I am visiting Honk Kong after almost 18 years.Was here as a tourist with a friend on our way back from the US in January 1990 for three nights.This time it is to visit Our elder son Abhiram and daughter-in-law Anuja who have lived here for about 9 months, after migrating from Washington DC.

Hong Kong has changed a lot. First the new airport in Lantau Island- very modern and much bigger, as compared to the airport on the main HK island where I landed last.
Also, the island looks cleaner,and better organised in terms of the public commute systems. Many new skyscrapers now adorn the central parts known as the commercial centre.
Btw, HK was a British Colony when I came last and now it is a Special Administrative Region( SAR) of China for the past one decade.It was bursting with business activity then, and continues to do so even today. There are fewer Britishers to be seen around though.Most of them left for home- not quite comfortable to continue to live in Communist HK, I guess.
The population is overwhelmingly Chinese with a noticeable floating population of tourists,and Business Executives from Mainland China,other parts of Asia, Europe and America. These Corporates are conspicuously seen strutting around in their formal or semi- formal attires, particularly around the Business District in Central HK.

The glitz and the glamour has been built around new Hog Kong with shining glass exteriors and the leading Fashion Designer brands flashing everywhere. There is very little of it's colonial past visible. Possibly by design, the new regime has tried to brush its "Western Imperialist" past under the new "progressive" carpet.

Dearth of English knowing people on the roads is a major handicap for tourists and visitors while dealing with Taxi drivers and shop keepers.This phenomenon, I wasn't able to figure out. Why the British who taught us Indians their mother tongue so assiduously failed to do so in HK? Was it an unwillingness on the part of the native Chinese to take to the language of the " uncivilized" occupiers of their mother land or lack of effort on the part of the rulers??

An overnight visit to Macau Island, an erstwhile Portugese colony and now like HK also an SAG of China has ben the high point of our visit. It was an hour's ride on a hovercraft from HK. There is more of Macau's colonial past to be seen, though much of it remains hidden behind the Las Vegas like gambling hotels, where a huge Chinese tourists flow, keeps trying their luck.The gambling instinct among the Chinese is quite pronouned, I am told. But the strict laws on the Mainland do not allow them to surface.

Real estate values and rentals in HK's central district surpass even Manhattan's. The lack of space in the main Island keep pushing prices up. Day to day expenses in Hk are much the same level as in NY, with less spent on the commutes beacause of cheaper taxi, bus and train fares .

A visit to the "Ladies Market" in Mong Kok and the adjoining Flower Market was a treat in terms of the variety of the merchandise at very affordable prices as compared to the shops in central district. But beware of the" enormous haggling" involved and the fairly aggressive salesmanship of the local ladies selling handcrafted items.

Well two more days of our very relaxed vacation in Hong Kong with our son and daughter in law trying their best to make it as memorable as possible so that we come back again and again - in a competitive mode with NY where our younger son and daughter in law live.

Bye and a very Happy belated Holi.

Delhi Diary Dated March15,2008

"Beware the ides of March" the Soothsayer had warned Julius Ceaser!But why should we?

My late sister Minoojji,perhaps the liveliest among the 7 Chowdhry children, was born on this day. I used to tease her that Shakespear had foreseen her arrival and had issued a general warning through his immortal writing!I miss and pray for her today.

After my return from a short trip to Mumbai last weekend,to my suprise, Delhi had become much cooler. Cool bracing winds continue to make the mornings and evenings very pleasant.

The winter annuals are also at their peak. My 9 months old home garden is turning into a riot of colours.

This morning, I had finished with my weekly oil massage by Ram Kumar, ITBP barber who has helped me indulge in this luxury for a tip of a mere Rs 100 for about 15 years incessantly pleading for his several realives to get some Govt job or the other, occasinally reminding me when my supply of imported ( Neuteregena) Body oil stock was running low and he may have to switch to the smelly and sticky mustard oil unless Bhaiyya Log ( my sons) living abroad replenish the stock.

Could hear a commotion among the domestic helps, security staff and the part time Maali . Lakhu, our domestic of twenty years standing was asserting his auohority by informing the Security guy on the gate, "Thehro Hum aake dekhte hain". "What is it" I asked. " Koi Madam ayi hain or garden ki photo lena chahti hain" he answered me in his usual reverent tone. I stepped out and found a young lady with a camera at the door step with her digital camera. " I lived here a decade ago with my parents( father IAS)- got married ( to an IAS) in a Mandap under that tree. Have returned to look at the house whenever on my visits to Delhi out of nostalgia, but never found the garden looking so beautiful" she explained, with nostalgia written all over her face.
" Thank you", I said with a sense of pride expanding my aging chest. "You may click as many pictures as you please" I responded cheerfully. My day was made!!

The other day, as I left office to collect my wife from her school where she teaches or our usual lunch get-togetheras at home, she frantically called on my cell phone. " I won't be free for another 20 minutes so you go home and start your lunch, unless you want to spend 15 minutes at the Priya complex (adjoining her school in Vasant Vihar)". OK I said and asked to stop the car near Priya Cinema.

Perhaps for the first time in many years I found that I was at a fovourite hang out of the young in Delhi all by myself. I walked along leasurely observing activity all around me at the busy shopping , eating and entertainment complex.
It was indeed very fascinating to see youngsters of all hues enjoying themselves during the lunch hour. From school kids to college students. What I found intresting was that there were two distinct layers of the Delhi youth mostly in denim jeans and T shirts, all enjoying themselves- the richer kids inside the posh retaurants like Punabi By Nature, TGI Friday, Macdonalds, Nirulas, Barista etc and the not so affluent, equally happy tucking in the Momos, Chinese , South and North Indian cusine at the numerous kiosks selling adjoining the posh shops and eating places. The added advantage at these kiosks was that you could guide the cooks on exactly how much Masala and chillies you wanted in your mouth watering dishes being prepared in the open air.The weather was balmy and the mixed aromas of the far eastern and Indian cuisine filled the air. There were certainly signs of the new buying power of the young in India's capital city.

Sunday was spent exploring Gurgaon and Manesar on Delhi Jaipur road with old friends Dilip and Sushil looking for investment opportunities for our NRI kids. The explosion of construction of swanky commercial buildings on both sides of the NH 8 was amazing and thrilling.

Took pictures of our home garden on my return home.
Will try to post a few on this blog for your viewing pleasure.

My next weekly blog will hopefully be about my impressions of Hongkong which I am visiting after 15 years.
visit Delhi

Istanbul Diary

Impressions of a first time traveller from New Delhi to Istanbul( Turkey)- a brief stop over lasting a day and night- end February

A liberal Islamic city with a well preserved history of its arts and crafts by monuments of the ancient Roman ( Byzantine), Muslim ( Ottoman)and modern Turkey ushered by Kamal Ataturk,the Father of the Nation around 1932.

A very touristic place with a super Int Airport and beautifully laid out lawns, gardens along the 15 Km drive to the old city CAREFULLY CRAFTED TO attract tourist traffic from America, Europe and Japan.Thre were very few Indian tourists, but the trickle has started.

The Blue Mosque built by Sultan Mahmud II, Santa Sophia, a Church converted to a mosque - reconverted to a secular monument by Kamal Ataturk are truly beautiful pieces of medieval Islamic and Christian architecture and interior adornments. The royalty which created these masterpieces must have indeed been very rich and powerful.Were they created to overawe the populace?

Istanbul is a very large city skirting the Phosphorous and the Mediterranean seas - a Gateway between Europe and Asia. There are clearly demarcated Asian and European parts of Istanbul! The dilemma the Turkish people continue to face, visible on its roads and by- lanes and politic is - are they Eurpean or Asian- membership of the European Union is eluding them but it is an impotrtant a NATO base, while maintaining good relations with the Islamic world led by Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
All that has to change.


Cobbled roads over undulating surfaces , crowded Bazaars selling precious stone jewellery, hand-woven carpets, blue ceramic tiles, dry fruits, sweets ( Turkish Delights),and endless chains of Cafes and restaurants selling a variety of Mediterranean foods, especially Donner Kebabs ( layers of variety of meats cooked off slow fires sliced and mixed with fresh salads and sauces).

The Grand Bazaar, in the heart of the Old City is definitely worth couple of visits to enjoy the rich variety of handcrafted stuff being sold ny shopkeepers young and old - all sipping 'Turkish Chai' or Coffee from gold- rimmed glasses being vended by hordes of 'Chai wallas' all smoking cigarettes. I don't think I have seen a more 'lit up' city in public anywhere. The innumerable 'butts' noticeably stuck in the crevice's of the cobbled roads are deftly sweeped by expert hands and brooms, so as not to put the tourists off!!

But shopping in the Grand Bazaar is tough. Haggling by hard sellers and soft buyers like me are most likely to end in 'loosing deals' most of the times, unless the visitor is accompanied by a local friend.

Because of the apparent boom in tourism, every second house in Istanbul has been coverted, either into a handicrafts shop, or a restaurant.

The few Turkish people I had the occasion to interact with, did not appear a very happy lot. Wonder why? Despite the claims being made on the Turkish Airlines videos on the flight back home to Delhi of Turkey being the sixth fastest growing economies in the world, I was left a bit unconvinced.The controversy around the present Govt allowing ladies to wear scarves ( Hijabs), a symbol of Islamist society conservatism, was prominent in the English print media of Turkey in the morning editions of papers.

I have come back a bit confused- is Turkey a buoyant secular society or is it inhibited by lack of liberal education, and being sucked into the fundamentalist Islamist mould, which the world would be better off without?
In my limited horizon, its good to be back in Delhi with all the chaos on the roads but with plenty of democracy and freedom!!

Delhi is much warmer a hrbinger of the long summer ahead.The flowers in my home garden are 40 % in bloom. Waiting for the full 100 % is a dream, because they have different life cycles.
The picture I am trying to carry in this blog is of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

Hope I have not confused you with the picture of Istanbul, of which I had fleeting glimpse!

Take care all
Love