. The hotel serves a wide range of Mughlai, regional pahari, and select European, Latin, Chinese and Thai cuisine. It also has a well-stocked bar with a variety of snacks.For details log onto http://www.hotelpalaceretreat.com/ or call 01796-220621, 220021.

Music, DJs and cocaine

2007-06-07T17:46:00.000+05:30

DJ SAAZ

Not even a fortnight has passed since Delhi got a shocker in the form of cricketer Maninder Singh being arrested for allegedly possessing cocaine that India’s one of the top DJs Dj Aqueel is being arrested for possessing .4 grams of ecstacy at Dubai airport. Media is in frenzy and obviously these high profile arrests are just the right mix of cocktail for media to thrive upon.

However Delhi’s leading DJ - Saaz – feels that the frenzied approach of media and building such hype over these arrests only create more excitement for the youngsters to go and try it more. “Rather than tackling the drug menace, they just build the hype and kids get adventurous and go ahead with trying it for once and than ever.”

“Everything in Delhi is on a boom right now. Delhi is getting more nightclubs, a lot more TV channels and newspapers are being launched so there’s lot of awareness which only leads us to copy the western culture. And in doing so we are just falling ourselves apart,” he adds.

The Delhi-based DJ, who is a regular on the UK nightclubs as well as the Indian party circuit, feels, “There’s no harm in copying the western culture, but only problem is that we can’t copy the UK system here. I play regularly here and see teenagers binging and dancing here, whereas in London, they check your ID for age proof (only above 21 are allowed) and do a thorough search for drugs on people entering the nightclub. And if you are caught, no way you can escape. Whereas in Delhi, we have a law which says serving liquor to only 25 and above, but actually we end up serving to girls as young as 17.”

The DJ feels, this is the root cause of the drug menace in the Capital. Talking about DJ Aqueel’s arrest, he says, “I have met Aqueel several times and have spoken to him when he comes to Delhi. He is a sane person and wouldn’t do such a foolish thing of carrying Ecstacy tablets in the airport and that too in the Middle East. I can bet on it that he has been framed. Aqueel is in a different league altogether and he has the Bollywood tag too. Almost in all the Asian circuit he commands a respect and has carved a niche for himself. In this business there are too many competitors and anybody would have planted the two pills on his bag. I know him personally and he can’t do such a foolish act. Basically it’s not about him, it’s about anybody. Any person, until he is a peddler, won’t take such a great risk of landing in the cop’s net along with drugs at the airport.”

Talking about Londoners as the biggest snorters, Saaz says, “Well, a drug addict there does it privately and takes utmost care of not getting caught. Although you see in nightclubs people snorting in groups, but then they get it from peddlers and they have links. I don’t know how they do it, but there are instances. But just linking up drugs with nightclubs is not correct. In London, a drug addict will do drugs, no matter where he is, but with care. In India they have a feeling that their dad’s wealth can help them get away with the crime if they are caught. And like London, they gain entry easily into nightclubs. Youngsters too have misconception that certain genres can only be enjoyed when you are high on drugs.

“As a musician, I would like to request people especially youngsters that DO NOT ASSOCIATE ANY KIND OF MUSIC WITH DRUGS. The problem in Delhi is that youngsters find it hip to do drugs. They think that if they do it, they are IN the scene. Youngsters do it not for the kicks, but to merely show off. What typically happens is a 17-year-old girl starts smoking dope and gradually progresses to other forms of chemical drugs. By the age she reaches 23, she’s already a veteran and you know what they call them then? (Coke sluts),” he adds. “It’s just a way of ruining your future.”

Talking about drug scene in Delhi, Saaz says, “Everybody does it at an individual level. I don’t say that DJs don’t do drugs, but tell me any field where you won’t find cokeheads? It’s totally individual. There are DJs who demand cocaine at the nightclubs before performing; otherwise they threaten not to play. What can you do? Event managers succumb to their demand. And if you visit some of the nightclubs here you can see traces of cocaine at the most probable places.

“Another myth is people associate certain genres like funk, trans, acid house and progressive rock to drugs. There’s nothing of that sort. You don’t particularly need drugs to enjoy the music. Music is in itself a high. It’s lot of fun and the easiest language to understand,” he adds.

DJ Saaz has some advice for the media also. The DJ feels that media shouldn’t blow drug cases out of proportion. “When you blow it up then kids get more adventurous of trying it out. And I feel that youngsters between 17-23 are the most vulnerable. Authorities should ensure that rules are followed of not serving liquor to kids below 25.”

Finally DJ Saaz has an advice for youngsters: “Choose your life over drugs, ’coz there’s lot more to it.”

Coke Sluts

2007-05-23T17:43:00.000+05:30

Coke’s the right choice if you wanna get a high in Delhi. But getting a high on the drug is not the only thing which our City’s snoterati yearns. What they crave is the company of the beauty in bed along with their booty. Sleeping for the cokeheads in Delhi is just a coke’s distance away in Delhi’s social circles. There are plenty of girls who’d do anything for snorting a line of cocaine and if you look deeper in the muck, their ways of taking cocaine are too kinky for a layman to imagine.

It was the arrest of Delhi’s well known peddler Naquibullah Ali, who was murdered in Tihar Jail, that the cops came to know how cocaine can get you girls. In his confession report Ali admitted of having sex with his high profile clients including a mother-daughter duo of South Delhi. His long list of women clientele included well-known fashion designer staying in south Delhi. And his different ways of administering cocaine into the body of his women left cops spellbound. Cocaine enters into the body through mucous and wherever mucous is found, cocaine can be taken from there, including the private parts of the women. So these high society women had found rather kinky ways of taking cocaine.

According to a senior Delhi Police cop, “Sometimes it really gets embarrassing if you listen to the telephonic conversation of the peddlers and their high profile clients and their many girl friends in front of subordinates. They either talk about cocaine or sex. Nothing more nothing less. For them value of money is nothing. It’s only Cocaine which can get you anything.”

Well, wherever there’s Cocaine, coke sluts follow you. They can be anybody – right from a daughter of a big Delhi businessman, whose pictures are regularly published by national dailies in page three to a nondescript college student who become a slave to her cocaine suppliers. Sex and even indulging in orgies is a common phenomenon for them.

In fact the Delhi Police cops once bumped into a group of filthy rich south campus college students last year. This group had more girls rather than boys. And the only motive of these guys was to bed these girls in lieu for a line of cocaine. A South Delhi resident who passed out from one of the top public school of the country was involved in this and it was he who introduced cocaine to these college students.

Craving for Coke for these girls was so much that sometimes, they used to venture alone to buy cocaine in the dirty bylanes of Karol Bagh. The same person is often seen in the company of a daughter of a high profile Delhi businessman. Once in a South Delhi nightclub, she was so high that she ended up in the men’s loo with her friend and it took half an hour for both of them to come out of the men’s loo. When both the girls came out, instead of feeling embarrassed, they started fighting with guys inside the loo. What they were doing is anybody’s guess. Toilets are the favourite joints for cokeheads to snort in the nightclubs.

There’s another girl from Greater Kailash, who is Delhi’s another prominent coke slut. Unable to afford cocaine on a daily basis, her craving for the white snow made her sleep with anybody who could give her a line of cocaine. She then also became involved in selling cocaine and whenever she used to meet clients she used to wear a red dress, resembling that of an airhostess of a private national airline. And it took her no time to change her ‘master’ when the previous one went to the jail.

The list of these coke sluts is long and you never know that the girl next door is a coke slut at night.

Cricket, Capital and Cocaine

2007-05-23T17:42:00.000+05:30

TWO years back, Narcotics branch of the Delhi Police was hot on a chase of big time drug peddler. They were regularly tapping his cell-phone and during his conversation they learnt that one of his regular clients was an ex-cricketer staying in a posh South Delhi colony. He was regular in the South Delhi's cocktail circuit and had number of girl-friends with whom he had lurid conversations when high on drugs. Cops did not arrest him even though they knew he was a drug user as they were interested in netting the drug supplier. It was for the first time that narcotics sleuths found out cricketers’ love for white snow or cocaine.

In fact in the case of Maninder Singh, too, cops zeored on him while trailing information culled out from a drug supplier Mohammad Aslam arrested in March this year. During Aslam's interrogation the name of Saim Siddique figured. He also disclosed that one Mohamamd Naved, a Mumbai resident supplied drugs. Naved is said to be part of big inter-state drug network which is run by his brother Guddu, a known drug pedeller. Tapping of Siddique's cellphone provided further lead that he was procuring cocaine for his mentor Maninder who runs a cricket academy at Maninder Singh Cricket Academy at National Stadium. Sam is coach at his academy and is Maninder Singh’s Man Friday.

According to DCP (Narcotics) AS Cheema, “We were trailing Sayyam and his trail led to Maninder’s house. When we arrested them, they were on their way to airport as Maninder was going to Mumbai for five days. In Mumbai too, Sayyam had arranged for Maninder to procure cocaine from someone. We have got some leads on this matter and we are investigating on it.”

Talking about Maninder Singh’s marital problems, a close friend of the cricketer said, “It was his regular abuse of drugs that was the root cause of his troubled marriage. Maninder’s wife is a simple homely housewife and she opposed his excessive use of drugs. The problems started three years back when Maninder became a regular cokehead.”

Even though, Sam and Maninder are not part of the big drug network and kept a low profile, there are few flamboyant cricketers (both past and present) who are frequently spotted at hip discotheques. Flushed with money and high on fame quotient, these cricketers move around with rich kids who are capital’s known cokeheads. Nigerians are their favourite peddlers.

When asked about Maninder’s crony Sayyam, a regular who snorts cocaine and knows most of the suppliers in the circuit said, "I have never heard this name (Sayyam). I know of a Kashmiri guy working in a restaurant in a five-star hotel in New Delhi, who supplies to one of the biggest names of world cricket. There are other big names too. I think the cops need to net them as well. In a recent party, a couple of cricketers were seen snorting cocaine in a small room at a high-end bar of Delhi. At the party, a foreign high profile ex-cricketer snorted cocaine in front of me in room. When he came out he met an Indian cricketer too. They shook hands and the Indian cricketer walked into the same room where he had snorted cocaine.”

Although Maninder singh’s arrest has stunned the cocktail circuit “Never in our life had we imagined that Maninder Singh is a cokehead. He was one of the few decent cricketers and never seen in Delhi’s page three circuit. There are certain other cricketers, whom we have seen in the regular page three parties and roaming along with cokeheads. If Maninder, who used to keep such a low profile, is doing cocaine, then you can see how deep drug abuse has penetrated in Delhi,” says a party goer, who is omnipresent on most page three dos in Delhi. Also the alleged supplier to Maninder, Sayyam Siddiqui’s identity too is not familiar among cocaine users.

In fact according to page three grapevine, “Few English and ex-Pakistani cricketers last year were regular at the prominent nightclubs of Delhi, whenever they visited Delhi and their hosts were regular users of cocaine.”

Delhi loves to get high on cocaine and most of the rich brats and nightclub regulars swear by it. For some, cocaine is an easy means of sleeping with a girl as the Capital has its known high profile ‘coke sluts’, who would do anything for a free dose of cocaine. The Indian capital ignonimously sees heavy imports of cocaine and ecstasy pills whereas it is becoming a huge exporter of heroin and hash.

Cocaine comes to India from Africa. India is an important transit point for this white gold. The normal international trade route of cocaine is from Columbia to African countries from where it travels to either Delhi or Mumbai and from here it travels to European countries. A large part of the consignment is dropped in India for consumption. It costs Rs 3,500-8,000 per gram in the Indian market. Pure uncut Columbian cocaine is for Rs 8,000 and as the impurity goes higher, the cost comes down. This is a cause of concern for cokeheads as cocaine mixed with heroin can be deadly concoction where death is imminent.

The Rahul Mahajan cocaine case was a shocker to the snorting fraternity as they believed it was adulterated cocaine which took the life of Pramod Mahajan’s secretary Bibek Moitra and sent Rahul into hospital. The aftermath of this incident was bad news for the community as lots of big peddlers hid themselves and Delhi’s high profile New Year bashes went high and dry after the page three fraternity decided to celebrate out of Delhi.

Ragging, DU style

2007-05-16T17:40:00.000+05:30

Ragging is a state of mind. Cheap thrills and a different kick altogether; ragging is a window to the future. A window, where one comes to know who is going to be your Man Friday for the entire year or who would be the college president after three years. You find your friends and foes while ragging a junior or in Delhi University’s jargon “fachcha”.

The college ragging during day time, when day scholars are there, is simple and done mostly to impress on girls. Yes, unwritten code in North Campus is that day scholars cannot rag a hostler. Only students from same department can do some “introductions” in a lighter vein. However, the hostels of the colleges in the North Campus at night are the hotspots for ragging.

Right from making a guy strip off and make them run to another college and pee on its boundary to making a junior stand on a platform while their hands raised is a normal routine every year for the fachchas who join the hostel. There’s another unwritten code in hostels that is religiously followed in DU is never rag hostlers from the north east and vice versa. Raggings in DU starts from day one and finishes on the day hostel seniors throw a fresher’s party generally happens in July end or in September. After that friendly fachchas are roped in for the DUSU election work. The Mass ragging is generally a fun thing and none of the juniors are assaulted physically barring few slaps, etc.

There are few smart blokes who try and enter the hostel after the fresher’s party. However for them ordeal is tough as their ego goes for a six as fachchas who have undergone ragging by seniors are invited to rag their smart brethren. It’s simply gross.

Now any hostel in North campus has two types of hostel residents. The first are the legal ones and the second types are the illegal residents. Generally the joke in Hindu College was that though hostel has 200-odd legal residents, food was cooked for 450 residents as illegal were more than the legal ones. Same was the case during our time in the hostels of KMC, Hansraj or Ramjas. There have been lores of these illegal residents in each of the colleges. Prominent among them was one Mr Bhakuni, who though was a student of KMC but was staying in the Hansraj hostel for more than a decade.

So the illegal residents are a real menace because they know for them sky is the limit in ragging. They cannot be punished by the college where they are staying or doing ragging. At times they can be ruthless. In Hindu hostel there was a student from a respected school in Nainital. The boy was a topper but he enrolled himself in Hindi Hons course although his best of four percentage in class XII was 96. Hostlers were stunned when they came to know about this and thus he was the prime target of serial raggers. In just couple of intense ragging sessions in a gap of three days was enough for him to decide that this college was not for him. He left the College. Whatever happened to him in this session just simply cannot be written. He was mentally interrogated and then stripped off and made to do different stuff which was just gross.

In another instance of Hansraj hostel, a guy from Siliguri and another one from Meerut were ragged for almost three hours. Their ordeal was so bad that when asked to do fellatio on each other, they went ahead for it only to be stopped at the last moment. This time the raggers were not seniors but the fachchas, who were ragged for three months, posing as seniors. Since the two joined after the fresher’s party, so it was customary that the fachchas ragged their peers.

There also have been instances when some juniors are given ‘training’ in ragging. A public school pass out from Shimla who joined St Stephen’s, was ragged in Hindu College hostel prior to his joining the Stephen’s hostel. His ragging was arranged by a senior from school who was staying in Hindu College. Although his ordeal lasted for three hours, but later he became friends for the rest of life with his tormentors from the other college. In fact he found a den in Hindu College hostel during the ragging season in St Stephen’s.

Of Bullying and Ragging

2007-05-16T17:38:00.000+05:30

Coming from a public school background, I thought it was bullying that mattered more than ragging. Ragging is just transient than bullying which is an unending ordeal for a kid right from middle school to senior school. Well, those who have gone through the bullying ordeal find ragging as a cakewalk and sometimes enjoy it too. However, both have their own pros and cons. Sometimes, these stories can be so heart-rending that they would haunt you forever. Am no great storyteller, but here are some incidents that will quench your thirst for some gory tales.

There was a classmate of mine Gurjinder G studying with me at Bishop Cotton School, Shimla. His dad was a doctor in the army hospital. In normal circumstances Gurjinder would have been a normal student had he joined the school right from the beginning. However, he joined in seventh standard, thus missing out on the rigorous grooming process which a residential public school student undergoes during his grooming right from the stage of Kindergarten school.

Gurjinder grew in various schools throughout the country as his dad’s army job entailed traveling through his career. Under the patronage of his parents and frequently changing schools, Gurjinder became an anathema in the new school. In public school jargon he was a ‘sissy’ or ‘momma’s boy’, completely opposite from the ‘rough & tough’ persona of his batchmates who grew up on regular dose of caning and other corporal forms of punishments. In public schools, ‘titting’ or complaining about someone’s mischief is a crime and if you are in a senior school (above class VII) and if you cry then you are blot among your classmates. Gurjinder’s fault was that once a classmate beat him up and he started crying. That was it. His painful ordeal that lasted till he passed out from school in class X had just begun.

Bullying it was called and even his juniors used to bully him. Right from giving home-cooked food to running errands to the shops nearby, Gurjinder used to do it all only to be beaten later. Gurjinder became more of a human boxing bag to students and suffered blows everywhere.

He was so horrified by the entire experience that a close family friend told us that Gurjinder couldn’t sleep at night and he used to get nightmares every night. In fact, his torturous life during daytime in school used to haunt him even in his dreams and he used to shout while sleeping begging boys not to hit him. Although initial two years were hard for him but later the tortures toned down as became a fifth former (Class X). However, scars of his bullying in school remained with him painfully. Since he left school, I lost touch with him. Since then I haven’t seen his name among the list of students to have joined our illustrious alumni association later. Perhaps, he would have rued the fact that he was associated with that school.

A lesson for parents here that if they want to send their kids to a residential public school, then send them right from the beginning, I mean kindergarten or class I, otherwise it’s difficult for kids to adjust to the environment.

Koti, the land of my dreams... in pictures

2007-04-19T20:06:00.000+05:30

Apple trees at my orchard

This land is workstation for soKotime...

Different shades of green

Village Temple at Koti

Vishwas checking his mobile signal;-)

West Point: View from the Western side of the land

Off the beaten tracks, Swift is not too swift here

Location of the house in Koti village

South View: Down south, it's amazing

The site for my house

Another day in paradise

2007-04-03T15:02:00.000+05:30

Global warming is taking its toll and India is seeing some drastic changes in its weather conditions. According to the met office on Monday, Shimla registered a temperature of 24 degrees, seven degrees above normal. Two decades ago, people would still hope to see snow in April and Shimla once witnessed a snowfall in the month of June too. But that’s history and what the future beholds in the summer months is mystery. Let’s talk about the present, which is definitely a welcome gift.

At 24 degrees, Shimla is pleasant. Good for long walks across the ridges of the main town in the evenings and the mornings. Right from Chotta Shimla, or Forest Road or Sanjauli, in the east to Summer Hill, or Boileauganj and Chakkar, in the West, the walks are lovely. The woods are deep and the roads almost empty, except for a stretch of a few kilometres when it passes through the Mall road and other town areas. Also on the platter are a magnificent view of the Himalayas on the East, Shivalik ranges on the West and Churdhar range on the South. One also gets to view stone churches, turrets and spires, wood façade cottages and mock Tudor houses on the way. It’s an ideal destination for flaneurs, only if you can pester your friend’s grandfather there. He can show you where Bollywood great Bhisham Sahni and Anupam Kher spent their childhood, or where Rabindra Nath Tagore spent a few months of wilderness in Shimla.

The summer capital of the British Raj also offers numerous trekking routes into the mountains that last from a day trip to a week- long tryst. The most common trek nowadays is the trek to Tattapani, where one can indulge in white water rafting on the fiery Sutlej river. A less frequented spot in Shimla is ‘the Glen’. As its name suggests, the place is situated deep in the woods near historic Annandale ground (In 1888, the second oldest football tournament in the World, Durand Cup was kicked off here). The place was developed by the British and has an ice-cold stream flowing through the forest, making it one of the most fascinating picnic spots in the city. But don’t venture out alone here, as it’s a lonely place. Going in groups is advised here.

There’s another long walk about which none of the tourist guides will tell you or even dare to ask you, but this walk is truly amazing. This walk is all about cherishing the British legacy — the Kalka-Shimla railway line. Get lost inside the railway tunnel No. 103, the last tunnel on the Kalka-Shimla toy train route. Keep walking towards the Summer Hill railway station. Once inside this tunnel, the walk is intriguing, but worth exploring. Obviously check the timings of the trains, as the light on the other side of the tunnel could be of an oncoming train. Once you have crossed the tunnel, you will find several beautiful spots where you can just take a break and relax.

If you keep walking down the tracks, in half an hour you’ll reach Summer Hill, the seat of the Himachal Pradesh University. Take a chai break here, but remember the small tea stalls make tea — pahari style — always high on sugar. One can then visit the Viceregal Lodge, an edifice of British Raj. The lodge is a Baronial mansion built in Elizabethan style. A unicorn and a lion guard its manicured lawns and the interiors sport intricate wood carvings. A perfect end to your walk in the tree-crowned hills of Shimla.

BREAKING NEWS: Sreesanth worth Rs One Crore

2007-03-28T10:23:00.000+05:30

India team's official dancer may not have played the World Cup, but his on-field antics in South Africa has definitely helped him raise his price in the market. Percept D Mark last year signed him for Rs 15 lakh, but this year his price has been raised by Rs 85 lakh. Rs One crore, yes, that's the minimum guarantee money that this Kerala wonderkid is getting for a year now.

According to sources Yuvraj Singh is all set to become Indian team's vice captain. Not a bad investment by Percept D Mark here. He can easily become a captain in the next two years now, if everything goes according to the plan. With Sahara as the team's sponsors and Percept having a close relatioinship with them, I wonder who the official selectors of the Indian cricket team are?

Well, it's the same company which hasn't paid money to former Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey...

Out of frying pan, into the fire

2007-03-28T09:56:00.000+05:30

With India's World Cup honeymoon in the West Indies over in just a week's time, it's time for some accountability session as the Board ofControl for Cricket in India meet in India's financial capital Mumbai on April 6 and 7 where the fate of under fire coach Greg Chappell would also come up for discussion.
The Indian team hasn't arrived yet, giving enough time for the Indian media to speculate and faff regarding the future of the Indian cricket. The team, which is in the Caribbean after its exit from the World Cup last Friday, is in a state of anxiety.
Suddenly the action has shifted to Indian shores from the Caribbean and Indian journalists covering the World Cup in Trinidad are the only source of information for the team members apart from their families back home.
Journalists there too are busy catching up the latest gossip back home and then passing it to their faithful friends in the Indian team.
No one can hide the fact that there's rift in Indian team after their ouster from the World Cup. The endorsement wars too have come to light recently when a lawyer claimed that cola drink major Pepsi were behind Sourav Ganguly's sacking as the former Indian captain endorsed arch rival brand Coke.
There is gossip floating around about how an sms sent by a journalist to Ganguly in Port-of-(S)Pain, which reached Virender Sehwag by mistake,created a 'furore'. The fact that players like Sehwag and Dravid overreacted to it suggests that there's tension prevailing between the members of the team too.
It was on Monday that media gathered in the team hotel expecting an elaborate press conference by Anil Kumble to announce his hanging of boots, but that too was called off and now has been postponed. Players are tight-lipped in the Caribbean and are mutely examining the situation back home.
BCCI chief Sharad Pawar, a federal minister in the Indian Government, has said that there will now be two cricket teams for India - India Seniors and India Blue. While the seniors will consist of the more experienced players, India blue will also get a chance at international games.
According to Pawar: "We will sit with former captains like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev and get their advise about Indian cricket basedon their past experiences. We will discuss in detail India's World Cup performance.
"We will see the team manager's report and also ask his personal observations during the tour. We will also give a chance to the coach and listen to what he has to say and discuss about the captaincy as well."
Captaincy conundrum
A top BCCI official, on conditions of anonymity, said that the board is considering a major overhaul in the team. There's also speculation about the future of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. Talks of Yuvraj Singh being appointed as the Indian captain too is rife. (His managers - Percept D Mark) are backing his case strongly. Last year they gifted him a black Mercedes when he was appointed as Vice Captain by them. They don't want their investment to go haywire. Maybe on being a captain Yuvi gets a Bentley!)
But, a lot of Indians want Sourav Ganguly to be back as captain. They think that it would help the team to get back their killers.
Coaching crisis
The Board is still open to the idea of a foreign coach and may even talk to Dav Whatmore, Tom Moody and John Wright. Former Indian cricketer Mohinder Amarnath and Kirti Patil's name too is in the running. However, all these things will be discussed when the Board meets with former Indian captains.
Present Indian coach Greg Chappell has already said that the side's failure to execute the plans was responsible for the debacle in theWorld Cup and it's a collective responsibility. "I'm happy that I've done the best job I could do, and so did the coaching staff and support staff. The planning was good, the preparation was good, butthe execution on the day was not," he was quoted as saying. Chappell has also added that India haven't won an overseas tournament since 1985. (Basically he wants to say that India's loss is nothing new. It's generic in nature.)
"There are obviously some reasons, but I'm not prepared to go into them at this stage," he said. (Expect some brickbats when the team arrives. Meanwhile, Greg Chappell is busy planting stories in the media in his favour. Sports journos too are showing their allegiance to him by following such stories in a big manner. It seems like cricketer's the sense and sensibilities of the media too has gone for a toss.)

WHAT OUR BIGGIES SAY ABOUT THEM?
S Venkataraghavan: "It is disappointing, pathetic and frustrating. The team members lacked everything, including the fighting qualities. They have to sit, review and analyse such performances. The concerned should be held responsible," he said.
Gundappa Vishwanath: "Losing two matches out of three speaks volumes about their lack of application and determination. It's a shame that they failed to qualify for the SuperEight." Abhishek Bachchan: "I am disappointed like any other Indian, but do not beat them up. They tried their best. I know what failure is like and they will rise again. Give them a chance."

Advertising pangs
With the Indian team's ouster, advertising industry has been the worst hit. Sponsors and advertisers are withdrawing their cricket-centric publicity campaigns. According to industry insiders Pepsi, Hutch, Hero Honda and LG have been the worst hit as they had to take off their big marketing campaigns planned around the World Cup. Pepsi has pulled out its 'Ladega To Jeetega' ad campaign featuringSachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag. Similarly, other companies including Hutch and VISA have been discontinued. Reebok,which featured several cricketers in its ads, has also taken a u-turn. According to industry sources, a Sunfeast biscuit advertisement featuring Sachin Tendulkar is being replaced by Shah Rukh Khan's take. The ad industry has suffered losses ranging to nearly Rs 200 crore (1USD = Rs45 approx). The official broadcaster too has taken a hard hit. Expecting to raise Rs 800 crore in ad revenues, industry analysts say that it will incur at least 60 per cent in losses as now they have to sell the slots in much cheaper rates.The Indian tourism industry too has suffered approximately Rs 50 crorein revenues. Indian fans, expecting Indian team to reach the SuperEight, had planned their travel to the Caribbean in April. But India's early exit from the Cup has made it sure that all the bookings were cancelled. According to an industry insider, "Travel agents had already done the booking for them in the West Indies. Now they cannot be cancelled. So we have to suffer the losses."

FULL CIRCLE

2007-03-25T16:51:00.000+05:30

India has seen many Black Fridays and Manic Mondays, but many Indians believe that last Friday was the darkest and blackest of them all. It’s when our Great Indian Dream Team choked, once again. But is there anything new in this?
The Men In Blue are a band of chokers once they jet set to any other country. This too is nothing new. Perhaps, in Indian mythology, going to a distant land – saat samundar paar - was considered inauspicious maybe the reason for it was that India was a ‘Sone ki chidiya’, so there was no reason to set afoot in foreign shores. Our cricketers too follow the same rules. Exploit cricket on home soil as gold to the hilt. That’s it!
It was six months back when a senior cricket journalist, who has devoted his life to cricket more than what a cricketer would have, said that it might be an Aussie ploy to send Greg Chappell here and completely destroy Indian cricket before the World Cup. Well, I shrugged it off then, but conditions prevailing around us now make me think that there was some grain of truth in that too.
However, India’s loss has brought smiles among a small stratum of Indian society comprising few sports desk journalists and a lot more sportspersons who have always lived under the shadow of the great game of cricket and its demigods. For whom glory comes just once in four years, when they embark on a journey to either Asian Games or Olympics or the World Cup. That’s the only time they get their share of media pie.
For the desk journalists, it’s back to routine jobs meaning a lot more time to spend with their respective families, getting sound sleep and no more early morning drinks with colleagues on the parking lots of their offices.
For our cash-strapped sportspersons, India’s loss means a lot. They can live on hope that sponsors would turn to them for funding. Some of the world champions that India has produced in recent years in other sports (I won’t name them though), are without even a single sponsor. They can pray to God that they might be able to lay their hands on the sponsor’s booty after India’s world cup debacle. But, with crossed fingers.
“Nobody can say anything against cricket in India. It’s dangerous. All this madness and anger is transient. Within no time, India will forget them and they will be heroes again and darling of the sponsors,” said a shooter on conditions of anonymity to me. “They have mastered the art of luring fans, so performance doesn’t matter to them. They live for money and die for it. Fans won’t even get time to show their anger, when BCCI would change the captain and coach and soon the topic of discussion would be the current changes in cricket team rather than why they failed. It’s a full circle. It starts with India’s debacle in the World Cup and then consumes four long years of the build-up until the next cricket World Cup happens where India fails once again.”
Can you stop it?

The Woods are lovely dark and deep

2007-02-27T18:33:00.000+05:30

The Chalets, Naldehra

The British Empire may have ceased to exist but its echo lingers on… Welcome to Naldehra, home to India’s oldest Nine-hole golf course in the country and now has been made famous by the boutique hotel - The Chalets. Situated at a height of 2044 metres and just 22 kilometres away from Shimla, the hotel is nestled amid dense deodar forest, with the breathtaking view of the Himalayas. On clear sunny days, one can see the mountain ranges as far as the Indo-Tibetan border.

However, it’s not the view that matters for an urban wanderer, it’s the space that matters for the city escapists like us who live, breathe and work in polluted environs of cities. It’s a paradise for loners where one can find ample time and relax in solitude, away from the din of the city.
This boutique mountain resort, offers accommodation in quaint pinewood log cottages built with imported technology and wood from Finland. Its idyllic ambience beckons you to revel in the lyrics of nature and the music of the mountain winds.

And if you are an avid golfer, this is it. The Naldehra Golf Course is one of the finest courses on the hills. The course was built by Lord Curzon. Curzon often camped at Naldehra for weeks on an end. His third daughter was conceived at Naldehra and was named Alexandra Naldera. The quaint log cottages have a small bedroom which opens into a living room with a working fireplace. A winding staircase goes up to a second bedroom with a sloping roof. Small manicured lawns and independent balconies lined with potted geraniums add to the Scandinavian ambience.

The Chalets also boasts of a spa, which offers rejuvenating massages and treatments, steam, sauna and Jacuzzi and an all season indoor swimming pool. All with stunning views of the surrounding forest. The activity room has a pool table, table tennis, carom and indoor games.
The Chalets is also an excellent base for outdoor enthusiasts, it offers day hikes and treks and picnics in the adjoining forest, horse riding, whitewater river rafting on river Sutlej, one of the roughest rivers of India.

Evening barbecues and bonfires under the night sky followed by lip-smacking dinners are an almost perfect way to end the day at Naldehra.

Korean teenage swimmer wins MVP award

2006-12-15T22:00:00.000+05:30

Dateline DOHA
Although it was a big disappoint for Jaspal Rana as he missed out on Samsung's MVP award here at the Doha Asian Games, but he is a happy man. After the announcement of the award, the shooter said, "Although there was some confusion before regarding my nomination as the MVP of the Doha Asian Games, but I feel my MVP nomination itself is a big achievement."
Earlier, there was a lot of confusion relating to the Indian shooter's nomination, as some in the shooting federation thought that he has won the award. "I was told by shooting federation officials that I have won the award. There was some communication gap between Doha and India. Anyways, I take it in good stride," he said after the South Korean teenage swimmer Park Tae-Hwan was named as the Asian Games most valuable player.
Commenting on the Korean winner, Rana said, "It takes a lot to equal the world record. But the verdict of the jury is final. I wish there were more media people from India in Doha to vote for me."
The MVP was decided after a media poll in Doha and the South Korean schoolboy polled more than 200 votes from accredited journalists here. Rana secured 96 votes and was in third position.
“But it’s a big honour for me to be here and even to be named among the five finalists here. I had never dreamed of this and not even thought about me being nominated here. Whatever I have got is a bonus for me and so I have no regrets. Although I was told that I deserved to win here, but the criteria was such that the Korean got more votes,” he added.
The 17-year-old schoolboy from South Korea won three golds here in the 1,500m freestyle, the 200m and 400m freestyle. He also collected a silver medal in the 100m freestyle and three relay bronze apart from creating two Asian Games record.

India's golden double at Khalifa Tennis Complex

2006-12-14T01:19:00.000+05:30

Men doubles victory ceremony. We are standing next to the flag behind. Rohit is wearing white jacket and me brown.

India's dream run in tennis was reduced from trble to double when India's dream gal Sania Mirza was beaten left, right and centre by Chinese Doubles world No.1 Zheng Jie. Although Sania sent her packing in the second set 6-1, before losing the first one to her 4-6, but it was the Chinese babe who taught some lessons on court to the hotty Indian miss.

Well she taught her to miss the gold, which could have been easily her's. With the massive crowd support, everybody thought her to win, but Sania let off everything astray and lost control. Maddening it was at the Khalifa Tennis Complex's Centre Court. According to a local scribe, "Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and most of the tennis greats have been here, but never has the stadium witnessed a crowd like this. It's amazing for Doha, what Sania has done to tennis and the Asian Games."

If Tuesday was Sania's day (all semifinals happened on this day), Wednesday was the day of "Lee-Hesh".

The Indian pair were down and out in straight sets in the men's doubles finals, but battled seven matchpoints to come back into the game and beat 24-year-old Thai twins Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 in a rain-hit final that lasted close to three hours.

However, after their win, which lifted million hearts came the plunge. Well, it was expected. Day before the finals, Mahesh Bhupathi had told some media guys about the inevitable. "Wait for me after the finals. I am suffering for the past 11 days, and take it out only after the finals. I have had enough. Meet me after the finals. I will open my heart out." Indian scribes knew about it, but still were praying that the Indian pair would make up.

However, Bhupathi lashed out against his partner Leander. The same partner, with whom, for the first time in the tournament, he had done their trademark - chest thumping - a few hours back. In fact, for the first time in the Asian Games, the pair jumped and pumped their hearts during the finals.

The crowd roared, journalists soared and the Indian flag fluttered high. The packed crowd at the stadium had it all - the rowdiness of English football fans, slogans of Indian political rallies, and atmosphere of a cricket stadium. An experience of a lifetime! (To be continued...)

Meanwhile, the party continues in Doha...

Jitu, Vikas and Rohit in front of the Main Media Centre

On our way back home early December 13th morning.

This one's a picture post

2006-12-12T21:07:00.000+05:30

Me and Rohit enjoying the afternoon Sun and Sania!

Beauty Queen!

Amazing crowd!

Sania playing here singles semis against top seed Li Na at the Khalifa Tennis Complex. Sania beat the World No. 21 in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. What a match! It looks like the stadium is in India. Full of Indian crowd and even the stadium guys play hindi music... bhangra prominently. It's maddening here. Love to be here.

At the Al Rayyan hockey stadium witnessing the historic India vs South Korea match in which India, for the first time in the history of Asian Games were kicked out of medal contention.

Day 7: Finally gold comes in shooting

2006-12-08T00:50:00.000+05:30

Indian shooters at Doha's city centre

Dateline DOHA

Indian shooters finally heaved a sigh of relief when India’s best bet and veteran shooter Jaspal Rana shot a gold in the men’s 25m Standard Pistol event at the Lusail Shooting Complex, yesterday.
Indian shooting coach must be a happy man now as the Indian national anthem was sung for the first time at the venue. Indian shooters have a rich haul of one gold, five silver and six bronze medals at the penultimate day of the Asian Games shooting as compared to two silver medals in Busan Asian Games.
But yesterday was the day of Jaspal Rana. He proved that class remains permanent. A down to earth shooter, Rana added another gold to his collection of Hiroshima Asian Games gold medal, which he won breaking the 15-year-old record of now Indian Olympic Association Secretary General Randhir Singh of India. This is India’s first shooting gold since 1994.
Rana scored 574 points to fetch the gold, comfortably. With this, he become the first Indian to win the two Asiad golds in shooting. “I was not well, but I tried my best to shoot well and concentrate on my technique. So my team should not lose a medal,” said an elated Rana after the victory.
Day before the D-day, Rana was indisposed with fever his body temperature shooting up to 103-degree Fahrenheit. Despite this he decided to shoot for the bull’s eye with élan. In the team event, Rana along with Samaresh Jung and Ronak Pandit smashed the silver and in the men’s 3 position rifle event Gagan Narang strike bronze.
However, when questioned about his return to form, Rana lashed out saying, “It’s not a come back of sorts for me. I was always in form. The problem is of providing quality ammunition and adequate training facilities for the shooters.”
About future plans, he said “I haven’t planned yet. I will go back to India and will devote time to the shooters in my academy, so that in future they seldom face problems that we faced.”
Meanwhile, Gagan Narang became the fifth Indian individual medalist in men’s shooting at Doha 2006. Gagan’s bronze also marked the first medal for an Indian shooter in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions event.
“This is my first individual medal at the event, so I feel good,” he said. Talking about his performance in the final, Gagan said, “I didn’t have any strategy. I just concentrated on my game.”
Gagan, who is known for shooting under pressure, was lying in fifth position after the qualification. “I was in a difficult position after the the qualification, especially as I was not good with kneeling. It was regrettable that I was not getting top scores in qualification.
“I noticed that I was about three points behind Igor Pirekeev after qualification, It was a big difference. I didn’t think of him and just concentrated on my shot during the final period. I was thinking only about myself. I didn’t give up until the end.”

DAY 7: The melee

2006-12-08T00:30:00.000+05:30

Well, this one's a good picture!

Me at Doha's City Center. Bad job done by Pemba! Not a good shooter at all ;-)

Pemba Tamang at Doha's City Center

Asian Games Main Media Centre

Me and Jitender Negi at the Main Media Center

Day 6: Vijay brings glory to Himachal

2006-12-07T01:24:00.000+05:30

Dateline DOHA

The new Asian Games rules became a boon for young Indian pistol shooter Vijay Kumar when he was awarded the bronze medal despite finishing at the fourth position after the top three positions were filled up by the Chinese shooters in the men’s 25m rapid fire event at the Lusail Shooting Complex yesterday.

The 21-year-old shooter hailing from the tiny north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh finished behind the Chinese trio of Zhongsheng Liu, Penghui Zhang and Guohui Liu, but the Indian was awarded the bronze medal because of the new Games rule that no country can sweep all the medals in a single event. The two other Indians in the fray in the event - Pemba Tamang (574) and Rahul Panwar (563) - finished ninth and 20th respectively.

The Indian team finished fourth. “Had Rahul Panwar shot a better score, we could have even won a silver as the difference between silver and bronze in the team event was just a point,” said the Indian coach Sunny Thomas.

For Vijay, who becomes only the second Asian medalist ever from the tiny state to win a medal, this joy is special. “I was lucky to win the bronze. However, I had the best score in the final round. Had I shot better in the qualifying rounds, I could have done better. But I am happy to win a medal here. This victory is special to me,” said the Indian Army shooter, who took up the sport after joining the Indian army.

A hugely popular figure and an icon of sorts in his native state, Vijay shot to the fame when he won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne earlier this year. The Indian army acknowledged his contribution by promoting him.

Vijay is now focusing on the 25 metres centre fire pistol event to be held tomorrow. “I am aiming to win a medal there and I will try my hard to win a medal there,” he said. The Indian coach is still looking for that elusive gold medal in shooting.

“Tomorrow is an important day for India and our top shooters Gagan Narang, Jaspal Rana and Samaresh Jung are in the field. Although the field is very strong, but I am still hopeful of winning a gold,” the coach added.

Talking about Vijay’s medal, Sunny Thomas said, “This is the first individual medal that India have won in pistol. Now we should give importance to the rapid fire too. It is good for us that our shooters are making a mark here. In few years we will be the best team.”

DAY 6: A day off in Doha

2006-12-07T00:29:00.000+05:30

Doha Skyline

Joe of Qatar Tribune, me and Rohit

It was all about beer, food and sailing in Doha. Three hours on the sea... it was a heavenly bliss!

Doha Skyline at the back

Inside the boat that costs US one million dollars.

Westward Ho!

Rohit Wadhwaney

Heavenly Bliss!

Day 5: Pankaj Advani pots gold

2006-12-05T23:10:00.000+05:30

Pankaj Advani (left) with Ashok Shandilya after the medal ceremony

Dateline DOHA
There is steely resolve beneath those boyish charms. At 20, Pankaj Advani defeated his much older compatriot Ashok Shandilya in the final of the English Billiard Singles to win the India’s second Asiad gold at the Al Sadd Sports Club here, yesterday. Peter Gilchrist of Singapore won the bronze medal beating Aung San Oo of Myanmar.
Already a winner of world amateur snooker and world amateur billiards titles, this Bangalore boy is right on top of the world. “I have kept my 100 per cent record intact,” he said after his victory against Shandilya. “He (Shandilya) was my toughest opponent here and an excellent player. Thankfully I kept my nerves and won.”
Although he is a master of both snooker and billiards, but the Indian federation rules only let him participate in one game. “I chose billiards and have done the job for the country. Now I can say that I have also contributed to the medals tally here. I dedicate my victory to my mother (Kajal), coach Arvind Savur and my brother Shree,” he added.
On being asked about his next target, the coy student of Commerce said, “My next target is now to win the national championships.” Don’t get surprised by his answer, as the boy has been-there-and-done-that in cue sports. “There is no cue sport in the Olympics. So this is the maximum I could achieve after the world titles.”
Talking about his final match against Shandilya, Pankaj said, “I played on the top of the table. In both the games today (final and semifinal match), I had to absolutely come back from behind. I played under tremendous pressure but I handled the pressure well and went on to win.”.
Although he is a world champion, but he hasn’t lost his boyish charm. “I want to continue winning as I have a long road ahead,” he said, adding, “Today I will treat all my colleagues and will then go and watch the latest James Bond flick Casino Royale.”
An aggressive player, Pankaj said, “Aggression doesn't mean showing your emotions or throwing tantrums when you're in the arena. It means that you're a more attacking player. You go for your shots, try and finish off the game as quickly as possible.”
On his mentor and coach, Arvind Savur, Pankaj said, “He is the best coach in India and to be trained by him is an honour in itself. Without him I wouldn't have reached such a high level in the game."
And his talent was well recognized by the country when the Indian government awarded him the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2005, India's highest national recognition for sportpersons. He pipped Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid for the award. A big achievement in itself considering the mass popularity and hysteria attached to the game in the country.
When he won the 2005 International Billiards and Snooker Federation World Billiards Championships, he became only the second person, and first Asian, to have won both the billiards and snooker amateur world titles, adding the win to his victory in the 2003 IBSF World Snooker Championships. Only Malta's Paul Mifsud had achieved the distinction previously.

Pankaj Advani and Ashok Shandilya at the Al Sadd complex in Doha

Day Three: Gold medal is yet to come

2006-12-04T03:03:00.000+05:30

DATELINE DOHA
India has achieved the set target of five medals in the shooting arena in the first two days itself, but its shooting coach Sunny Thomas is not overjoyed yet with the team’s performance here at the Lusail shooting complex.
The Indian shooting contingent has won three silver medals and two bronze, but the Gold rush is yet to come. Shooters won bronze in the Men’s and Women’s 10m Air Rifle team event on the first day, while yesterday they won three silver medals.
“Gold has to come. I am satisfied to some extent but not overjoyed with the performance,” said the chief coach.
Talking about the country’s hunt for the precious metal, Thomas said, “It can happen anytime. All the shooters are capable of winning gold.” Talking about Melbourne Commonwealth Games’ best athlete award winner Samaresh Jung, Thomas said, “It was not his day. It happens but he has still three events left. Let’s see what he does.”
The Indian coach also spoke about how Air Rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra’s absence in the team has affected the medal prospects. “Yesterday the Men’s 10m Air Rifle team lost the silver by just one point. Had he (Abhinav Bindra) been there, we would have won the silver too. Similarly, the women’s team too lost the silver by couple of points.”
Bindra had pulled out of Asian Games due to back injury.
India missed out on another bronze medal yesterday when shooter Harven Srao shot a total of 484.5 missing out on a bronze by just 0.1 point to Korea’s Byung Hee Kim. “Harven shot 101.5 in the final, which is a very good score. It’s sad she missed out on a bronze,” said the Indian coach.
However, Joseph kept mum on chances of India’s Athens Olympic silver medalist Lt Col Rajavardhan Singh Rathore in the men’s double trap event. In the absence of UAE’s Ahmed Al Maktoum, Rathore has a strong chance of winning the gold. “We are good in double trap. Let’s see we hope to pick up more medals,” he added.
India has already lost out on a gold yesterday, when reigning world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu lost to Kuwait’s Naser Meqlad.
However, shooting at Lusail was a kind of different experience for shooters. “Normally, shooting ranges in Japan have kind of wall in front of you, it cab be forest or wall but, her in Lusail Shooting Complex, the desert stretched as far as the eye could see. And then you only see the horizon and sky. We are not used to this kind of range,” said Japan’s lone male trap shooter, Hiroshi Susuki.
Sandhu too complained about the strong windy conditions due to which his vision was hampered by a contact lens problem in his left eye. He only scored 22 and 21 out of possible 25 in the last two qualification rounds.
Rising Kuwaiti 24-year-old shooting star Naser Meqlad’s gold is the third gold medal that Kuwait has won in shooting at the Asian Games. Kuwait now dominate the men’s trap shooting event in the Asian Games, having won gold in three of the last four Asian Games. Only China’s win at Busan 2002 has interrupted the sequence. Kuwait finished fourth in Busan. Meanwhile, India has now a distinction of finishing as runner-ups in this event for the maximum number of four times.

DAY 2: Gagan shoots for bronze and fans

2006-12-03T02:43:00.000+05:30

DATELINE DOHA
It was China all the way round at the Lusail Shooting Complex on the opening day of the shooting competition in Doha on December 2. The Chinese won the team and individual events in all the three categories contested in the day - the men's and women's 10m Air Rifle and the women's Trap - without facing any resistence.
Liu and Zhu made it a 1-2 in the 10m Air Rifle and South Korean Yu Jae-Chul won bronze.
World champion Li Du showed why she is unmatched in the women's 10m Air Rifle event by taking the gold ahead of team-mate and world number three Zhao Yinghui.
Wu Liuxi finished third, but the bronze medal was awarded to fourth-placed Olga Dovgun of Kazakhstan.
China’s World number one Li Chen won the women's Trap individual event. The biggest
Upset for India was when Gagan Narang failed to bag an individual medal in his favourite Men’s 10m Air Rifle Competition. “I was under extreme pressure. Pressure took the toll on me,” he said after the finals.
Talking about changing his technique, the shooter said, “Well, I shoot fast. That’s my style, but I need to change it.” In his comparison, the Chinese took their own time and shot calmly and hardly showed any nervousness. In fact World Number one and Olympic champion Zhu Qinan was struggling initially, but he came from behind and shot the silver medal.
Indian spectators present at the venue including shooters like Anjali Bhagwat, Pemba Tamang, Vijay Kumar, among others, talked about this issue of Gagan shooting very fast (as soon as the signal to fire is given) among themselves when the contest was on.
The Indian girls too won bronze in the women’s team event of the 10m Air Rifle event.
Among the Indian dignitaries present, were Jagdish Tytler and Digvijay Singh.
Although, it was a bad day for the Indian television channels.
While, Chinese journalists had a hectic day on the range, sending updates and doing phone-in interviews as the red flag was flying on the top, Indian TV channel journalists were taken by surprise, when they got calls from their respective offices in New Delhi that India won gold in the Men's trap event. This happened after Aaj Tak - a leading Hindi channel flashed this news on the television (SABSE TEZ). It also went ahead and called up its correspondent here in Doha and even did a phone-in interview announcing that India won its first gold in shooting.
This created confusion among the rival channels and some of their correspondents here were pulled up for being late in informing them that India took the gold. However, the confusion was cleared a little later and thus AAJ TAK made a fool out of themselves.
Meanwhile, Chinese shooting head coach Wang Yifu said, "Overall we performed very well today, but our shooters were a bit nervous and under pressure today. It's not easy to win a gold medal in the rifle event because Indian and Korean shooters are very strong competitors, but I'm confident enough our shooters perfrom the best under pressure."
Although the Indian shooters were complaining about the rudeness of the officials here a few days ago, they are impressed with the world class shooting range here. According to some Indian shooters, the Lusail Shooting Complex is the best they have seen till now.
Indian fans too thronged on the first day as the Indian star Gagan Narang was competing. However, Narang could add only a bronze medal in the Men's 10M Air Rifle team event and lost out on an individual medal. "I was under extreme pressure. It just wasn't my day," he said after the event.
But spectators and even some foreign journalists, were taken by surprise to see Narang's shooting spree continue after his event was over, only this time, it was with his camera.
Gagan is a keen photographer and also has a coffee-table book on Melbourne Commonwealth Games under his belt. He was busy shooting pictures of the medal ceremony and even of the Indian delegates present for the event. Gagan had shot around 3,000 pictures in Melbourne and with a week's break for him here in Doha, it seems he is all game for double the number of pictures of the Asian Games.
Hosts Qatar had little to cheer about in the shooting range yesterday. Qatar's Abdulaziz Al Jabri participated in the Men's 10M Air Rifle and finished 42nd. Regarding his performance, the shooter said, "Today's performance was okay, but I want to perform better in 50M rifle event."
On his future preparations, he added, “My preparartion for the future is going well and I want to perform better in the upcoming events.”
In the women's Trap Team event, Qatar team comprising of Zaineb Al Suwaidi, Zulaikha Al Kubaisi and Noora Al Ali, finished at the bottom with a total score of 133 points. Whereas, in the Men's 10M Air Rifle Team event, Qatar took the penultimate spot with 1,715 points. Members of the home team were Abdulla Al Ahmad, Abdulaziz Al Jabri and and Abdulla Al Madeed.
In the Women's 10M Air Rifle Team event, Qatar finished 12th out of 15 teams participating. Qatar's team comprising of Mahububeh Akhlagi, Shaikha Al Mohammed and Huda Al Muntasr scored a total of 1,153 points.

DOHA: Gagan all set to bag India's first medal

2006-12-01T21:45:00.000+05:30

DATELINE DOHA
Commonwealth Champions India start their shooting campaign today with India’s best bet Gagan Narang hoping to add the Doha Asian Games gold to his kitty, which is already full with World Cup and Commonwealth gold medals in the men’s 10m Air Rifle shooting. However, going would not be easy for India here like it was in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games where they topped the table with 16 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze.
Speaking to The Peninsula, India’s shooting coach Sunny Thomas said: “The biggest threat is from China here and it’s very difficult to beat them. Yesterday, during the practice, even Japanese shooters shot good scores, so we cannot take it easy.”
Talking about India’s medal hope Gagan Narang, Thomas added, “Gagan is in good form and is shooting consistently. There’s a possibility that we can see him standing atop the podium tomorrow.”
Gagan, who has a knack of performing well under pressure situations, said: “The biggest competition tomorrow will be from self. Yes, China is the Olympic champion and their shooters are the best, so the competition is from them as well. But in shooting, it all depends on the day. If Chinese shooters falter on a particular day, we have a high chance of winning medals then. In shooting, everybody has the saem standard, what matters is who comes out the best on that particular day.”
According to Gagan, who hails from the same city as Sania Mirza – Hyderabad, the biggest threat is from Zhu Qinan of China. Qinan won gold at Athens Olympics breaking the World record in Men’s 10m Air Rifle.
“But I expect India will win at least a medal in the 10m air rifle event,” Gagan added.
For India apart from Gagan, Raghunath Padinchare Thermad and Navanath Bhanud Faratade will participate in the event.
Medals will also be decided in the women’s 10m Air Rifle event. India will be represented by Tejaswini Sawant, Avneet Sidhu and Suma Shirur today. All are good shooters in their own right, it all depends on whose day it is. After today, Gagan’s next event will be on December 8 and the shooter said, “India is expected to win anywhere between 6-12 medals in shooting.”
Coach Thomas played it safe. “I am expecting a minimum of five medals and anything above that. Even shotgun shooters are practicing well and I expect medals from them as well.”
India has fielded a 33-member contingent for the Games including Lt Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Samaresh Jung, Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Tesjaswini Sawant among others.
In the Busan Asian Games, the Indians had managed just two silver medals (men's trap team and the women's 10 m air rifle team) but expectations are high this year and shooting can be the only saving grace for India - the nation of one billion people.

India: Billion hopes but little expectations

2006-12-01T21:41:00.000+05:30

DATELINE: DOHA
Finally after lot of uncertainties, the Indian flag was hoisted at the Athletes’ Village yesterday. The Indian tri-colour was unfurled in the presence of Chef de Mission Ram Lal Thakur, Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi and other officials of the Indian contingent.
Adding glamour to the Indian contingent were the two tennis glamour girls, Sania Mirza and US-based Shikha Uberoi. India’s star footballer and captain Bhaichung Bhutia was also present at the event . The boxing contingent was lead by Vijender Singh. Vijender, who beat South Korean Athens Olympics bronze medalist few months back in Delhi in an exhibition match, said, “There are 50-50 per cent chances of me bagging the gold. I have kept my fingers crossed. Let the gloves do the talking on the ring.” Leading the charge for India in boxing would be this year’s Arjuna Awardee winner, the second highest sporting honour in India, and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Akhil Kumar. However, Akhil was absent from the event.
Speaking to The Peninsula, India’s Chef de Mission, Ram Lal Thakur, who himself was a keen sportsman during his heydays, said, “Leading a strong Indian contingent is an entirely different experience altogether for me. First I would like to congratulate for the excellent arrangements made by Dagoc here in Doha.”
Born in 1951, the same year when New Delhi hosted the first Asian Games, Thakur who is also a Sports minister of the northern India state of Himachal Pradesh, said, “What started as a small event in India in 1951, has now turned into the World’s second largest Games after the summer Olympics and obviously it makes me proud and I feel honoured to lead India, a country of more than one billion, here in Doha. Playing the National anthem and see the Indian tri-colour (flag) fluttering here in the Athletes Village is really thrilling.”
However, President of Indian Olympic Association, Suresh Kalmadi said, “We haven’t set any medal target for us. We are not here with great expectations. We are happy with whatever medals come in our kitty. Main thing here is giving international exposure to the athletes as Delhi will host the next Commonwealth games in 2010. We will also give presentation to the General Assembly and our target is to bid for the Asian Games 2014 with Delhi as the venue.”
Talking about football in which India’s participation fell into jeopardy with the Indian government not giving the green signal for their participation, Kalmadi said, “Football is a global game and we want to give exposure to our players. They should have experience of playing at this level.”
Earlier in the day, Indian tennis glam-girls, Shikha Uberoi and Sania Mirza, landed at the Doha Airport. Although it will be Sania’s second appearance in Doha, Shikha is dying to don the Indian colours at the court. Cousin sister of Bollywood star Viveik Oberoi, Shikha came wearing the Indian jacket and told reporters, “I am thrilled to play for the country and I cannot wait to get started. I am already wearing the Indian outfit and would try hard to make India proud.” Regarding partnering Mahesh Bhupathi, Shikha said, “It would be a nice experience and am looking forward to play for with him.”

(picture) From top: Shooter Gagan Narang, cueist Pankaj Advani and boxer Akhil Kumar

Meanwhile, mediapersons and shutterbugs went crazy chasing Sania at the airport. She created a flutter as local and Indian journalists chased her for quotes and that perfect picture. Looking slimmer than before, on her chances at Doha, Sania said, “Let’s hope for the best. It feels great to come here again and I am really excited to be here. I am coming back here after three years and Doha feels like second India to me.”
Sania, who has represented India in the 2002 Busan Asian Games, said, “I have improved from the previous Asian Games and will give everything I have to make my country proud.”
India’s another medla hope in cue sports, World Amateur snooker and billiards champion, Pankaj Advani will be landing in Doha on December 2. Advani is the second person in the world to don the hat of world billiards as well as snooker champion and is a definite medal hope for the country.
India would also be looking to reap it rich at the Lusail shooting range. Lt Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Gagan Narang, Samaresh ‘Goldfinger’ Jung, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Pemba Tamang, Vijay Kumar and Tejaswini Sawant are the India's medal contenders in shooting. India had a rich haul of 16 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze medals at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games earlier this year. However, giving them tough fight in the arena would be shooters from the Central Asian countries.

Kailash musings

2006-11-12T19:15:00.000+05:30

Allah ka banda is smiling and how! Kailash Kher is back in India after winning the Best Album and the Best Singer of the Year awards at the Bollywood Music Awards held in Atlantic City recently. And from the hands of none other than singer and chief guest Michael Bolton.
"It was a very good experience for me to see the reaction of the Indian expats who flew in not just from different states of America but also from Guyana and other Caribbean islands. They are mad about our music. I was really amazed to see how much they knew about Hindi music," Kher said.
He isn’t sitting on his laurels though. He is working on his second album, due for release early next year. "My new album will be fierier than the previous one. I have put my soul into it and I can say that people will love the music. There's a song that talks about my struggle when I first came to Mumbai. I have even done an invocation to Lord Shiva. Very few people try and include a religious song in an album. To add to the variety, I have given a Rajasthani flavour to a song. I am shooting the video for the song in Rajasthan.”
Kailash also has some filmi aces up his soulful sleeve, "After O Sikander in Corporate and Chak De in Khosla Ka Ghosla watch out for my new song in Salaam E Ishq composed by Shankar-Ehsan Loy. I feel it will be a big hit."
But in the era of downloads and iPod it’s the live shows that bring in the moolah and Kher knows that pretty well. But he claims to be choosy.
"Everyday there is an offer for a show, but one has to be very selective about it. I first see the kind of crowd in front of whom I am going to perform, only
then I choose to sing there," he adds. Carry on Kher, Allah ke bande are listening.

All for money

2006-11-12T19:12:00.000+05:30

It's raining cricketers at non-cricket events. Everyone’s got to keep endorsement commitments. Irfan and Dhoni walked the runway for the launch of Reebok's autumn-winter collection a few days back. Sehwag was teeing at the DLF golf course at the TaylorMade Invitational Skins challenge. Cricket? What’s that? Even cricketers need a break from losing one match game after the other.
Ask Sehwag. “Golf is a nice game and one needs a better level of concentration. I am planning to take up the sport as it is very relaxing. The
best part is that nobody disturbs you on the golf course. I will start playing it when I retire from cricket."
Sehwag took some tips from retired cricketer and now golfer Kapil Dev. "Paaji spoke about maintaining balance and gave some tips on putting. There is less pressure while playing golf. In cricket, pressure gets the better of us,” Sehwag told us. “Youngsters should take up golf and make India proud like Jeev did.” Ironically, the day Jeev Milkha Singh won the Volvo Masters in Spain, India was kicked out of the Champions Trophy.
As the Nawab of Najafgarh was going gaga over golf, but his teammates Dhoni and Pathan were talking cricket in Bengal. When in Kolkata, do as Kolkatans do: Chant Dada is Da Biggest Kriketaar India has Ebher sheen. "He is an excellent cricketer," both the boys squealed in delight, saying it’s for the selectors to decide on his comeback. That’s what we call two shweet boys in Salt Lake.
But Pathan was grilled by the unforgiving cricket fans. "I am running well and getting my rhythm back," is his solution for his own bowling problems. He is confident about his batting: "I am ready to bat any position." Including the ramp? "I am not very comfortable with it but when your sponsors ask you to do it, you have to." Why don’t sponsors ask him to perform on the pitch?

Million dollar babes

2006-11-10T19:19:00.000+05:30

Indian girls are ready to punch it out at the World Boxing Championship

It’s a season to feast on the fiery punches of the eves, as Delhi is ready to host the fourth World Women’s Boxing Championship at the Talkatora stadium from November 18. Well, after Manipur’s MC Mary Kom’s feat of annexing the title twice, women’s boxing is not an unknown sport in India.

Kid gloves: Mary Kom, one of the two women world champions Manipur has produced (the other is weightlifter N Kunjarani
Devi), recalls her journey: “I started as an athlete and tried boxing in 2000. Within two months I became the state champion and then won the nationals.” But if you look at the well-manicured hands of this sub inspector with the Manipur Police, you would not believe that these are the hands of a world champion.

Unfair deal: However, life for women boxers is not easy, especially when compared to their male counterparts. Says Mary Kom, “People think we are supposed to marry and sit at home. When I got married, everybody in the village suggested I quit boxing. Had it not been for my family, my husband and the in-laws, I wouldn’t have been here. I proved everybody wrong as just after my marriage, I won the world championship.” She informs her peers too face similar problems. “Nobody wants women to take up such a dangerous sport. Only when they start winning medals do they get any appreciation,” she adds.
But the determination of the Indian lady pugilists is beginning to bear fruits. Last year in the Moscow world championship, India won one gold and four bronze medals. They also annexed the coveted Championship Trophy in October at the Venus Box Cup Invitational held in Denmark.

Ready punch: About the forthcoming world championship, Col PK Muralidharan Raja, secretary general of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation, says, “Russians will start as favourites, but our women boxers are motivated enough to take on their might in front of the home crowd.”
The contingent’s coach Anoop Kumar Singh echoes the sentiment, “We expect all 13 boxers to end up at the podium. They have had a very tough training and with crowd support, tables can turn even for the best boxer in the ring.”
Apart from Mary Kom, other Indian girls adding spunk in the ring are Kalpana Chaudhary, Chhotu Laura, L Sarita Devi and I Ibomcha Devi. And each of them is definitely a Million Dollar Baby.

Party, interrupted

2006-11-09T19:23:00.000+05:30

Organisers go underground as India’s first trance festival ends in disarray and controversy

With Mallvika Nanda & Siddhartha S. Bose
India’s biggest rave was busted two days before its scheduled end, when the poilce raided the party early Monday morning on the outskirts of Jaipur. Touted as the first festival of its kind in India, Moon Dust, according to the organisers, was supposed to host India’s finest psytrance talent alongside some of the world’s most respected and sought-after artistes. The festival, that began on November 3 and was scheduled to go on till November 7 in the forest area near the famous Ramgarh Dam around 40 km from Jaipur, had attracted a huge number of music lovers from all over the country — Bangalore, Ludhiana, Mumbai and Ahmedabad — as well as Dubai. But the party was raided early Monday morning and several police cases registered against the organisers who are now underground.
Superintendent of Police (rural), Anil Paliwal said: “The organisers have been framed under the Foreign Act that specifies registration of foreign citizens coming to the city. Cases have also been registered under the Noise Control Act,” he said. Under the Foreign Act, putting up of a foreign citizen in the city calls for a tourist’s registration with the local police, a formality apparently not observed in this case. Reports suggest that most of the festival’s 3,000 participants were foreigners, many of whom made it to the rave from from Pushkar, Manali and Goa.
Police are trying to trace the event’s main organiser in Jaipur, Kulbhushan Paliwal. And the violation of excise laws and the noise pollution near a forest area has also forced the Jaipur district administration to order a probe, said Additional District Magistrate (Jaipur city north) DN Pandey. Apparently, villagers had also complained about the rendezvous, which had high-watt speakers blaring into the night.
Says Delhi’s Saurav Chaddha: “The idea was fantastic but it wasn’t executed well. We didn’t get encouraging reviews from people inside, so we decided to leave soon. Everything at the venue was heavily priced.” He adds that the disaster (read bust) was imminent as the festival had attracted a huge crowd, mostly foreigners, who “naturally didn’t function according to the Indian mindset”.
Incidentally, when the police raided the site on November 6, the picture was that of a place abandoned in haste, with scattered beer bottles, cigarettes and hookahs strewn around. With entry tickets priced at around Rs 2,500 per head, those who turned up at the site were angered by the festival’s untimely closure. Some ticket holders were even thinking of demanding a refund.
Indraneel Dasgupta, who had just about entered the Moon Dust campus when it all ended, says: “The organisers got to know about the raid 40 minutes before the officials arrived and hence were found missing from the scene. However, people who had spent huge money on accommodation were disappointed.”
A Delhi-based DJ, scheduled to perform at Moon Dust, pulled out at the last moment. “I got in touch with the organisers over the Internet and quite a few of my foreign friends were also scheduled to play there. I suspected something fishy and, therefore, withdrew,” he says.
The “festival” was heavily publicised through Orkut and other social networking websites.

Spider on the wall

2006-11-08T19:26:00.000+05:30

Sport Climbing, a relatively new sport in the country, is winning converts
There is some hope for the 600-odd Sport Climbing professionals in the country, as it might become an Olympic discipline soon. Otherwise, this poor cousin of other sports has no major source of funding except some government grants.
The 12th National Sport Climbing Competition is presently on at the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) in the South Campus. For the uninitiated, Sport Climbing involves climbing an artificial wall and emphasises on the gymnast’s ability to make difficult moves on risk-free routes on the wall. It was introduced in India in ’92.

On their own: Says chairman of the IMF committee for Sport Climbing, AVM (retd) AK Bhattacharyya, “The scenario might change once it becomes an Olympic discipline. Here, each professional works voluntarily, we just pay for their travel expenses. Even in terms of jobs, there are no specific prospects for these sportspersons.”

Gaining ground: However, the sport is gaining support in certain pockets of India. Says Shanti Rani Devi, who has shifted to Bangalore from Manipur to pursue the game, “In Bangalore, youngsters climb the artificial wall in the heart of the city daily. Even professionals, who want to stay fit, are getting attracted towards this sport.” The reigning women’s national champ Vathsala MN, who also works for an outdoor adventure sports management company in Bangalore, adds, “Cycling and climbing are topmost on the minds of our corporate clients who want their employees to be physically and mentally fit.”
But in Delhi, it seems the sport still has a lot of altitude to scale.

In love, unabashedly

2006-11-07T19:28:00.000+05:30

Delhi musician explores Kama Sutra in his new album
While music videos of all hues and genre ooze oomph de rigueur, here comes one which explores the gist of Kama Sutra unabashedly. Titled Moods of Love — Kama Sutra, the album is Delhi-based singer/ composer Abhishek Ray’s debut in the world of commercial music and will be released today. He says, “This album captures the myriad moods of love, ranging from furtive glances and romantic swells to torrid passion and the pathway to Nirvana as well.”

Diverse notes: The album has seven tracks sung by Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Udit Narayan, Harshdeep and Abhishek himself. The lyrics are by Nusrat Badr (lyricist of Devdas) and Syed Gulrez (lyricist of Taj Mahal). Abhishek, who has also done three solo albums with Gulzar, adds, “I’ve also written a script for a musical on the album and plan to have performances abroad.”
A video of one of the songs from the album has already been shot, featuring the Garam Masala babe, Neetu Chandra. “We’ve highlighted sensuality rather than just skin. The Censor Board has cleared it,” informs this trained Indian classical musician and pianist. He has also scored the
music for a Tamil film, Tundil.

The wild side: Abhishek is also an active member of the Tiger and Leopard census teams and is also a wildlife photographer. This Physics (Hons.) graduate from Hansraj College says, “Fusion comes naturally to me as I’ve the voice of a black man and fingers of a white man.” Keep scoring!

Power rangers

2006-11-02T22:44:00.000+05:30

Do the young need to get together more often to seek justice? Yes, says Gen Z
Generation Z triumphs convincingly. The verdict given out in the Priyadarshini
Mattoo murder case proves just that. It all began with the movie Rang De Basanti triggering the trend of mass protests by Delhiites against the release of Manu Sharma in the Jessica Lal murder case. And with youngsters taking their new-found voice to the streets, other issues that were gathering dust in the corridors of justice also came under the spotlight.
The Priyadarshini Mattoo murder is a case in point. Now, with the accused, Santosh Kumar Singh, son of a high profile police officer, being given the death penalty, youngsters feel that there is power in their voice.
Young vindicated: Says Class XII student Priyanka Arora, “It proves that the youngsters can do things if they get together, even if it means taking to the streets to be heard. But at the same time, other pending cases also need to be looked into.” The protest rally held at the India Gate recently for justice in the Jessica Lal murder case had seen participation by many school and college students of the city.
Social change: As the young feel vindicated, it may eventually lead to the society taking an active interest in public issues. Says Dr Surendra Nath, head of the department, Anthropology, Delhi University, “Such judgments help in restoring people’s faith in justice and changing human behaviour too. It sends a strong signal that nobody is above the law and thus contributes towards behavioural changes in society.” Shalini Iyer, a BA student says, “The verdict in the Mattoo case will act as a warning for those who want to harm others.” Affirms advocate Santosh Jain, “This judgement has also instilled confidence in women that they will get justice and highly connected persons too can be brought to book. However, it shouldn’t take 10 years to decide on a case. ”
So, the common man’s effort of organising mass protests, filing petitions and lighting candles at the India Gate is beginning to bear fruit
after all.

Superstar next door

2006-11-01T22:47:00.000+05:30

Not many in this part of the country would know Naresh Iyer but all would be familiar with his voice, as this 25-year-old from Mumbai is the one behind hit youth anthems from Rang De Basanti — Rubaroo, Masti Ki Pathshala and Tu Bin Bataye.
It was at Channel V’s talent hunt Super Singer that AR Rahman had spotted Naresh and had offered him an opportunity to sing for his next movie, RDB. Soon thereafter, Naresh walked into the recording studio, little realising what future had in store for him. “It was after 12 hours of recording that Rahman asked me to sing Rubaroo at 4.30 am. I was dead tired, but who would miss such an opportunity? I recorded the song but made a mistake in two lines. Though Rahman was supposed to sing the track himself later, when the film’s music was released, I came to know that he had used my track. The part where I had made a mistake was sung by Rahman and thus I got to share credit for this song with him. This was my first Hindi film and I can just thank my stars for this,” he says.
Naresh, who was in Delhi to record a song for a new movie on cricket, adds, “Some of my Tamil songs are topping the charts and I’ve recorded Hindi songs too.” The singer is a foodie too. He says, “I love spicy food and on my next trip to Delhi, I’ll visit the walled city. I’ll also buy some funky clothes as after RDB, I try to keep the image of a hip-hop artiste.” The stardom bug has not yet bitten him and he can be mistaken for the boy next door.

Kailasa!

2006-08-23T13:57:00.000+05:30

Kailash Kher is a Delhiite to the core. Street-smart, can catch the nerve of the crowd in front of whom he is performing and has always been a wanderer to the core. In 12 years he shifted 26 houses within Delhi. Well, that sums up his attitude – always asking for more and never satisfied with what he has. With 200 commercial film songs, 300 jingles and an album – Kailasa - under his belt, sky is the limit for him. And only thing he knows, he says, is his “unique talent coupled with intelligence”.

“My voice is a gift of God, but lot of people have it. I reached the heights, because people used to tell me that I am very intelligent when I was a child. Maybe I have used my intelligence to nurture the gift of God that I have,” he says looking content to the core and showing an exuberance of a child.

But why Sufi? “When I started, classical music was a long road, especially for people not having the right pedigree. Pop, too was boring to an extent, as people cannot carry on dancing. So I chose the middle path – Sufi. It can move the emotions of the corporate world too as well as the kids will also love them. It has energy in it.”

After wandering on the streets of Delhi for 12 years, in 2001 Kailash Kher decided to move to the dream City –Mumbai. Although he had its own trials and tribulations there, but it was just a matter of a year and a half there that things picked up in the right direction for him. “I struggled a lot initially but I had faith in me,” he adds.

However, with Allah Ke Bande, Kailash Kher got an instant fame, especially with him featuring in the movie while playing the song. “Well, I didn’t believe it since I just started my career that I would be featured in the movie while playing the song. I though it was a fluke. Moreover, when I asked the name of the movie while it was being shot from Vishal (music director), he said ‘Waisa Bhi Hota Hai’. I thought ‘waisa bhi hota hoga’; it happens like this in Bollywood too that they don’t decide the movie name and are already shooting for the movie. I was just a starter so I kept mum. To top it all, I didn’t even know who Arshad Warsi (hero of the movie) was? I called up my sister in Delhi to ask about his credentials. Well, what happened after the movie was out is history.”

Although people thought that he is just a one-song wonder. “They thought I got famous in fluke. But after one song and another, I kept my consistency going.”
With solid footing in Bollywood now, people quite relate Kailash Kher to as Bollywood singer, Kailash feels, “I am a singer but I like to do it solo. For movies, one has to listen to the music director but for making my own album, I like doing my own composition. That way I can express my own feelings. Kailasa is doing very well and now I am working on my second album Kailasa II.”

Regarding the Hyderabad connection of shooting of his two numbers of Kailasa, Teri Deewani and Tauba Tauba, he says, “It was never in my thoughts that I would shoot in Hyderabad. It was sheer shortage of money, which forced me to go to Hyderabad. The video director was already shooting in Hyderabad. When I called him to Mumbai, he asked me to join him there as his entire crew was already there. So it just happened by chance.”

Regarding Nusrat, the singer says, “I am inspired by his selection of the lyrics. In Sufi, I just listen to him only. I don’t listen to other singers. I am happy that Sufi has gained much acceptance now. It is the newest flavour of music and has a blend of spiritual as well as entertainment.”

Along the Arctic Circle

2006-08-21T18:49:00.000+05:30

Living true to its motto, “Fighting spirit through sports and adventure”, 11 members of the Indian Navy undertook a grueling month long ski expedition into the Greenland Ice Cap in the Arctic region in July this year. A grueling task, the 600-kilometre journey was arduous and consisted of nerve-wracking moments for the team.
According to Commander Satyabrata Dam, team leader, “In this one-month, we didn’t see a single animal or a human face apart from the team members and even though the average intake of the members was around 4000 K Cal each day, each member lost weight ranging from four-12 Kg. Another interesting feature was that there was no sunset in the Arctic Circle.”
The team first went to the Vatnajokull Glacier, the third largest glacier in the world in Iceland and climbed Hvannadalshnukur (7100 ft), the highest peak in Iceland, through extreme bad weather conditions and zero visibility. The team also scaled an unnamed virgin peak at 11,000 ft approximately in the Mt Forrel region and named it the ‘Indian Peak’.

Encountering temperatures ranging from minus 10 to minus 35 degree Celsius and Hurricane blizzards averaging 50kmph, the team had its own nervous moments. “One of the team members fell into a deep crevice with his sledge. He was just in front of me so I saw him, otherwise we wouldn’t have known about the incident. I thought either he is dead or is badly injured. But luck would have it that his sledge got struck in between and he fell on top of it. So he was saved. It took three hours to rescue him and due to this, some of the members froze due to non-movement of the body. After taking him out, I had to go down the crevice to get his sled,” says Commander Dam, who at 41 years was the oldest member of the team while the youngest member was Sonam Tamchos, 20, from Ladakh.
According to Commmander Dam, “The chores of cooking and eating were most tedious, since blocks of ice had to be cut and melted for every need. It took hours to cut the ice and then melt over small fuel burners. The team had only one proper meal a day at night, and what we missed the most was the home-made pickles.”
A deep dug pit into ice would be the make shift kitchen with ice block walls cordoning off to keep the howling winds at bay. The team had only one proper meal a day at night. The day began with a meager meal of cereals in the morning, with a cup of coco and then during the skiing through the day, they would stop after every 1 hr or 1.30 hrs for 10 – 15 min active rest, when they would munch chocolates, cheese, biscuits, dry fish, meat, etc along with sips of water. This rest period could not exceed since once the body stopped skiing, it rapidly cooled down and one can freeze instantly. At the end of the day, when they put up the tents for night, they would have soup and a freeze dried food, like pasta, rice, etc.
Now just stop thinking about how they addressed the nature’s call!
The Team
a) Satyabrata Dam Cdr (Leader)
(b) KS Balaji Lt Cdr (Dy Leader)
(c) GP Pande Lt Cdr
(d) Ajay Sharma Surg Lt
(e) Avinash Khajuria Lt
(f) Raj Kumar MCERA I
(g) Rakesh Kumar POMA
(h) Vikas Kumar POMA
(j) Manoj Vats Sea I PT-III
(k) Sonam Tamchos MA I
(l) B Singh Sea I PT II

Tihar's tale: Pay and play

2006-08-19T14:34:00.000+05:30

It is the biggest prison of South East Asia. Although Tihar jail has a sanctioned capacity of 5,648 prisoners, more than 13,000 are lodged here. Many of these are high profile prisoners - from former IG (Prisons, Haryana) RK Sharma, accused in the Shivani murder case, to Vikas Yadav, accused in the Nitish Katara murder case.
As the Capital awaits the arrival of Abu Salem, currently lodged in Mumbai, HT caught up with an undertrial (now acquitted from the courts), who was lodged in Jail Number 1 in Tihar for about two months to find what life for VIP prisoners is like inside Tihar. This is his account:
Convicts rule Tihar
"The first day I entered Tihar, I was in a state of shock. I had visited jails in Rajasthan and Punjab along with friends, but those jails were nothing like this one. I could hardly sleep the first night. No sooner had the clock struck five, I was woken up and put in line to clean toilets. When I saw the state of the toilets just couldn't do anything except want to puke.
The convicts, who are dressed in pure white clothes, are the guys who actually rule the jails. One convict came to me and told me that for a certain sum of money, I could have my way and wouldn't have to do this job while I was here. The price? Rs 10,000 a month to live a cool life without cleaning toilets or having to stand in line for food etc. I agreed. But because I knew another high profile undertrial who intervened on my behalf, I had to pay a discounted rate of only Rs 4,000 to a low ranked prison official. The only problem was that, when his superior came to know that I had paid, he too wanted his share. Once again, my friend intervened and I was saved from paying up.
VIP undertrials and convicts stay in rooms, which have no lock-up inside the jail premises. There are about four such rooms and each room has a television. They have all the luxuries in life, including a separate kitchen, a refrigerator, chef and servants. Outside their room is a badminton court where they can play any time they like.
For the non VIPs, however, conditions at Tihar are such that the greasy - and greedy - palms of the jail officials made life tough for me. They could see that I could afford to pay, and they wanted more. My parents were taken for a ride and my two-month stay in the jail cost them a little more than Rs one lakh.
Coming to food. One gets one subzi, a dal and four Pots at each meal. Paneer and milk are on the diet chart, but nobody gets these. Jail officials use rotten vegetables and the Pots are inedible. But here again, if you're willing to pay, you're OK; you can eat as much as you want. But if you can't afford to pay, you might not even get food, forget about rotten stuff. The tea is so watery at Tihar; I used to buy milk from the canteen and get my own tea made from the canteen guy.
In Tihar, you can buy whatever you want - even services of the poorer inmates to do menial jobs. I had an illegal Bangladeshi national for odd jobs. And believe me there's a mad rush among people to do such jobs.
Then, there was an Australian inmate who used to buy yeast. With this, we would fill a five-litre mineral water bottle with bananas or apply, add some sugar and after nine or 10 days, would have our own booze.
Now, inmates are allowed only two visits a week. But by paying off officials, my parents used to come three times in the week. For every visit they used to buy a Rs 200 coupon and give it to me. I used to transfer it on my swipe card. Through this swipe card, I could buy goods from the canteen. Things aren't cheap: a single Gold Flake cigarette costs Rs 50, and a joint of charas Rs 30. The problem was with lighting the cigarette, as matchboxes aren't allowed in the premises. We used to burn a piece of cloth by putting it on a glowing bulb and use this to light our cigarettes.
The prime place to stay in Tihar is the 'chandukhana'. This is one of the sections in Jail Number One, which has several lock-ups within the premises. There are three large dormitories, which are further compartmentalised into three sections. One of these sections is known as the 'chandukhana' where the privileged lot stay. To gain entry here, you must have the approval of an existing inmate, and pay anything between Rs 500 and Rs 5,000 (depending on how much the Tihar officials think you can afford) for the privilege. When I was in Tihar, there were only 10 men here, compared to over 500 prisoners in the other sections.
Prison routine falls into a predictable pattern. From 6 am to 12 noon, we could walk in the compound to get some fresh air. Between 4 pm and 6 pm, one could again come out of the lock-up. People who paid up were free to roam around inside the jail premises. For me, the best thing about Tihar was the library I read a lot and played basketball to kill time.
The most important thing to buy at Tihar is transportation to courts. There's a common bus. It will not stop on the way, whatever the provocation. This can be dangerous. People who get convicted by courts, can attack you with blades on the way back. This way, another case gets registered against them and they get to stay on as undertrials. The catch? Undertrials don't have to work, while convicts have to.
If you're willing to pay, you get to go to the courts in a special high-rise bus. It's not cheap. One has to pay Rs 10,000 per month. I used to travel along with Kashmiri terrorists who were involved in the Lajpat Nagar blasts. They used to mind their own business. They were well dressed too. The privilege extends to your time in the courts as well where you have the luxury of staying in a special lock-up away from other undertrials. For an additional charge, you can also get home-cooked food in the court lock-ups.
My two-month stay in Tihar changed my perspective on life. Corruption prevails at every level, from top to bottom. Jail officials realise that people like me can't live in hell, and are willing to pay for better standards. For poorer people such luxuries can be availed at a much lower cost. The motto of the jail staff is to extract as much as it can - perhaps the only exception is the Tamil Nadu police, posted there for security.
The day I was released, I got a stern statutory warning: "Don't talk about this to anyone or else..." But I am still doing it as it may help improve the conditions of other inmates.

Joint family: Arms and the man

2006-08-19T14:19:00.000+05:30

Two months back Bareilly heralded the transfer of Anand Swarup as Senior Superintendent of Police, Bareilly with front page headlines of an encounter specialist coming to town. Media went agog over it. However, it’s been more than two months now and media is busy witnessing a different kind of spectacle, here. Almost every Saturday they have a bagful of stories of wife mending relationship with husband, brothers settling disputes and dowry cases and sometimes, they even act as judges in some cases. Well, thinking about covering an encounter is a thing of past now.
Everybody is involved in ‘Project Didi’. Be it community leaders, politicians, police, journalists and social workers. They all are a part of the surrogate joint family and pronounce judgements relating to family and marital disputes and try to settle it amicably without registering a case. If the concerned person is still unhappy about the judgement, they can lodge an FIR and then proceed to court.
Again this is the brainchild of SSP Anand Swarup who started this project in Bareilly in 2002 during his previous posting. He continued this project to wherever he went in Etah, in Firozabad and now back again in his old robes in Bareilly. “After a certain point of time in your career when you begin to realise the mystery of the day to day functioning, your mind begins to wander into the innovations in your working. This is how I bumped into the idea of criminal policing and social policing.”
“In the area of social policing, family disputes and marital disputes does not require either police or court intervention. The joint family setup was the panacea. We lost it in the run to materialism. So I tried to restore it. Collected the doctors and teachers and lawyers of the society and asked them to spare a day for us. We ensured the warring sides of the family are put together before them and asked them to solve their problem like a joint family would,” he adds.
Take the case of 25-year-old Rashmi Sharma. It was a complex case of her alleging that her one-and-a-half year old daughter Gungun’s father is her brother-in law Virender and that her husband Rajesh is having an affair with Preeti, Virender’s wife. Rashmi came to the police alleging that Virender has now stopped giving money to her for the upkeep of the baby. According to Rashmi, she was having affair with Virender for the past three years and he was running both the household, since Rashmi’s husband was a drunkard and unemployed. A complex case and it would have taken years for the judgement to pass, had they gone to the court.
The case was handled by Madhu Aggarwal, a municipal corporator and lady police officers of the district and finally the matter was settled by asking the four brothers to jointly take responsibility of the baby and deposit Rs 1,000 every month in her account for the next 18 years. Although not an easy job, after much trials and tribulations this was done. Says, Madhu Aggarwal, “Although it is not an easy job, still we are able to resolve cases in maximum four sittings. That’s the benchmark. If it takes more, then obviously the matter is resolved in courts.”
Pawan Mishra, a youth leader in Bareilly, who is also involved with then project says, “This project has tremendous social implications. Most of the crime incidents happen when there is infighting among the family members. Court cases keep on lingering the family disputes and anything can happen during the heat of the moment. A rapid and out of court settlement helps bridge the gap and thus the crime rate comes down. This also saves them from the fleecing advocates and relieves the judiciary from the extra burden of cases.”
Mishra feels that this exercise also helps in connecting the leaders as well as police to the mass. Jawahar Sinha, a lecturer in Bareilly College, who says, “In three years we have received about 2,300 family disputes and we have settled almost 1,500 such cases. Everyday the police receive applications and it is compiled and then passed on to us on Saturdays by the police. We have an office in police lines and every Saturday we sit and review these cases and conduct hearings. We have divided 12 counsellors into four groups and each group looks into a case.”
Regarding cases, most of them are related to dowry. 62-year-old Surjit Singh, a businessman by profession feels that his degree is law is now coming to use. His knowledge of the law, although unutilized till now, helps him to resolve cases. He says, “Till now I have resolved 60 cases successfully relating to dowry. Among the dowry applications, only 20 per cent are genuine. Rest 80 per cent were just to put pressure on the groom side to take better care of their daughters,” he adds.
Qamar Akhtar, a hotelier in Bareilly citing a case says, “15 days back we resolved a case in which a young couple were having marital problems only because of ego problems of their parents. This was a no case, but life for Deepesh and Neha was hell and that too it was an arranged marriage.”
25-year-old Deepesh Saksena, a junior engineer in the hydel project in Bareilly married Neha four months back. “Although we liked each other, but there was a continuous misunderstanding between our parents. So for four months it was hell. Due to the ego problems of our parents we were made to suffer,” he adds. His wife Neha, however, is now relieved after this ordeal ended. “Thank god that we had a quick hearing and the matter was solved out of court only. Otherwise it’s very difficult for ladies going to the court thousand people are looking at you. In courts, everything is in the open, but here one gets a bit of privacy also,” adds 23-year-old Neha.
Social worker Pawan Kumar Aggarwal feels, “It’s very difficult for a lady to go to the court. You are a centre of attraction there. Moreover, kind of money people spend in court cases is a lot and even worthless. Only advocates have the last laugh here. And in court one has to give proofs and a lot depends on the integrity of the lawyer too. And we don’t give judgements in cases, we give them the solutions, if the feuding parties accept, it is well and good otherwise we ask the police to register cases and then the matter is goes to court.”
Swarup although feels, “In both my previous postings (Etah and Ferozabad), criminal policing project was the first thing that I undertook. Since Bareilly sees more of family dispute and crime is only limited to certain pockets so I focused on Project Didi here first. It is running smoothly and successfully now, so I am turning towards criminal policing now.”

Set a thief to catch a thief

2006-08-19T14:17:00.000+05:30

Gone are the days when robbers used to loot the area in the garb of the policemen. It’s just the opposite now. Robbers will be donning the Khakis to patrol the criminal-infested areas of Bareilly district and few would even become crime counselors for the police at the scene of crime.
This can be the changing face of police patrolling in the country. Call it reformative policing or just another innovative idea in the field of policing, but Bareilly is all geared up for this. Brainchild of UP’s firebrand IPS officer Anand Swarup, presently Senior Superintendent of Police, Bareilly, this experiment has given him tremendous results in terms of curbing crime and helping criminals of the past join the mainstream.
“I implemented this for the first time when I was SSP in Etah in 2004 and carried forward this legacy in Firozabad in 2005,” says Swarup, who has seen 31 transfers in his 12 year career and also holds the reputation of being an ‘encounter specialist’.
“We have already identified parts of Bareilly district, where this will be implemented. This helps petty criminals earning their livelihood through fairer means and even police can use the expertise of history-sheeters of the past to track the criminals,” he adds.
Swarup says, someone who has done crime in the past knows how the crime is committed. As police officers we can only guess and investigate, but they can actually guide you to the criminal. My idea was to use their expertise.
It was in 2004 in Etah, when Swarup first implemented this. He divided the area in a cluster of 50 shops each and assigned a criminal to patrol the area for eight hours and gave him a beat book. In return each shopkeeper had to pay Rs 50 a month, which amounted to Rs 2500 collectively, as monthly salary to the criminal. His work was reviewed jointly by the police and the employers (50 shop owners) on a monthly basis. This option of patrolling was not only given to criminals but to unemployed youth as well. For the first time when he called history-sheeters for a meeting, out of 500, only 100 turned up. Initial hesitation was there and Swarup too faced the ire of the senior bosses as his idea was termed as ‘maverick’ by them.
“It was a daring task as it could have had bad pitfalls and I was keeping faith on criminals. But one has to be innovative and I took the risk. In India, policing is all about catching criminals randomly in order to solve cases. But the conventional method of tracking the actual criminals from the crime scene is a passé. With the help of these crime counselors, we were able to solve cases easily and catch the real culprits,” he says.
Regarding the selection of criminals to do the right job, he says, “There are three types of criminals or HS (history-sheeters). The first is one who has a history of doing petty crimes (HS-A), second is one who commits petty crimes and is still active (HS-A*) and third habitual offenders who are into more serious crimes (HS-B). We selected people having no crime record for the past five years or more of HS-B category and having a likelihood of improvement and HS-A.”
It brought immediate results as the first experiment that took in Jalesar in Etah, saw theft cases stop in the first month itself. Incidents of house trespassing came down tremendously and crime chart dipped to a new low in comparison to the records of past five years.
Seeing the success rate, other clusters who were skeptical about the project also came forward to adopt the scheme. Regarding solving a case of crime, Swarup remembers that a former robber was instrumental in solving a case of a big robbery and looting in the area. “He gave us such vital clues that we busted an entirely new gang of young criminals having no past criminal record and who were in the job for quite sometime. Earlier, what used to happen was, police would round up other criminals with similar past crime records and arrest them for the crime committed. Cases of false implication were rampant. For these criminals too who were falsely implicated, more cases, irrespective whether they committed or not, meant enhancing their reputation and building fear factor among public.
“Thus newer gangs keep on committing crimes and live a life of anonymity and police doesn’t even know about it. Busting of newer gangs also acted as a deterrent for amateurs wanting to enter the world of crime. Also instances of a particular crime pattern stopped when newer gangs were busted.”
This also improved the relationship between past history-sheeters and the police as well as their village neighbours. They also acted as informers. Although, according to him, the system of mukhbir or informer is still prevalent in UP but they have become politicians and influential people in the society. They only keep in touch with the senior district police officials and don’t go to the thana, where they are supposed to share information. It is much of a status symbol than what it was actually meant to be – help police in nabbing criminals and continuous flow of information at the thana level.
These ‘reformed’ criminals were also given law and order duties. “In fact they participated in the Republic Day parade in Etah and took an oath never to commit a crime again,” adds Swarup.
Another factor that helped these criminals to join the mainstream was deleting their history sheets. According to the provisions in the law, once a history sheet is opened, it can only be deleted once a history-sheeter dies or he hasn’t committed a single crime in 30 years. But until the time they have history sheets, the criminals have to constantly go to the police stations for review. But there’s another provision in the law which states that if the SSP is convinced that an HS has reformed, his history-sheet can be deleted.
“I tore down the history-sheets of 14 in Etah and 30 in Firozabad in front of other history-sheeters. Being a history-sheeter has its own social implications in villages and there’s also a stigma attached to it. Seeing this, other history-sheeters too got inspired to join the mainstream,” he adds.
However, Swarup’s idea was put in the bin once he moved out of these districts as “it needs a tremendous amount of responsibility and nobody wants to risk his job”. A district posting anywhere in country is considered a plum posting and a small mistake can cost you the job and one can easily be shunted out to an insensitive post. So none dared to implement this.
As far as Bareilly is considered, Swarup is just two months old here. “Instances of crime are lesser than Etah and Firozabad. So I launched Project Didi first and now I am about to kick-start my pet project here,” Swarup adds. Pockets have been identified and scrutiny of the criminal records is going on. The out-of-the-box ‘meeting’ of history-sheeters and the police is just a step away.
Welcome to the world of criminal patrolling!

Rustic Charm

2006-06-23T19:59:00.000+05:30

Modelling world is all about glamour, fame and quick money, but only for a few of them. For the rest it’s all about aspirations, hard work, splashing money on themselves, running from door to door for some work and pepping up by friends who falsely tell them that they are no less than Bollywood filmstars. Welcome to the vicious world of the male models, especially Jats, who rule the ramp in Delhi and few, have made it big in Bollywood too.
However, their success story is not a typical Bollywood success story of the 90’s and 2000, but of chasing the big Bombay dream of making it big and getting rich overnight typical of the movies made in the decade of 70s and 80s. It’s all about existential angst and toiling to succeed with very few of them making the cut.
Delhi for these aspiring Jat models is a stepping stone and also a litmus test. Once they prove themselves here, only then they can aspire to make it big in Bollywood and the fashion and advertising industry. Coming from suburbs of Delhi and small towns of Haryana and some even from Rajasthan, the Jats are smart, tall and well built, almost everything that an aspiring model can dream of. But most of them lack in personality, education, are not fluent with English and are not refined.
Most of the successful Jat models had almost everything in them. However, for the rest of the lot in their villages and localities, these Jat models and actors are Idols. They want to emulate them and for this they keep on splashing money for gymnasium membership fee, traveling, portfolios and getting the right looks, etc. The list is endless. Ajay Pal, a Jat model hailing from Nagaur in Rajasthan says, “It’s a struggle out there. There roughly are more than a thousand aspiring male models in Delhi. So it’s all about making an impression on the choreographers, keeping yourself fit, boast of a good portfolio and having a good personality.” Ajay, who’s a student of Hansraj College and stays in a rented accommodation in North Campus has done a TV Commercial for ICICI Bank and also worked on a television serial. “I spend almost seven to eight grand on hair cut, gym and travel; expenses a month. It’s not easy. You have to go back again and again to choreographers. The first assignment I landed up was for a shoot of Honda Activa that was given to me by the photographer who shot my portfolio,” he adds.
However, with Ajay coming from a well off family, so he can spend money and now with work coming survival is not a problem for him.
First runner-up of Grasim India 2006, Nishant Dahiya says, “The basic problem of lot of Jat models coming from Haryana and suburban villages and towns of Delhi that they are not fit to become models. They don’t have the finesse and sophistication. They are misguided by friends of their locality and villages that they resemble a Bollywood hero and thus the aspiration to become a model come on to their minds. They go on splashing money on themselves and keep on struggling in Delhi. It feels bad to see them struggling. Most of these struggling models do a free shoot too to boast their CVs.”
“I want to have a safe place in Bollywood. I want to do a stunning role like Manoj Bajpai in Shool,” says a resume of an upcoming Jat model from Delhi. Another Jat model spends around Rs 20,000 on his maintenance per month. “One has to take supplements which costs a lot to keep those muscles in the right place. Then going to a proper gym with proper facilities, parlour, etc costs a lot,” he adds. Says Rajat Choudhary, twice body building champion from Delhi University hailing from Badarpur, “I had a good physique so I tried my hand in modeling. Did couple of ramps, earned some money also, before getting a break with a production house to shoot a film on Assam Rifles. Once the shooting of the movie is done, I’ll think about modeling as a career.”
However, Delhi-based Nishant, comes from an Army background, and did his software engineering from REC Kurukshetra. He was working with Wipro, as a desktop engineer in their backend operations in Okhla before he decided to enter the contest. “I resigned from my job to participate in Grasim Mr India contest. Since the age of 20 I started dreaming of becoming a model. But I wanted to start from the right platform so I never tried it before participating in the contest. After the launchpad, work started coming smoothly to me,” he adds.
The contest also gave him a chance to work with the best in the industry. “It was free grooming for fifteen days for me. Walking on the ramp is an art and I learnt it there. Lot of these aspiring models spend loads of money attending grooming classes, etc.”
Nishant’s is one success story.
Top Fashion photographer Tarun Khiwal feels strongly for them, “Jats are really very good. Some of the best models these days are coming from this area. Some of them look like Italians. Almost 60 per cent of them are worth being models. All they need is some training to deal with this market.”

Male for Sale

2006-05-15T20:38:00.000+05:30

The double murder of Akhtar Afindi and Jamshed Alam at their Shaheen Park residence recently, has thrown up interesting facts like, it had a gay angle. According to cops, Akhtar was a bisexual and in relationship with Jamshed. It reminds one of the sensational Pushkin Chandra double murder case.
Pushkin Chandra, a USAID employee, and his friend Kuldeep were murdered in former’s posh Anand Lok residence in August 2004 by gay prostitutes. These murders are just the tip of the iceberg. The business of gay prostitutes and gigolos is thriving in Delhi’s underbelly. Unable to make it big in the glam world, some struggling models and college hunks are lured by sex with different women and earning quick money to make their lives easy. Some unemployed youth, generally having weak economical background, become gay prostitutes.
A gigolo’s tale
It was in 1991 that a young 18-year-old Suresh came from Dehradun, nurturing his dreams of becoming a footballer and donning Indian colours. However, his tale wasn’t of success and glory, it had other ingredients to it, full with spice and sexual flavours.
Struggling to make a career in football, Suresh was introduced to male prostitution by a colony aunt. She was fascinated by the sporty physique of Suresh and for sexual favours she started giving her money. Soon he was introduced to few more ladies who were ready to pay for sexual favours. He left football and became a professional prostitute or a gigolo often meandering around Ring Road at South Extension or Andrewsganj. Three years of joyride, Suresh was finally diagnosed of veneral disease. All that boasting about sleeping with different women and money splashing at home in Dehradun became his nemesis.
Gigolo factoid
Gigolos then remained inside the closet. However, as Delhi entered a new millennium, things changed. Gigolos became widespread here; perhaps the booming Indian economy has also a share in their growth. They come in all forms – masseurs, escorts, male strippers and male prostitutes. Few who don’t fit in that bracket have managed to become gay prostitutes earning just Rs 200-300 per hour. A search in google for ‘gigolos in Delhi’ returns 644 web pages mostly having phone numbers and contact details of them. And never do they land up in the hands of the law. It’s a business where these male and gay prostitutes roam around doing their business scot-free.
“It’s a profession where one enters by choice and has the elements of everything that today’s youth dreams of. Unlimited sex with different partners in cooler climes of five top hotels, dining and partying in top nightclubs and meeting the likes of rich and famous of the city, not to mention about maintaining hefty bank balances and driving flashy cars,” says a Delhi-based gigolo.
Hardships too lead to it
Bollywood hero Vikram Kumar who played a character in the movie Sauten where he has an affair with both, daughter and stepmother simultaneously says, “Becoming a gigolo is quick money for aspiring actors and models with smart looks and nice body, only thing is they have to sleep with ugly looking aunty.” Vikram, who spent quite a time in Delhi before shifting his base to Mumbai, says, “It mostly happens in Mehrauli and chattarpur areas in farm houses. These good-looking guys go to parties organised by rich ladies and do a strip show and so on.”
In Mumbai too Vikram says, “Most of the budding models in search for a career in Bollywood hang out in innumerous coffee joints so that someone from the industry might notice them and give a break. Since Mumbai is an expensive city, they need money to survive. Till the time they get support from parents it is ok. But then they start indulging into such activities to sustain a living. In Mumbai there are some coordinators who facilitate them in getting business. So daytime, it’s coffee joints for them and night they do business sleeping around with aunties.”
Male prostitution in Delhi, Vikram says, is not that organised. “Lot of such things happen at the ramp shows. Sadly, male models get ruined by designers, as some have to sleep with them too, not to talk about women,” he adds.
As of now, business for gigolos, gay prostitutes and male escorts is rocking. With the gleaning eye of cops closed, welcome to Delhi - the world full of sex, sleaze and disease.

The Coke stops here!

2006-05-06T21:49:00.000+05:30

Finally Judiciary has opened its eyes and the Supreme Court has frowned upon the "liquor addiction" among "younger generation". Not only this, the Court has also asked the government to work towards reducing the consumption of liquor. It's a welcome step but it seems that the Court should also turn its eyes towards the growing number of drugs in the capital and in the country as a whole.

Delhi is fast becoming the Drug capital of India and it is making its presence felt in the international drug market too as an important transit point. The Indian capital ignonimously sees a heavy import of Cocaine and ecstasy pills in the country whereas it is becoming a huge exporter of heroin, which comes to the capital from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and hashish, which comes to the market from Malana, in Himachal, Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.

The hash from Nepal and Arunachal is fast catching up in the Indian as well as international market and is competing with the famed Malana cream. Also drugs from Afghanistan have managed to sneak into India through some Kashmiri youth also dealing in illegal arms supplies was busted by Delhi Police's Narcotics department last year in November. It was claimed to be the biggest catch of the decade, sadly the dealers are out on bail and not even a single drug dealer caught by the cops last year is languishing in jail. This is where the judiciary now has to turn its eyes.
Coke trails
In recent times, Cocaine and other synthetic drugs have already gripped the youth and P3 frat in the city. Cocaine generally comes to India from Africa. India is an important transit point for this white gold. The normal international trade route of cocaine is from Columbia to African countries from where it travels to either Delhi or Mumbai and from here it travels to European countries. A large part of the consignment is dropped in India for consumption. It costs Rs 3,500-8,000 per gram in the Indian market.
Heroine
It is nothing but raw opium treated with acetic anhydride. Acetic Anhydride is although banned in the country but is used in the dye industry. According to AS Cheema, DCP (Narcotics), "It is sold in the market for Rs 3 lakh per kilogram, but to get a hit very low quantity is required. For a drug addict, heroine worth Rs 40 or 50 is enough to get a high."

That's the reason it is widespread in Delhi. According to Cheema, "Heroine is an injectible drug. The heroine addicts exchange needles and it can have serious repercussions like communicable diseases.

The importance of heroine in terms of cocaine dealers is that it used for reverse trade. "Carriers of cocaine take back heroine to Nigeria and other African countries as well as European nations," says Cheema. Heroine is exported from the country through export consignments. They are generally packed inside shoes and last year a consignment was caught where drugs were hidden inside shock absorbers. Generally Department of Revenue Intelligence and Customs catch these rackets.
Hashish
It is Hash or hashish and grass (dried cannabis leaves), which is a cause of worry for narcotics officials. Intake of this is extremely widespread among the youth and student community. "A large quantity of hash is being consumed in Delhi. Recently we caught a 50-year-old woman with 9 kg of hash imported from Nepal. Sad part is that large part of students are getting caught in this cobweb," says Cheema.

Hash and grass is freely available in Delhi and can easily be obtained from jhuggi clusters mostly surrounding campuses and most of south Delhi areas. Denotified tribes and small drug peddlers mostly sell these drugs. "It's very difficult to curtail them. It's a family-based drug business. If even two or three of the family are in jail, the business never stops. Be it wife or daughter or son, everybody is involved in this selling business," adds Cheema.

On the parallel, Delhi is also one of the biggest exporters of hash. The famed Malana hash is exported from here. Local people from Kullu valley, Israelis and Nigerians are involved in the exporting business. A kilogram of hash from Malana costs Rs 3 lakh in Delhi. When it reaches the international market, it costs a cool Rs 10-12 lakh.

Nepal and JNU

2006-04-21T17:07:00.000+05:30

Believe it or not, the seeds of the joint agreement between seven Nepali political parties and Maoists were sown in Capital’s Jawahar Lal Nehru University. Rajan Bhattarai, foreign department secretary of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML), says, “After the February 1 incidents (when King Gyanendra dissolved coalition government and assumed power), my party sent me to India. It is here when we got in touch with Maoist leaders and had a joint understanding with them. JNU is the place where the seed of this pact was planted.”
However, Bhattarai refused to divulge the details about the meetings between seven political parties and Maoists. Bhattarai came to India as a representative of his party to lobby for restoration of the democracy in Nepal. He along with other political activists have been leading the agitation here in Delhi.
Alongside all these activities, Bhattarai is also utilising his time to do something productive. He has enrolled in PhD degree in International Studies in JNU. In fact Bhattarai is not the only one, some of his peers too are enrolled in Phd. “I was here in India for four-five months when I enrolled in the course. There are around 15-20 political leaders and activists enrolled in JNU,” he says.
Prominent among them are Deepak Bhatt (UML), Yogendra Shahi (UML), Human rights and Nepali Congress activist Dinesh Prasain, Nepali Congress activist and Terai leader Amresh Kumar Singh and Hari Roka. Apart from these the rest too have who are pursuing their PhD programmes have joined the agitation and help them in organizing protest marches, rallies, etc.
However, presently Amresh Kumar Singh is in jail as he was arrested there and Hari Roka has gone to Nepal too.
Dinesh Prasain of Nepali Congress feels at home in JNU. “After Feb one incidents, I was very active for two weeks in organising protests and keeping track of information flow. But cops were hounding me to arrest so I fled the country and came to JNU and enrolled in a PhD degree in political sociology.
Another student leader Deepak Bhatt too has enrolled in a PhD programme, but he got enrolled in 2003, before the Feb 1 incident and is in Delhi for several years now. JNU not only has been a hot seat of learning to these leaders but in the past too Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai completed his doctorate from here. Nepali Congress Democratic leader Pradip Giri also came here for further education.

Nepal is burning

2006-04-21T17:05:00.000+05:30

Top revolutionary leader and second in command of banned outfit Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Dr Baburam Bhattarai has described King Gyanendra’s new year message as “an attempt to hoodwink the world opinion and perpetuate his unconstitutional and autocratic rule.” In an exclusive interview, the Maoist leader spoke at length about problems gripping Nepal and their struggle for getting Nepal rid from Monarchy.

Q: Do you think King Gyanendra’s declaration of holding elections in Nepal is a positive step towards restoration of democracy?
A: The real issue is transfer of sovereignty and state authority to the people through the election of a genuine Constituent Assembly. The talk of election to Parliament at this moment does not make any sense. So it is wrong and misleading on the part of certain media to see the King’s statement as a positive move. The King’s statement has been rejected by the CPN (Maoist) and the Seven Party Alliance. The people’s movement will continue until the monarchy is toppled and a democratic republic set up in the country.

Q: Indian Intelligence reports say that they are seriously working towards countering the growing nexus between Nepal Maoists and Indian Naxalites…
A: The reports of so-called nexus between the Maoists of India & Nepal are not only highly exaggerated but also mischievous and preposterous. Being proletarian internationalists by ideological persuasions, Communist revolutionaries of all countries, including India and Nepal, have ideological affinities to each other, but nothing more than that. It is highly irresponsible on the part of certain forces both in India and Nepal to spread such baseless romours and vitiate the political atmosphere in the midst of the decisive anti-monarchy democratic movement in Nepal.

Q. They also say that there was a hand of Nepali Maoists in the recent hijacking of train in Jharkhand and supplying of arms to Naxalites…
A: It is the concrete example of a motivated disinformation campaign on the part of certain pro-monarchy forces in India to scuttle the growing sympathy for the Nepalese democratic movement there. We challenge these forces to prove the veracity of such baseless allegations with concrete evidence.

Q. Aren’t you concerned about the situation of Nepal. Most of the areas in Western Nepal are facing an exodus of men. Because of the fear of Maoists, they are fleeing Nepal for India. (Perhaps, if you do a census of some districts in the apple belt of Himachal Pradesh, Nepalis will easily outdo the local Himachalis in terms of numbers.)
A: Yes, we are seriously concerned about the large-scale out-migration of the unemployed youths from the hills of Nepal. However, it is not because of the Maoist People’s War (PW), which started only ten years back, but because of ‘development of underdevelopment’ under the feudal monarchical rule for the past two and a half century. The millions of poor Nepalese seen in the streets of India doing sundry menial jobs or joining as mercenary soldiers in Indian and British armies have been forced to leave their hearth and homes because of lack of economic development in the country under a semi-feudal and semi-colonial set-up. Our revolutionary democratic movement currently spearheaded in the country is basically aimed at ending this pathetic situation and creating a democratic, peaceful and prosperous Nepal.

Q. Tourism, which contributes to Nepal’s economy in a big way, is affected by this war considerably. Don’t you think people of Nepal suffer from this movement?
A: Not only tourism but the entire economy is suffering for long. It is wrong to say that economic decline started after the Maoist PW. If you look at the growth trend of the economy for the last 40 or 50 years, it hovers around one or two per cent per annum. That is why we are fighting for a progressive restructuring of the society and economy by overthrowing the feudal monarchy.

Q. Do you think that King Gyanendra will be perturbed by these activities (like strikes, demonstrations, etc.) and you will achieve success?
A: If Nepal is to develop and prosper, the monarchy has to be abolished. The rising tide of people's movement seen for the past week is enough proof that the monarchy's days are numbered.

Travel Tales

2006-03-23T18:03:00.000+05:30

Pokhara is arguably the most beautiful valley in Nepal but its story is similar as that of Kashmir valley, gripped by terrorism, the only difference, tourists here are not on the target of Maoists. In fact the day we reached Pokhara, we were greeted by the news of the twin bomb blasts in the heart of the city that injured 18. It would have sent a chill down the spine of any tourist who would of reached Pokhara.
However, the scene outside was different. The lakeside was bustling with tourists, markets were open, travellers roaming around freely along the beautiful lakeside market, which quite resembles streets of Pushkar minus the crowd, feasting their eyes on the majestic view of the Annapurna ranges.
The local crowd too is hip and happening here. The chicks are beautiful and the image of the mountain girl wearing the traditional cholo, that’s so symbolical of Nepal, is missing in Pokhara. Most of the adolescents have spent their lives in Brunei, Hong Kong, London and it reflects by the way they dress and carry themselves.
Thanks to the British Gurkha settlement here. Most of the British Gurkha soldiers after serving in UK, Brunei and Hong Kong have settled here and since their earning is in pounds, so people have a lot of spending power and hence the bustle in city’s economy.
They know how to party and Pokhara in fact boasts of one of the best nightclubs in Nepal – Amsterdam and Paradiso where party never ends.

For regular tourists, the day begins at 4.30 am as they head towards Sarangkot. A small hamlet situated atop a hillock, Sarangkot offers the beautiful view of Annapurna ranges, especially the Fish Tail Mountain, being kissed by the rising sun. One can even trek down to the city from here, a walk of just about an hour.

A must do here is take a flight in the Ultra light aircraft here. It offers spectacular view of the lakes, mountains and villages. This is an ideal way to see life from a new perspective. It’s a dream come true for those who wished they could fly like birds. Though it is lonely at the top, but the spectacular view from up high certainly makes it all worthwhile.
Another landmark in Pokhara is the International Mountain Museum, which is spread over an area of six hectares. The museum exhibits include information about the mountains, people and their culture, world mountain system, their geographic formation, flora and fauna. It also chronicles the development and past mountaineering activities in the Nepal Himalayas.
One can also visit the Peace Pagoda, Devi’s fall and several temples in Pokhara but without a boat ride in lake Phewa, your journey is incomplete. One can keep on boating endlessly around the lake, but for most of the tourists the temple located on an island in the middle of the lake is the centre of attraction.
Evening is full of activities in Nepal. One can hire a bike and pedal around the Pokhara city or visit nightclubs or restaurants located on the lakeside for a drink or two. Most of the hotels and restaurants organise cultural evenings with beautifully dressed Nepali lasses dancing to the folk songs. Resham firiri being the crowd’s favourite, a song that is every tourist’s delight and has been there ever since Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary conquered the Everest. A foreign trekker’s journey is considered incomplete in Nepal if he doesn’t learn and sing this song by heart.

2005-09-08T18:48:00.000+05:30

Amit Jain wrote to me regarding a traffic problem on Kasturba Gandhi marg. He writes, “On KG Marg, at the KG Marg-Ferozshah road crossing there are plastic bollards for dividing the straight traffic and the traffic turning right. The
traffic signal is first straight then right. The placement of the divider is such that barely two cars can go down KG Marg side by side. If there is a bus (and KG Marg is a bus route) then only a single bus can pass through.

“Keeping in view the propensity of Delhi drivers of not driving on their lane and the different variety of vehicles on roads, it causes a traffic snarl especially during office hours when south Delhi traffic is going/returning from work. Many drivers cross the yellow line to go ahead. There is very little traffic turning right. I request you to take this up with the concerned area officers and request them to either remove the bollards or at least re-align them so that the traffic going straight can move easily and smoothly.”

This is a nice suggestion and even I have experienced this. Although using bollard is a very good option of segregating traffic but they do a good job when used on a three-lane road. If used for a two-lane road then something needs to be done, as they are not very successful at it. I strictly feel that on Kasturba Gandhi Marg, cops should be deployed during peak hours at this intersection as well as at the Bus Stop on American Center Library. The traffic movement is affected throughout the day as the blue-line and white line buses stop here for long time thus blocking the road. The effect of this blockage can be felt on the outer circle also as there’s minor jams throughout the day due to this.

2005-09-07T18:13:00.000+05:30

I received a rather strange suggestion from US Rana who suggests privatising traffic enforcement in the city. Well, it is simply not possible for the traffic police and the government to do so but since in this platform people can air their views so I am sharing his views with readers. He writes, “Our traffic rules are the best, best on paper. We trip at their enforcement. Maybe, they cannot be enforced for one or the other reason e.g., manpower shortage, interference by the politicians or higher officers, even fear of corruption, seeping into it even more ferociously.

“Having weathered privatisation and globalisation winds, I am emboldened to suggest that enforcement of traffic rules be privatised to start with only as an example through a pilot project. Bids may be invited for it from the public for myriad intersections in Delhi. To start with, I am ready to bid Rs 5,000 for two hours on any working day for the T-junction where O.P. Road and Vasant Marg meet by the side of the Nigerian High Commission. Collection of fines recovered on the spot within a week will be an eye-opener.”

Well, wherever there’s money, corruption will just seep in. Moreover, it will only increase road rage incidents and one will see just brawls on every intersection if it is done. I think traffic cops are doing a fine job but their attention needs to be diverted towards regulating traffic rather than just prosecuting offenders and making the government richer by means of challans. The lower staff of traffic police work overtime to meet the target set by bosses that they don’t get time to regulate traffic at all junctions. I am all for raising the amount of fines which, as of now, are paltry and doesn’t pinch the Delhi driver. If the fine is steep then the Delhiites will think twice before committing an offence. The idea here is to implement traffic rules on the road and not collection of money by prosecuting offenders.

2005-09-06T16:15:00.000+05:30

Connaught Place is changing drastically in its landscape as well as traffic flow. Well, if the new traffic plan announced by the New Delhi Municipal Council is enforced lot of people will get hassled as they take short cuts through the inner and middle circle of Connaught Place in order to stay away from traffic congestion on outer circle. I don’t know how well is the decision of a single entry and single exit plan for Connaught Place. But I am sure the traffic cops have to do some thinking if NDMC enforces the new traffic circulation.

NDMC plans to make the entry to Connaught Place from Janpath side and exit towards Baba Kharag Singh marg. As of now the exit for Baba Kharag Singh Marg is a problemy affair. It is due to traffic police’s signal system. The signal for traffic turning right while coming from Inner Circle at Baba Kharag Singh marg intersection turns green simultaneously with traffic entering CP’s outer circle from Baba Kharag Singh Marg. This creates a clash of traffic movement from both sides due to which the dispersal rate on both these intersections is very less.

Currently the other exit points in CP’s inner circle make the dispersal of vehicles easy, but what will happen if there is only one exit point and the dispersal rate at the traffic signal is so slow at Baba Kharag Singh marg intersection. It will be utter chaos and even the inner circle will get choked due to this. The traffic police should immediately do some changes to the traffic signal at this point.

They shouldn’t let the flow of traffic coming from both sides (Baba Kharag Singh side and inner circle side) merge on outer circle of Connnaught Place. The green signal for each flow should be separate so that dispersal is easy and there is less chaos. The problem there is a large number of buses entering CP from Baba Kharag Singh Marg and CP is the only place where buses restrict themselves to the bus lane thus forming a continuous chain. It is almost impossible to turn towards Shivaji Stadium for smaller vehicles entering outer circle from CP’s inner circle, as the buses don’t give you a way. This problem needs an immediate attention of the Traffic Police.

2005-09-05T16:14:00.000+05:30

It’s a day of processions today. Almost five processions to be precise! So chaos is bound to happen in Central Delhi as well as the walled city of Delhi.

A sikh procession which has come from Punjab will start a religious procession from Majnu Ka Tila gurudwara near ISBT, Kashmere Gate at 9 am. This procession will end at Gurudwara Sisganj.

The second procession is of Suthre Shah near Hanuman Temple, ISBT. This is an annual procession taken out by his followers and will start at 11 am. There’ll be around 5,000 followers in the procession and will take a long walk within the walled city of Delhi.
Then there are three processions of Baba Ram Dev. Not of Astha channel fame! One procession, which will start at 11 am, is from Nabi Karim and the other two will be taken out in Karol Bagh area. From Saraswati Marg the procession will start at 9 am and the second procession will start from Hathiwala Chawk at 11 am.

Apart from the five processions, there a Dalit rally at Lila grounds, Asaf Ali road from 2 pm to 5 pm. DCP (Traffic/north zone) HPS Virk says, and “According to our estimates around 10,000-12,000 people are expected in the rally, we advise motorists to deviate from their normal routes if they use the above-mentioned roads.”

According to Virk, “Ring Road will be affected today. Traffic movement in entire walled city of Delhi including Chandni Chowk and Subhash Marg, Arya Samaj road, Motia Khan, Qutub road, Rani Jhansi Marg, D.B. Gupta Road and Faiz Road will be affected.”

For the residents and shopkeepers of old Delhi, Metro Rail is a boon for them, as they don’t need to bother about these processions anymore. For Karol Bagh residents and those using New Rohtak Road, they should the Patel Nagar road. For them the Metro is still few months away.

Story with Road Signs (Must Read)

2005-09-01T15:00:00.000+05:30

2005-08-30T18:08:00.000+05:30

I received a call from Vinayak Kumar Verma, who is a resident of Hari Nagar and has just returned from Boston where he is studying music. He met with an accident and is peeved with the way Delhiites drive and the Traffic cops behave.

He says, “I was standing at South Ex Part II when a scooterist hit me at full speed and I was badly injured. I took the scooterist to the traffic cops and was stunned to see the way they reacted. They very casually told me that ‘it is a normal thing in Delhi and they can’t help me.’ They just asked the name of the company where the scooterist was working and let him go away. The traffic police here needs to be friendly with citizen. When we talk to them they look away. They don’t look at your face when you talk to them. They aren’t attentive and don’t want to help you. The way Delhiites drive and the way traffic is managed, it’s simply madness!”

Generally when I meet people who are coming to India after a long gap, they only whine about the traffic problem in Delhi and most of them are shit scared about driving on Delhi roads. The same roads where they once learnt driving. However, after a stint abroad, they become wiser and their road behaviour becomes excellent. They are so refined drivers that they don’t venture out on the streets of Delhi without a driver.

Most of the foreigners I interview, the first think they remark about Delhi is the traffic scenario and the way Delhi drivers drive. In fact I met Dave Parry once, who is the guy behind the light and sound system and the Buttkicker Bodysonic Dance floor of Elevate at Noida. He is from UK and out of the two hours I spent with him, half an hour conversation was on the traffic scene and Delhi’s errant drivers. He was staying in Moti Bagh and for him driving everyday to Noida was a complete adventure full of stories.

I remember another classmate of mine Lokesh. He stays in Karol Bagh and was born and brought up there only. He was a typical Delhi driver ten years back and was an expert in zig-zag driving. I met him this February once and there’s a sea change in him. He was a guy who never had a habit of walking. Even to go from Khalsa College till SRCC, he used to always take his car. I met him in Karol Bagh market and he was on his way to a bank in Old Rajinder Nagar. I thought as usual he’d take out his car. But I was taken aback when he started a long discourse on the way Delhiites drive and how difficult it is for him now to drive on these roads again. He didn’t forget to remind me of how mad he was the way he used to drive earlier. He preferred walking the entire one-and-a-half kilometre stretch. How I just wish all Delhiites were like Lokesh.

2005-08-28T15:10:00.000+05:30

I received a mail from Ankush Bansal who says that; “We had sent a request on July 7 to Jt CP (Traffic) regarding removal of red light and close the cut of the road divider at Sultanpuri crossing on NH-10 in order to ease traffic flow at NH 10 in Nangloi. Still no action has been taken until now.”

According to him the crossing serves no useful purpose on a National Highway. His reasons are -:

1. DTC buses no longer use this cut on the road divider anymore. All bus routes going to and fro from the Sultanpuri road have been closed. Thus this cut serves no purpose now.

2. There is no use of having two traffic signals within 90 metres on a National Highway. One major traffic signal is at the Najafgarh crossing and one small signal is just 90 metres away at Sultanpuri chowk. The Sultanpuri Chowk traffic signal causes unnecessary traffic congestion and thus should be closed.

3. The volume of the traffic on the crossing is very little. Primarily cycle rickshaws, push carts and two-wheelers use the crossing. They dont follow traffic rules and thus contribute towards traffic congestion and also are a danger to the vehicles plying on the National Highway.

4. With the closure of the cut, this traffic can easily use Najafgarh crossing on one side and the U-turn 150 metres down the road on the other side towards Peeragarhi crossing.

5. The closure of the cut will ease traffic congestion at Nangloi and result in better and controlled traffic movement.

The application says, “It is further suggested to close the existing verge near the LCD garbage bin 150 metres from Sultanpuri crossing (towards Peeragarhi) and a broad U-turn may be provided on the Central Verge further 100 metres down in front of Surajmal Stadium where the road is broader. This would smoothen the traffic flow and result in further decongestion of the area.”

Well, Ankush the procedure of closing these cuts and removing signals is a long one and takes a bit of time. I have again forwarded your application to Joint CP (Traffic). The closure of cuts takes political colour also sometimes as the local MLAs and MPs intervene. I remember on New Rohtak Road a cut had to be opened after it was closed since the area residents objected to it and asked their area MLA to intervene on this matter although just a hundred metres away there was another cut. So the cops take all these decisions judiciously and carefully.

2005-08-23T15:09:00.000+05:30

I received a mail from MM Lal who writes, “The road leading towards Green park T-point (opposite UPHAAR Cinema) from Siri Fort red light crossing has three to four intersections. One immediately after the redlight of Siri Fort which is one of the entry point to enter GULMOHAR PARK and second one is a left turn towards Hauz Khas and immediately after there is right turn towards Gulmohar enclave/Gulmohar park/Gautam Nagar/Niti Bagh/Uday Park, etc. (This point is a bone of contention) When people negotiate the right turn from this point they simply come on the left hand side of the road which usually creates a traffic jam and I think personally this is the tendency of every body in Delhi that they don’t bother about their lane and simply try to jump the lane and come to the wrong lane which creates a traffic jam.

“The reason behind this jam is that the divider on this road is slightly too short which makes people take a right turn too early. I would suggest that this divider is extended at least five to ten yards more so that people taking right turn do not get into the traffic jam and vice versa the people coming from other side also can take left or right turn without any problem.

“I made this suggestions to the various traffic policemen standing on this intersection but to no avail. I hope this message will be of some help. Generally it is the tendency of every motorist in Delhi to overtake from the wrong side that too with continuos use of pressure horns till they get the side. Although we drive on the left side of the road but we observe the laws as if we drive on the right side of the road. In these circumstances those who want to drive correctly as per the rules of driving look like jokers.

“As per the ruling from the Delhi High Court recently that all the speed breakers should be removed from Delhi Roads. But unfortunately what has happened is that the speed breakers are being removed but what is left behind is a big pit, which is more dangerous than the speed breaker. Moreover, not all the speed breakers have been removed there are some which are still there in the Gulmohar Park area.”

The problem is Delhi drivers drive according to their convenience. They are the ones who will shout at others when they get struck due to some other person’s fault but won’t think twice when they themselves commit traffic offence. I have been constantly advocating that Delhi drivers should imbibe some civility into them. Only then we’ll free flowing traffic. Regarding speed breakers, I think it is temporary and the civic authorities will smoothen it with passage of time.

2005-08-22T15:08:00.000+05:30

I received a letter from Sat Paul Arora who is a resident of Ashok Vihar. He writes, “I read the sad state of affairs in Janpath Lane and such things happen in many parts of Delhi. Take for example Ashok Vihar. I wonder sometimes that people sitting at the helm of affairs do not foresee such bottlenecks even in long-term point of view. The planners are not visionary enough. Take for example the entry road to Ashok Vihar from Mont Forte School. Right from Mont Forte School till the school at D block, this road is a mess. All the schools are located on this road and during the morning and afternoon, road gets blocked. Traffic is simply worse here as school buses are parked on both sides of the road. The presence of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, cycle-rickshaws, vans and taxis make this road a deadly zone where mishaps happen frequently. None from Traffic Police goes there to control and regulate traffic here, as jams are a common sight. I just request traffic police to depute traffic personnel to regulate traffic during the opening and closing of the schools to avoid major mishap as without them situation is worse.”

The problem with schools in residential locality is a big problem. I think the traffic police should ask the schools to have staggered timings so that the dispersal of students is in a way, which doesn’t affect the residents.

Meanwhile, long time back Avinash Rajput had given a traffic suggestion to either remove median/partition or provide speed breaker or yellow line on both sides of the Shakurbasti overhead Railway Bridge in between Britannia and Punjabi Bagh Flyovers. He sent me a mail again saying, “This hasn’t been done although the traffic inspector met me and took the suggestion from me. This was covered by you last year in July. I just request the traffic police to do something about it.” I just hope the traffic cops help resolve this issue.

2005-08-21T15:08:00.000+05:30

I received a mail from Roy Manohar who writes, “It was nice to read your article on suggestion that road safety to be taught to kids. I would like to elaborate a bit more on this subject and I hope this would be read by some of the big brass our esteemed police force.

“Taking a positive view of the traffic situation, I would recommend the Traffic Department organize a Traffic Awareness Month. This method is adopted in foreign countries. During this whole month, police force is deployed in most of the signals and behaves very friendly.

“They inform the offenders very politely on the mistakes that are done and give them necessary inputs how to avoid them in the future.

“Adding a bit more activity during this awareness month, I would like to put a few more things that they can follow:
1. TV media can be used to graphically depict the traffic rules
2. Schools/Institutes to be provided with lectures and demonstrations of how to stick to disciplined traffic regulations. Also, teach how students can be morals to their parents by asking their parents to follow traffic rules.
School bus drivers (who are the frequent rule breakers) to be advised how they should be an example to the students who travel in their vehicles.
3. All Govt and Private companies or organizations need to be educated on traffic rules by giving lectures and demonstrations. Respective companies HRD department should be given all information to emphasize strict discipline by their employees (including their big bosses).

“Once, this is completed, the cops can go on spree of catching the offenders. But, all well said and done, unless the very basic attitude of our fellow citizens is changed by their internal conscience, it is very difficult.”

I fully agree with you Manohar regarding educating people with basic traffic rules. The Delhi Traffic Police does celebrate Road Safety Week, but your suggestion regarding celebrating Traffic Awareness Month is good. I think for one month the cops should go on a drive to teach all road users including the pedestrians to follow traffic rules and the rest eleven months go on filling up Home Ministry’s coffers without any guilt feeling. I also would like to add that the transport department should be very strict in issuing driving licence. The schools should encourage in teaching children traffic awareness. They should have books on traffic education in the library. One of the few books available in the market is “Safe Driving” by Hubert Ebner (011-30961359-60). This is the best available manual on traffic and rules of the road. Regarding understanding rules of transport department, the best book is “The Perfect Motoring” by Anil Chhikara (Published by Satya Prakashan – 25725679/25720653).

2005-08-18T15:07:00.000+05:30

Rajnish Singh mailed me. He says, “I have been reading your column with great interest for the last so many months, appreciating the fact that there is at least one newspaper which is pin-pointing the concern of the common man and the road shows.

“Further to your article of August 11, I indeed agree with Harpreet Gill and would like to point out a very simple fact which we all see, ignore and move on. I am not talking about the biggest (albeit in relative terms) follies committed by biggies but by the law enforcers themselves. Have you ever noticed the PCR Vans, which are plying on the roads with the drivers and co-drivers on the front seats without bothering to wear their seat belts? I can challenge anybody if he/she can bring me a photograph of one of them following the rule of wearing the seat belt. Leave apart the drivers; even the seniors occupying the front seat do not bother to use their seat belts. Same goes with the vehicles from Defence. Their occupants feel it is their prerogative to decide and that they can easily get away with these violations and in fact they do.

“The reason for pointing out is that the law enforcers need to practice what they preach. If they have joined the forces, they should serve without any fear or personal motives. This is precisely the reason why our country can never progress at the pace, which we should in fact do. You mentioned about one transfer - imagine if all the cops on the road start behaving strictly, how many transfers would be there? This inappropriate means of punishing the right and honest will immediately stop.

“Though I have very little hope that we are likely to see the situation improve in our country (at least in the near future), I once again appreciate your efforts in bringing the issues to the notice of all.”

I agree with your views but I have noticed that most officers from traffic police make it a point to wear belts and obey rules. On the contrary, most of the Traffic Inspectors don’t wear seat belts while travelling. I think they should be the one to lead the way and show the way to the rest of police force by obeying rules. There is one Traffic Inspector who is so particular about following rules that he has even bought a small helmet for his three-year-old son. And whenever he rides his bike, he ensures that his son wears the helmet. He says, “Traffic education should be given right from childhood so that when my son grows up, obeying traffic rules will be in his blood and he would never flout them.” I just wish the rest of the force also thinks the same.

2005-08-17T15:06:00.000+05:30

I received a mail from Avinash Rajput who writes, “I have been passing through the T-point at Agrasen Road, Pitampura and have been observing road accidents regularly at the aforesaid point. Lot of accidents happen here and no traffic policeman is posted at this T-point on Agrasen Road, Pitampura. In this way people do not care for traffic rules while crossing at this point.

“I met with an accident on August 1, 2005 while I was driving my scooter (DL 8S J 3960) on the particular road and sustained multiple injuries when a car (DL 1C B 7803) which was driven by the owner/driver rashly, negligently and at a very fast speed hit me and ran away. An FIR No. 647 dated 3.8.2005 under Sections 279/337 IPC PS Shalimar Bagh was lodged by me and the Police Post, Pitampura has neither tracked the said offending vehicle nor the driver/owner till date.

“May I therefore, request the Delhi Traffic Police to depute some traffic cop at the aforesaid point or provide traffic signals to avoid any future accident.”

A few months back I received a similar complaint by a lady whose aunt was severely injured in a hit-and-run case at the same location. At that time she was battling for life in Safdarjung Hospital. Actually her relatives wanted my help in tracing the vehicle. But I was helpless in helping them as none had noted the number. Actually there are lot of spots in Delhi where a traffic constable is not required to regulate traffic but his presence is required only to check the speeding vehicles. I think traffic police should earmark these spots and deploy constables so as to check such speeding vehicles. It will do a lot good to check such accidents.

2005-08-16T15:04:00.000+05:30

2005-08-10T15:03:00.000+05:30

I received a mail from Harpreet Gill who has raised a very pertinent point regarding Kanwariya movement in the city. Although it is a bit late but I strongly feel something should be done to avert all kind of inconvenience to road users in Delhi next year. He writes, “Read your article on the Kanwariyas. I have a question to ask; do you really think that these political big wigs would allow the Delhi Police do anything. It is their vote bank. Votes in the name of religion! Even if the Police would want to control these political leaders will not let it happen.

“Things will be worst next year. Secondly read the figures of Delhi Police about the challaning of the motorists about the dark films. How many Political Leaders have they challaned? Any figures? I bet none and what about the official cars used by the IAS, IPS, Defence personnal etc, has anyone challened them or the traffic police has no guts to do it, they can only stop common man and prosecute them and then show figures to the press to come into the limelight to impress there superiors.

“They should start with their own vehicles. You for yourself see on the Delhi roads how many police vehicles have dark tinted glasses. Leave aside the political leaders and there chamchas. Well I guess someday things will change with efforts from people like you. I wish you all the very best on the good job done because I am sure it does affect the authorities.”

Well, I really want Delhiites to think and raise their voices about Kanwariya issue next year. The problem is they don’t even walk on the dedicated path that was made by cops on NH 8. They want to walk on the middle of the road. It was an accident that I saw on NH8 that prompted me to write about the issue of Kanwariyas in my column. Actually while on my way to Gurgaon, I saw a collision between a scooterist and a Kanwariya. An accident which could have been easily avoided had he been walking on the designated lane. Instead, he had decided to walk on the main road and not on the barricaded lane and it was dark. None could help it. Regarding the challaning of police vehicles, well, I would say “No Comment”.

Just few months back a sub inspector challaned a private vehicle of a Deputy Commissioner of Police and guess what? Poor soul got transferred! Now you can imagine the fruits of challaning biggies.

2005-08-09T15:03:00.000+05:30

S.M. Hussain has responded to US Rana’s suggestion carried in my column on Monday. He writes, “I read with keen interest Mr. Rana's suggestion for strict implementation of traffic laws. I think it is impossible to implement any law in any country unless people abide by it and cooperate. It is impossible to post traffic police everywhere to enforce rules. Basically, we have to inculcate the habit of obeying traffic rules among children.

“Parents and teachers play a major role in this regard. The Delhi Government should make it compulsory to teach traffic rules in all private and public schools in Delhi. Schools have physical and moral education periods, library periods, hobby classes etc., once in a week. But unfortunately, no time is devoted to teach traffic rules.

“Schools undertake excursions and educational trips to far away places. But they hesitate to send their students to learn traffic rules at Traffic Training Parks run by the Delhi Police because of lack of infrastructure or time. Delhi Traffic Police should have regular visits to schools to teach children in their formative years to respect traffic laws. After all, these kids grow up to obey rules and regulations.

“Some parents feel proud when they see their fifth standard child make an attempt to drive a car. They encourage the children to learn driving at an early age. There are many cases where the parents get fake driving licences from other states for their school going kids. These kids are responsible for rash and negligent driving and accidents. The police should prosecute any student driving a vehicle in school uniform because he is under-aged.

“Parents strictly prohibit children to drive vehicles below eighteen years old. Media can also play a very important role by regularly featuring programmes on safe driving. Unless people make a pledge on this Independence Day not to drive fast, rash or over-take the other vehicles from wrong-side, not to park in no parking zones, jump red-lights, stop dangerous driving, respect the fellow drivers and religiously follow traffic rules any amount of book rules won’t help to curb accidents.”

Long time back I had written about the same thing in my column. I was once speaking to K.S. Bedi, a retired ACP from the road safety cell of traffic police. He told me that they do a lot of lectures regarding road etiquettes in schools, but he feels that until and unless it is not made a permanent subject at the primary school level, these lectures don’t help that much. I too feel strongly for it and wish road safety were being taught as a subject at the Primary school level.

2005-08-07T15:02:00.000+05:30

I received a fax from U.S. Rana, a resident of Vasant Vihar and and one of the senior members of the Delhi Gymkhana Club. He has a piece of advice for the Ministry of Home Affairs. He writes, “We need a full time Commissioner of Police (Traffic) for the National Capital Region of Delhi and who else but Kiran Bedi is perfect for the job. The only ‘Kiran’ of hope for the hopeless traffic in Delhi is still around somewhere. She can bring some discipline in Delhi drivers. Let us get her back before it is too late.”

A noble suggestion but let’s see whether the MHA will listen to the plea. However, there’s some development in Delhi Traffic Police right now. Former high profile DCP (Traffic) M.S. Upadhaye has been shifted to Delhi now from Arunachal Pradesh and Commissioner K.K. Paul is keen on making him the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic). This post is a newly created one.

Rana further writes, “We have the best and perhaps the largest number of Rules and Laws about traffic and safety on the road. However, the road users don’t follow them and the cops don’t enforce the law completely. They prosecute selectively. The government-owned white ambassador cars are never challaned. Something should be done regarding this.”

Dear Mr Rana, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Qamar Ahmed has issued strict instructions now to the traffic cops regarding prosecuting vehicles. He has directed the traffic policemen to ensure that vehicles carrying Applied For (A/F) or temporary registration numbers do not go scot-free and are prosecuted. These vehicles can even be impounded as per law.

In view of the forthcoming Independence Day activities and ceremonies, the Delhi Traffic Police will now be focusing its attention against triple riding on two wheelers, over speeding by all types of vehicles and checking of documents of the vehicles.

He has also directed the traffic cops to check the authenticity of the labels put on the windscreens or the body of the vehicles. It has been found that many vehicles have been displaying various types of stickers on their vehicles e.g. Doctors, Lawyers, Journalists, Police etc to communicate to various sections of society, including the Traffic policemen that these people are above law. Those found misusing any sticker will be dealt with under the various provisions of law and handed over to local police, if need be for initiating legal action.

So dear Delhiites be on your guard!

2005-08-03T15:00:00.000+05:30

It’s just a matter of one more day and traffic woes will be over. Tomorrow (Friday) will be the last day and then you don’t have to bother much about Kanwariyas. You can drive around freely in Delhi. Otherwise they are such a terror in the name of religion. It looks to me more of a fashion statement rather then religious sentiments. Otherwise one won’t see hockey sticks in the hands of people accompanying Kanwariyas managing traffic. At least in Delhi the cops should check them. Those people look more of goons rather than devotees. I saw one of those self-proclaimed saffron-clad minders on the road on Tuesday in south Delhi.

There was only one car, which was carrying the holy water and rest of the guys were dancing ahead. They already had occupied one whole lane. These guys carrying hockey sticks and hurling it at vehicles plying on the road occupied the other lane. They were walking on the main road as if they were the kings of the road and didn‘t even hesitate banging the sticks to the buses, which came close to the group. Because of them only one lane was left for vehicles to ply. And considering it was happening during evening peak hours, there was utmost chaos on the road. Obviously cops were watching the melee as mute spectators as they also cannot raise a finger at them.

I think cops should learn some lessons from this and draft a proper code of conduct for these Kanwariyas. And next year when they have meeting with Kanwar association of Delhi for the arrangement, they should give it to the organisers and ask them to ensure discipline on roads. This is the only way out otherwise we Delhiites will only remain mute spectators to this barbaric attitude on Delhi roads.

Meanwhile, action on tinted glasses continues. According to Delhi Traffic Police’s press release, “Dark film used by motorist on the window screen and windowpanes of their vehicles have remained the focus of Delhi Traffic Police for the last two weeks. Over 9,535 motorists have been prosecuted out of which films of more than 5,885 have been removed during the last week alone. So far about 37,399 motorists have been prosecuted this year for using dark films on their vehicles.

2005-08-02T15:00:00.000+05:30

Rajinder Arora mailed me telling the pathetic state of affairs at Janpath Lane. He says,“As a regular reader of TODAY, I have often read your column about the pathetic state of traffic in our city and equally callous and indifferent attitude of motorists and vehicle owners - large number of whom happen to be educated people. Through your column I wish you drew the attention of authorities towards a hellhole called the entry to Janpath Lane. You may not be very familiar with this not-so-famous road/lane that runs parallel to main Janpath from behind the Indian Oil Building right up to the end of Janpath Hotel (rear exit). The point of entry I am mentioning here is from next to the Yatri Niwas Hotel on Ashok Road roundabout.

“As you enter Janpath Lane at this point, on your left are six shops of the local shopping centre, facing which is a Mother Dairy booth, next to which is (so claimed) authorised taxi stand of yellow top taxis. This is a point of entry for all those working at Hotel Asian International, Janpath Hotel, Thapar House, part of Kerala House and almost entire work force of Imperial Hotel.

“This entry point has become a free parking lot for all the DLY and DLZ cars of the surrounding areas, Auto's whose drivers find it an easy niche to have their cuppa, white ambassador cars of the various officials of government of India - whose drivers come here for their brunch or a nap. Unmindful of the vehicles that have to cross this stretch - all these vehicles park themselves on both sides virtually leaving just enough space for one car to pass at a time. The trucks of cold-drink companies, bottled water dispensers and tempo loads of vegetables and groceries throw in their lot too, to add up to the chaos.

“The shops here have extended their wares on the road upto 6-8 feet; while the pan wallah, the barber, the newspaper stand, the ice cream cart and the even a roadside bone doctor-cum-masseur have appropriated their spaces. On the other side where the Lane meets the Ashok Road, a row of Auto Rickshaws comfortably park themselves at the bend making that turning very dangerous and a blocking point.

“This Lane, at its farthest end would not be more than 500 meters from the head-quarters of NDMC and the main Parliament Police Station and one wonders - do all these officers who pass this place day-after-day go by here blind-folded. The worst is when one or more PCR vehicles also come in and park themselves here for tea break; as if throwing their weight with the rogues around.

“P.S. The other claim-to-fame this lane has is that of being the vantage point from where an old-lady was witness to the barbaric Tandoor Kand.”

It’s a multi-layered problem. Since it’s a service lane so hotel guys will use it. You can’t stop them. Then the taxi drivers find a nice haven to park their vehicles, as there is no halting space for them. The halt and go policy will only come into force once the new taxi policy comes in. Since there are so many vehicles parked on that lane, tea shops, etc are doing a brisk business. Now role of local cops and NDMC officials, too come into play here. They get their cut from these small shops on pavements. As far as traffic police is concerned, they are too busy managing the traffic of the main arterial roads of Connaught Place. Vehicle population has grown by leaps and bounds; I don’t know what will happen in the next six years. It will only make the condition worse. The only thing that we can do is adjust to the conditions. To tell you frankly I have to sometimes struggle to enter my own house. There’s an office in my basement and the bikes and scooters of those employees block are parked in such a way that they block the whole entry. One can do little about them. I can agree that one struggles to find a parking space for cars, but for bikes, there is ample of space provided around my lane. But it’s a matter of convenience for these people and they want their bikes parked right in front of the gate. It’s just the matter of proper civic sense, but some ain’t have them.

2005-08-01T14:59:00.000+05:30

I received a mail from Subhash Mehta who says, “I retired as an engineer from Delhi Vidyut Board in the year 2001after about 35 years of service. I am 64 years old now. I have been driving two wheelers since 1989 in Delhi. I had a Delhi driving licence, which was issued to me by Transport Authority, Rajpur Road in the year 1989. I lost my driving licence somewhere and I forgot to retain copy of the same. I tried my level best to get it traced from the Transport Authority office but all in vain. Then I decided to apply afresh for the licence. When I went to get a Learner’s licence from Ashok Vihar Transport Authority office they refused to issue me the same on medical grounds since I had a little limp in my right leg. I asked for the way I could get my driving licence but they flatly refused to guide even. Can you help me for issue of a driving licence?”

Well, I understand your situation but I am extremely helpless. Until and unless you get a medical certificate clearance you won’t be given a fresh licence. And Delhi is very strict with issuing driving licenses. I know lot of people can drive with some medical deformities but rules are rules and cannot be broken.

Few days back I mentioned in my column SM Hussain’s letter regarding the rotary at Mehrauli-Badarpur road, which has now been converted into a traffic intersection. Hussain had said that the traffic police haven’t installed the traffic signals. I received a reply from Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Qamar Ahmed saying, “This rotary on Mehrauli - Badarpur Road was converted into an intersection on the initiative of Delhi Traffic Police. The process of installation of a traffic signal at this intersection is also on.” I hope the signals are installed soon so as to give some relief to traffic there.

2005-07-31T14:58:00.000+05:30

The Delhi Traffic Police is busy catching motorists driving vehicles having tinted glasses on rear and side windows. Until 28 July the cops have prosecuted a total of 31,196 motorists for using dark glasses.

On July 26, 27 and 28, they prosecuted 3,886 motorists for having tinted films on the rear and side window screens in their vehicles. The cops even got removed films from 2,640 vehicles during those days.

According to a Delhi Traffic Police release, “It is reiterated that window screens of the motor vehicles should be absolutely transparent. Delhi Traffic Police will continue this drive against such vehicles having dark/black/reflective films and get them removed, besides prosecution at the spot.”

In fact Ajit from Noida called me to ask whether there is any complaint number of Delhi Traffic Police where one could lodge a complaint of any traffic offenses. He was specific about reporting about vehicles using tinted glasses. I spoke to Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Qamar Ahmed and he said that one could always call the 24-hour Traffic Help line number 23378888 and lodge a complaint there.

So next time you see a car having tinted glasses you can always call the Delhi Traffic Police help line number to register a complaint.

2005-07-27T14:57:00.000+05:30

I received a mail from SM Hussain who writes, “The round-about at Pul Pahladpur near Suraj Apartments and opposite to the Railway Reservation Office, has been demolished a couple of months back to ease traffic congestion. So far no action has been taken by the authorities to fix traffic signals in its place. As a result of this heavy traffic jams and accidents are happening day in and day out.

“With no signals, vehicles move in all directions without any traffic police manning them. Continuing with 'round-abouts', there was a time, Delhi had maximum number of them instead of traffic-signals. These round-abouts look beautiful with shrubs, green grass, fountains etc., and add beauty to the city roads. Some of the well maintained round-abouts are still found in the diplomatic area (Chankyapuri) and opposite to the Teen Murti Bhawan where the density of traffic is relatively less. But with the increase in traffic, these round-abouts have become redundant and they have been replaced with traffic signals for smooth flow of traffic.

“Multiplicity of authorities like Delhi Police, MCD, CPWD, Road Research Organisation etc., are involved in removing round-abouts and replacing them with traffic signals. Traffic is going to increase many-fold in coming years and traffic jams are going to become a daily routine especially during peak hours if these round-abouts are not replaced with proper traffic signals.”

Even in Chandigarh, some of the beautiful roundabouts have given way to traffic signals. But only at places where there is a heavy movement of traffic. However, in Delhi too few rotaries were changed into traffic signals. But personally I feel that rotaries do a good job provided the traffic police man it. The problem is lot of Delhi drivers don’t follow the traffic rules. Hence jams occur.

According to Delhi Traffic Police, the general principles for the 'right of way' in the Traffic system followed in India are:-
(i) The vehicle on one's right side gets the priority.
(ii) The vehicle on the main road gets priority over the vehicle entering from a side road and
(iii) The vehicle already on the rotary gets priority over the vehicle entering the rotary.

At each roundabout the right of way is that of the vehicles which is already in the roundabout and the vehicle, which is yet to enter must come to a halt, give way to traffic on its right which is already in the roundabout and then only proceed to enter.
I hope if everybody follows this norm, one would have a smoother flow of traffic in the roundabouts.

2005-07-26T14:56:00.000+05:30

Recently, the Delhi government released its statistical handbook and according to it in Delhi there are 42,36,675 registered vehicles in 2003-2004. According to it there were 39,70,870 registered vehicles in 2002-03. Which means 2,65,805 vehicles were added in 365 days and on an average 728 vehicles are added every day. I think I am in a wrong business. Should have been an automobile dealer.

Anyways, let’s get down to business now. I received a mail from Harsh Baluja. He is a resident of New Moti Nagar and is facing traffic problems. Actually one of the most harassed lot are residents of Moti nagar area, as due to the Metro construction, they are facing lot of problems.

He writes, “I am residing in New Moti Nagar area of West Delhi and would like to draw your kind attention to the increasing traffic congestion and vehicular movement in this residential area caused by auto dealers and outside vehicles.

“Around 2-3 years back, this auto market was active only on the main road & around Milan Cinema and Karam Pura Commercial Complex. Now they have started encroaching into residential blocks and almost all entry points are blocked by them.

“The worst part is, they are also doing maintenance, test-drive, denting, painting & spray work, which is not only causing air pollution but also may lead to various health hazards. Every time they are marching into the residential area making noise pollution & spreading smoke. These residential houses are now being converted into Auto Showrooms & Maintenance Centres, thus, parking their commercial vehicles on main passage & in front of houses, causing road block & traffic congestion.

“The outside vehicles are also using now colony roads for reaching Karam Pura Commercial Complex instead of main passage road, which is resulting into massive traffic jams, earlier all vehicles were taking the road adjacent to Fire Brigade & HIL Colony.

“To curb this traffic mess, I take this liberty to suggest following steps:
1. Restrict entry of outside vehicles by placing barriers & gates at all entry points.
2. Restrict auto dealers & auto service centres, not to use colony roads for any kind of repair, maintenance & test drive of autos.
3. Allow only one entry point for vehicles going to commercial complex through Milan Cinema road.”

I think the suggestions are good and can be easily implemented. These roadside automobile mechanics inside colonies are a real menace. I have forwarded the suggestions to the concerned authority. I hope they implement it soon.