Rajdhani

Situated between the Yamuna and the Arawali is the ancient capital of Sahajahen's Kingdom. The city has been the capital of the country for a hundred years now. This city, Delli, as it is more commonly called, is now my refuge.

My new 'nest' is amid the many embassies, in a locality where there are more dogs, watchmen and servants than landlords! Its a part of Delhi where blue plated cars and Porches' are a commonplace. Its a locality where the who's - who of Delhi live. Yet, in this part of Delhi, believe me, where you see the unemployed men tarry the lanes of the locality. It is also in this locality, I hear, the Nigerian drug racquet's run!  And there is so much more to learn!

During my first outing around Delhi, I was tempted to have my all time favourite - pav bhaji. The spelling should have alarmed me, but it did not. It so happened that I ordered 'pao' bhaji - and that was what I got. The 'pao' was the bread that is usually served with burgers. 'Oh', was all I could manage. As I had the first bite of my 'pao' bhaji, the potatoes cooked in tomato puree, made me say 'Oh no!'.

A new lesson was learnt in the rajdhani. In Rome do as the Romans do! In Delhi, the pav bhaji be damned, have channa bhatura instead!