Delhi Diaries- A hazy morning, a very warm afternoon and a wonderful evening...

Delhi, Skeeter's city (ok ok yours too) can churn up the most surprising moods. Skeeter was going through the archives and found these pictures. Reflected back on when and why these were shot. The answer are here.
One morning, Skeeter woke up to a hazy sky. It'd rain soon. This happens many a times...The weather goes bad and you are cribbing and cribbing and some more when one morning you wake up to this:

A dhaba near the old office in central Delhi served AWESOME alu paranthas. With mixed achar (pickle they call it), makhan (Skeeter won't call it butter here) and a big dollop of dahi (yoghurt you know it as :P )An evening when you can have elaichi chai with the self would find you somewhere near a nice bamboo swing when the rays of the sun bid adieu to you by kissing the cuppa with their warm glow.

They say Delhi is rough. They say the people are ruthless. They say Delhi is this. They say Delhi is that.To Skeeter Delhi is warm, caring and a lot more. It is her beloved city.

P.S.: Work's getting crazier but Skeeter is fighting for the time to write here...She wins!

T-ea and words bind the world...

Activity has seen a slump following the footsteps of recession...
Brush, bathe drink, eat, work, surf, eat, drink sleep and again...
This mantra is being chanted in the strictest meaning of the word 'rhythm' everyday...
The cycle was broken this morning as Skeets sat down to read blogs with sips from a cup of Elaichi T-ea held between her palms...
There had been a slump in blogsville as well or so Skeets thinks...
Today it was noticed that most blogs on the blogroll are brimming with activity again...
There are friends who like to share about daily happenings in their lives and those around, about life as they see it, about cribs, about happiness, about their travails...
The one thing that is common in all blogs is words...
It took Skeeter those words from ALL of YOUR blogs to write here...
Skeeter is happiest when she scribbles...
She is also a very happy girl when she sips T-ea...
If beverages could be called enticing, T-ea would top the list...
Delhi is burning, what with the mercury crossing the dreaded 40-degrees mark...
It also means even less of the solo sojourns on foot to the places in Delhi where Skeeter finds her peace...
Those walks around the Kuchas and Gallis of Chandni Chowk are missed...
Those conversations with random Delhiites selling street food on how they make the stuff they sell are being fondly remembered...
Skeeter will not let the heat tie her down...
She MUST start visiting her beloved places again..SOON!
Also, Skeeter would like to introduce you to 30on30.net, an initiative by a friend who is trying to make a difference to a few lives around us...Skeeter had been meaning to put this link up here since long...But then it is never too late...
cheers!

Kasauli-Chail diary dusted, unwrapped...

Underneath piles of pending work, sat calmly, a pretty little diary, waiting patiently to be unwrapped...

In it, were etched in ink, the memoirs of Skeeter's travails to Kasauli and Chail from the tenth month of the year two thousand and eight.

This was a three-day family trip with the base of stay being Kasauli, which is a cantonment town located in Solan, Himachal Pradesh.

The journey was completed in approximately 6-7 hours from Delhi via car enroute Chandigarh-Kalka-Shimla.

Having passed through these busy towns, reaching Kasauli was a welcome relief. From the moment, the road-sign 'Kasauli' was read, there was a dramatic fall in the number of homo sapiens seen around. It does good to the soul at times :-)

Day 1 was dedicated to saying friendly hullos to the cold air, a climb to the manki point and a stroll down the tibetan market. A hearty and filling evening spread followed.

Legend goes that Kasauli came into being when Hanumanji, on his way to getting the life-saving Sanjivani booti for Lakshman, stepped here for jumping on to the Sanjeevani hill. And the place where Lord Hanuman is rested his feet came to be known as Manki point (also called monkey point). The point is situated on a hillock, and is quite a climb for those who are not in good form :P
Skeets or for that matter nobody was allowed to take their cameras or cellphones to the Manki point as there is an airforce station just below the manki point. Initially Skeets was sad. But when Skeets reached atop the hillock she was glad. For now she could concentrate on enjoying the super cool breeze :-) It cleansed the mind of any and every trace of stress.
Day 2 was marked for a luncheon at Chail Palace which is downtown. Thank to Pa's pro hill-driving skills, the car and the family returned without any scratches, for the roads that led to Chail were so narrow that Skeets is amazed till date, how all that tricky driving was managed.

The picturesque drive lasted 1.5 hours.

Deodars, pines and rhododendron trees make the drive majestic.

The palace was eerily calm. One keeper of the gate, no visitors in vicinity and sprawling but silent lawns greeted us.

The entrance to the palace donned a grand chandelier and the reception was unmanned.

The Palace now owned by the HPTDC, was once the residence of Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh, who had made Chail his summer capital.

It was a relief to see the dining hall filled with few guests.A Himachali lunch was called for. Himachali kadi, chole, some greens with himachali wadiyan, prefectly boiled rice and a few more dishes that Skeeter is forgetting.

A very satiating meal it was. Dessert followed.

What we missed: visiting the Chail cricket ground which is touted to be the highest in the world and doubles up as a polo ground as well.

Then the drive back to Kasauli began. The trees had the most vividly coloured climbers which almost made the entire valley look as if it was an illustration straight out of a fairy tale book. Barely five minutes after the drive started we were greeted by a gang of Langoors. Sigh* couldn't click them.

On way back Skeets noticed the following population density signs of towns that fell on the way from Chail to Shimla. Just imagine if you live in such low-density place. I'd call it heaven :-)
Mahog - 74

Sakori - 136

Dinit - 29

Shilru - 408

Machine- 234 (Yes that is the name of a place)

Sainj -146

Kotla -84

Enroute we noticed the Kasauli Brewery touted to be the world's highest again. Also saw the mushroom farming area. These two along with a ride on the Kalka-Shimla toy-train (world heritage) remain on the top of the agenda for the next visit whenever it happens.

Day 3: To Chandigarh briefly and back.

Enjoyed the evening in the Kasauli tibetan market eating corn on cob, noodles and what not :-)

Those things they do!

Aloha!!!

Awfully long breaks Skeeter takes at times. Eh?

This time she's back with a comtemporary story.
There lives a girl who madly badly wanted to watch the Oscar winning movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

She waits for a much awaited holiday from work and goes all by herself to see the movie and purchases a ticket.

Upon purchasing the ticket, a few moments are spent in getting frisked at the movie theatre.

That done, the wait for the theatre to open its gates begins.

Nachos and cardamom tea are purchased. The girl turns around from the snacks counter to see the theatre doors open for entry and ushers in.

She seats herself on the assigned seat (passage one as she had requested), and the movie begins.

40 minutes into the movie, and her cellphone rings.

An unusual call from a usual number.

The serene mood changes into that of ghastly disbelief.

She rushes out of the theatre to talk to the person who had called.

On talking she realises that she had wrongly presumed a working day to be a holiday and would have to rush to office that very moment.

That girl, dear readers, is none other than:
Reeta Skeeter

Still

Click on the image for a larger, better view
Just felt like posting this here :)

CAUGHT laughing (red-handed)!!!

Ojas tagged Skeets, and Skeets TWISTED the tag :D
According to the original tag Skeets was to write 10 random things about the self. Skeety is writing only one.
Now, this is something not so random about the self, but has been crossing the mind for a post here: Skeets LAUGHS like there's no tomorrow when she is in front of the computer.
If we were to study in school at this age we'd perhaps be asked to write an essay on My Computer. Haha. Okay okay Skeets knows she is a two hundred and fifty eight year old, and is not supposed to attend school. But then, studies can never be complete. One learns all through life. Muggles may differ (laughs out loud wickedly).
Comes back to the POP=Point of the Post.
Well, Skeets has been caught laughing in front of the computer like N number of times by mommy dearest as well as other members of the family.
Skeets has also been declared insane. The reason being some equally insane friends who pop-up on the Instant Messenger windows with some of the whackiest lines possible.
Or perhaps, a fellow-blogger's post would make Skeets go khi khi khi:)
Ditto with the mobile phone. One funny MASS SMS as well call it from the funny bunch of friends or a message meant just for Skeets and you can find her laughing out loud in a public place for something like 300 seconds (5 minutes). And what follows ofcourse are some uncalled-for stares. Does Skeets care? Nah! Democratic is the country she lives in :) Laughter de-stresses like anything. :)
In the first open-ended post here...Skeets wants to ask all the readers a question:

Do you LAUGH when someone says something funny on Instant Messengers or SMS-es
---Or do you just chuckle
---Or do you say LOL but do not really laugh?
Shout out! And yeah keep laughing :D

The mystery of Thums Up TASTE THE THUNDER!

Crazy nights!
Eh!
Forcing Skeets to post about food at Reeta's Ruminations instead of DFZ.
No probbies.
Both are cuties.
Skeets returned home from work.
HUNGRY.
THE dinner box which couldn't be had at work was opened @ home.
Gobhi (cauliflower) paranthas (Indian bread)...
No, actually Skeets had half of the two allotted to her :P
These, hogged, standing at midnight on the kitchen shelf.
Ok Skeets was not standing.
The plate was sitting on shelf.
Skeets was standing on the floor.
Accompanying the HALF gobhi parantha were the carrot pickle and 1 Bikaneri papad or poppadum. Bikaner is a town in Rajasthan. Famous for its papads.
Thums Up was the only drink available at the ghostly hour (or so she thought).
No probbies.
Hunger ruled supreme.
We shall overcome.
When Skeets finsihed half of the half gobhi parantha she poured Thums Up in the mug (glass wasn't available either).
FROTH floated at the top of the Thums Up drink.
Wonder if they have a tie-up with Surf, Ariel washing powders?
No? Nirma perhaps?!
Scratches head.
Stops such thought from disturbing the tastebuds.
Finishes meal.
Not hungry now but sees PEPPY (round tomato flavoured chips/discs) and grabs the pack. The producers try to call peppy poppadums.
Skeets refuses to acknowledge that name.
Half a glass REAL mixed fruit juice diluted with water (Skeets loves her teeth...the less the sugar the better) follows.
This post was being written in between sips of juice and bites of Peppy.
Hunger made Skeets forget spellings.
Google rocks!
Search revealed something EXTRA!
The weird taste of Thums up (Skeets thought it was Thum"b"s Up hence googled) that must've been recollected by your taste buds when reading the name of the drink in this post (and Skeets is sure you must've said eeeeewwwwwww) does remind one a little about betel nut (supari). That describes the weird taste.!
Mystery solved.
Betel Nut + washing powder flavour= Thums Up!
Hence, the tagline= Taste the thunderrrr!!!!
Skeets doesn't mind Thums Up once in a while. Smalloo's liking for Thums Up has made Skeets' taste buds accustomed to the unusual taste. Here's the little something that wiki has to say about Thums Up:
Thums Up is a carbonated soft drink (cola) popular in India, where its bold, red thumbs up logo is common. It is similar in flavor to other colas but has a unique taste reminiscent of betel nut. Introduced in 1977 to offset the expulsion of The Coca-Cola Company and other foreign companies from India, Thums Up, Limca, and Campa Cola gained nationwide acceptance. The brand was bought out by Coca-Cola who later re-launched it to fight against Pepsi after
unsuccessful attempts at brand killing.

Ciao!
:D
Keep Smiling.
Skeets loves her blogs and shall try to be regular now on.
Tada!