Delhi is Swept into the Hot Zone

There is so much to tell you . Where should I begin?

OK . The weather it has to be.A cool breeze still blows starting sunrise till about 8AM, making the morning walks very pleasant. The Gulmohars are a riot of colour and the Jacarandas purple blooms are a treat too.But it becomes very hot by noon and the temp peaks out around 3PM to 40 + degrees Celsius. Still not entirely unbearable I'll say in Delhi,, though some other parts of north India are in the grip of a heat wave.I am carrying a picture of "Gulmohar" in full bloom that I took from our hotel room window in Bangkok a couple of years ago.

To beat the Delhi heat, one has to sit under the shade of a tree with a glass of iced " Nimbu Paani" or "Shikanjavi"( in Punjabi), Ice cream, "Kulfi Fluda",or " Chuskis" ( scraped ice popsickles with multicloured syrups poured over them)- if you are in parts of the Capital where they still have the stomach for them.For the more oriental palates, we have the all time fovourite " Rooh Afsah"(Cool the Soul)red syrup sold by Hamdard Dawakhana, the varieties of " Khus"and Badaam Sherbats and the bottled "Thandais" to be mixed with cold milk and ice ( Mishrambu's the famous brand made in the home of Thandais in Varanasi available in well stocked neighbourhood grocery stores in delhi being my fovourite).


My rare foray into the Sarojini Nagar market last evening was rewarding.I discovered juicy, sweet and pulpy "Jamuns" (dark purple berries), which normally make their appearance in Delhi when the monsoons arrive, were available in plenty- from Bangalore, I was told. But no one really knows where they grow them in such plenty and who package them and send them for being sold here. Must be some place beyond the Vindhyas for sure . But who cares, as long as we get them. The earliest variety of Mangoes probably from Andhra Pradesh were also seen in plenty, as were the juicy "Sherbati Adus"(peaches). One also caught a limpse of "Phalsas" and " Jarberi ke Ber" both tiny berries, which grow wild on shrubs in the plains of North India in the summers.But I didn't see any " Karaundas" the very sour variety of berries also grown in summers on very thorny bushes which are used to make all kinds of pickles and Chutneys. The holy( its leaves are offered to Lord Shiva at Shiv Ratri)hard crusted "Bel"fruits eaten with its seeds when fully ripe and used for making Sherbats and " Murabbas"( presrved in sugary syrups) with cooling and various stomach ailments curing properties were also to be seen.The " Phalsa Sherbat", "Kachey Aam Ka Panna"( both not easy to make)and "Sattu ka Ghol" made with roasted Barley and puffed rice flour and mixed with jaggery are my other favourite summer cold drinks.These rustic tastes were acquired quite early in life when the family maintained a live contact with Faridpur, a "Kasbah"( small town) and not village as our grand mother constantly reminded us, located on the rail line between Bareilly and ShahjahanpurinCentral UP, from where the "Chowdhry Khandaan", to which I belong, came.

The chaos created by the trial runs on the 5 Km stretch of main arterial road of Delhi joining Moolchand Fly over to Ambedkar Nagar has been on the headlines of almost all Delhi papers the past week.Not having personally shared the anguish of those traversing this stretch, my conclusions on this hot subject of debate in Delhi drawn on the basis of long analytical write ups in the dailies are:- Planners obviously failed to take into account certain basic requirements for its success: Inadequate widening of the road;commensurate increase in the number of buses;curtailing passage of slower moving objects, like hand or cycle pulled carts;and education of the road users, which is woefully lacking in Delhi. Despite the repeated appeals by the well meaning and sincere lady who heads the NCT Govt over the various FM Radio channels, we "Delhi Wallahs" simply refuse to drive in our lanes. Many of us are not even aware which is the right lane!The younger semi-literate "chauffeurs" seen behind the wheels of the plethora of cars/ tempos/buses/ trucks/ vans on the city roads hailing from the surrounding rural belt, as also more distant parts of the North Indian states are, in my view, the worst culprits in flouting every rule in the traffic books. But one can't blame them entirely.After all, each one of them comes from a very poor family,striving to make their ends meet. And he is at least working hard, far away from home, to contribute to keep them reasonably well clothed and fed. The fault lies deeper in our lax licencing and enforcement systems, made more rotten by the all pervasive malady of corruption which has infected every corner of public life.This is another price that we have to pay for presrving the democracy about which all of us rightly feel proud.Is there hope for Delhi, I sometimes wonder.Despite the apparent lack of civic support systems the energy levels, visible all around are amazing and perhaps unparalled, and that is our hope.

Stories of rapes, mostly of minors by members of the family,teachers,politicians, neighbours,taxi drivers, cops, Sadhus and almost every one:murders of spouses,even old parents and children arising out of marital discordsrds, sexual lust,property and business feuds are also flooding columns of the capital's national dailies.Making me wonder again which way are we really heading and how can things be improved.ARE WE TOO CONTRICTED aS a socity?.It certainly has a lot to do with falling family values, and quality of our educational systems, and rise in mindless consumerism. But this is what is driving the economy, I am told. Do we need such economic progress, I ask.

I will try not to deviate to such serious issues in my future blogs but one can't help occasioally looking at what is going wrong around us.

A little about a facinating and enigmatic personalty who has been a part of our lives for sveral years in Delhi. Mr Shamsuddin Ahmed or Tailor Masterjee or simply "Master", as he calls himself. Well, he lives in a dark corner of East Delhi near Shahadra, a particularly bad criminal area, I understand. He belongs to a family of Tailor Masters in the Walled City.Apart from stitching clothes and curtains etc at a few homes like ours , he also runs a small tailoring shop in his neighbourhood in which his sons help.The good old "Singer" hand- run sewing machine is his tool to demonstrate his amzing skills as a tailor. Hand stitching and cutting are his other areas of forte. Unable to cope with the challenges of modern technology in his trade, this traditional Old Delhi Muslim family, like many others have fallen on hard times.We have been utilising Masterjee's services to attend to various stitching chores at our home for the past twenty years or so. He still bicycles with his sewing machine tied neatly on the carrier more than 15 Km for sure to stitch Kurtas, Pyjamas, Shervanis and Achkans, while sitting on a Durry spread in one of the rooms, or even the garage, with his gear, like threads, needles and cloth spread all around him ( as can be seen in the picture carried by me in this blog taken a couple of years back).His tailoring skills are considerable. I and a few friends have even got English Tweed Jackets and shirts stitched by him to, near perfection. All he needs is the an article of clothing which fits you well, to be imitated.Masterjee is also served tea, snacks and lunch when he works at our home in addition to the Rs 200/- per day which he charges for his day long labour!

Before Shamsuddin his, old father who looked identical, used to stitch clothes for my sister, who also lived in Moti Bagh in the early Eighties. He is no more, but is known to have been an even more profficient tailor.A little more about Shamsuddin-
One evening about an year back as I was returning home from work, Shamsuddin called me on my cell phone as he often did." Sahib meri Biwi ko Badmashon ne maar dala- Mein ghar pe nahin tha.Meri Biwi aur beti thi. Do Budmash bagal ke ghar se ghus aye almari mein rakhey rupaye le gaye aur Biwi ke shor machane par usko Chaku mar diya. Nahin bachegi. Police ko phone kiya hai . Aap meri madad kijiye". My first reaction was Masterjee was exaggerating, as he usually did, while seeking my help in several property disutes in the family. But I called the DCP NE on his cell and asked him to check out what happened.I got a call back within 20 min from the DCP telling me that what Shamsuddin had told me was indeed true and that his wife was " declared dead" at the hospital.I requested him to do everything possible to nab the culprits and was assured that it would be done. " He lives in a bad area,Sir", the DCP added.Thereafter, I got several calls from the grief-stricken "Tailor Master" to help in getting the culprits arrested for the sake of his satisfaction, though he was reconciled to his wife's departure as part of his destiny. I mentioned about the poor fellow's plight to the CP and the Jt CP as well. They both knew about this henious crime.Two of the culprits were arrested promptly and sent to jail but Masterjee and his daughter were terrified to go to the jail to identify the suspects . I asked him to go, assuring all police help for his security.

I am not able to reaveal the shocking part of this story to you because Maserjee had come to invite us personally to attend the " Walima " of his daughter's marriage a few months back- half pleased and half scared of reprisals from a family where the marriage had been fixed earlier. We gave him gifts for the newly weds.Hope his daughter has a long and happy married life.

Maybe the blog's becoming too long so I'll stop here. Till we meet next week with more about my favourite summer food- Mangoes, the King of all fruits without doubt and more age old methods to keep your cool when Delhi is scorching!

Take care and have a wonderful week ahead.