The Haat, Heat and the Hawties!

She looked at me with an expression that would melt any stone of a heart! Having met her after ages I didn’t want to make her sad…it was such a small sweet request that couldn’t have caused much harm! Her pleading eyes tucked at my heart but my mind knew what to do. Taking a risk…I uttered just what seemed right in the situation. Time had taught me how and when to say ‘No’. While I was hoping I’d not broken her heart…little did I know that 30 minutes from now she’ll use my own sisters to avenge my denial to her gift!

Sorry Shruti for exaggerating! LOL! Had to add some masala to increase my BRPs (Blog Rating Points or I may say Blah-blah Reading People. Not to be mistaken for burps please)!

To all my BRPs (for full form refer the above), Presenting a short fun account of an amazing day out in Delhi with Special Mention of the awesome time Shruti (my dear school friend), Simran, Harjyot and I had at Delhi Haat.

Acknowledgements

To my Dad: who financed my trip to Delhi, my shopping etc etc…

To my Mom: who endured a week in Delhi with her restless, hungry-to-roam daughter

To Simran and Harjyot: My lovely sisters, who endured the roasting heat, the burning sun, choking pollution to take me round to my favourite spots in Delhi! Harjyot dear, really sorry for making you go through all that torture of endless walking thru SN market! Thanks for being the sport you are even in the most uncomfortable footwear.

To Shruti Fotedar: who came all the way from Vasant Kunj to Delhi Haat only to meet her long lost school friend. Even after a sweaty jazz session at the dance class and an important meeting at CP, Shruti, you looked fresh as ever!

And so the story begins…

The day started with a good omen. One, after trying Shruti’s no. endlessly, I finally got through to her. It was decided that we’ll be meeting in the evening and we’ll be working it out anyways! Two, luckily we got a nice comfy cab from Gurgaon to Medical (the Delhi lingo for AIIMS). We took an auto to IHC.

At IHC, it was love at first sight. Yeah in the several years of visiting Delhi, I’d never been to IHC. But from the first step inside to the last peep from the auto after leaving it I loved every bit of it. The Eatopia, the lobbies, exhibitions, the sitting areas, a corner for theatre, the fountains and sculptures kept here and there, the innumerable photographic possibilities and of course our photo session. Thanks to our parantha brunch… we were completely decked and didn’t spend much time on food. No Thanks to the little time we had, so much of IHC was left unexplored! But then we were so excited for the shopping session at SN, IHC had to wait till the next time.

Reaching SN we plunged into hardcore bargaining from the first shop we saw. From home itself I’d announced my mission to find a sexy pair of shorts for myself. Soon Harjyot found a zoozoo tshirt she’d been looking for and I found a nice top for myself. It was a nice start. We then proceeded to more shops scanning each up and down for good buys and even dismissing many at a glance. Around 5 we gave up our search dead tired, hungry and thirsty as hell and still without a decent pair of shorts (some too short, some “don’t-waste my time” types, some which didn’t seem to survive one wash and some ok ones had a fabric like shrapnel to skin in the summers)! Phew the sun and heat had actually taken its toll! God Bless the juice shop where we found the best nimbu soda of our lives! In the meanwhile Shruti too had contacted us and confirmed to meet at Delhi Haat (DH).

So my dear BRPs, we three cousins were now set on another search, now for an auto to DH. When none of the autowallahs seemed to come to a decent fare we finally gave into Harjyot’s requests whose feet were almost shrieking with pain. We took the nth auto without any further protests on the fare. (Nth because none of us had the power to keep count)

Finally the Haat!

DH welcomed us in two delighting ways! Right outside was a board “DELHI FOOD FESTIVAL” and alighting from the entrance compound to the sky was a string of tri-colored kites. The sun had also considerably humbled. And then came Shruti!

The threesome of hawties now became a foursome and we progressed ahead chatting away endlessly and glancing at the shops. The only one we stopped at was one with accessories. I found myself some beautiful things and declined Shruti’s request to let her gift me something as a souvenir. C’mon Shruti, ur coming all the way from Vasant Kunj and making this possible, the gesture itself was the most precious gift I could get! Now read the first para and you’ll know the conflict I went through saying ‘No’ to your request. Hmph!

Having already tested our hunger pangs enough, we headed straight towards the Delhi Food Festival. We washed down three plates of gol gappas and one aloo chaat before we finally settled at the Sikkim food shop of DH. While we ordered for the famous fried momos and fruit beer we’d already made arrangements for the time gap. There was Paneer Parantha from the stall of Delhi’s Paranthe Wali Gali. Another first for me in Delhi the deep fried Parantha looked equally tempting and scary with glistening oil peeping from every pore in it.

In came Fruit Beer and momos. Both, trust me, are among the most heavenly things I’ve tried to date. Another photography session started here till we found a waiter who obliged to take a nice picture.

The Haat…The Hot momos and four hawties were immortalized in a frame. Now comes Shruti’s revenge. The three Delhi-ites conspired and did not let me pay for the treat I so wanted to! They blankly ignored my request as if I was speaking on Mute mode. :P!! Well the time also didn’t seem to listen and soon we had to leave. Outside DH we said our final goodbyes. Shruti got an auto to her place while we caught the bus to Gurgaon. The sun set into twilight and then dark till we reached our stop. But I noticed none of it.While my stomach was reeling from the overstuffing at Haat my heart and mind were constantly cherishing and feasting on the refreshing, enjoyable and even the dead tired moments of the day!

Catch a glimpse of these moments captured in camera at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=420593&id=840120704&l=1884211f41

Again as I always say, my lovely BRPs your comments are what make my blah blah all worth it. So please keep putting in a feedback now and then! It’ll be very encouraging!

In short…Keep Blah Blahing!

God Bless all…Ciao

P.S. Shruti my cousins simply adored you! All the way back they were telling me “Your friend is so cute and fun!” I’m still speculating whether they were exaggerating it or is their a special quota of mutual liking among Delhi-wallahs? ;)

I got the Best Ones…Friends and Memories!

The cliché, ‘last but not the least’ rings so true for this heading!

JDHL will be a place which gave me some of my most precious memories and friends.

Piyush: Undoubtedly my best friend to date! Right from hitting it off, our friendship developed like magic! I could go on describing it but would suffice now by saying my time in JDHL would have been impossible without a friend like him! Married just two days after the valentine’s this year, he is in Jaipur right now! If Piyush reads this (he’ll have to anyways!), buddy I completely respect you! P.S. That doesn’t mean you’ll get a relaxation on improving your English… No No you can’t keep spelling model papers as modal papers! [:P]

Sonika Bora and Surbhi Arora: Two female colleagues I absolutely adore! Among my best friends to date! Sonika is working in Jodhpur right now in another company! Surbhi is happily married!

The JDHL Gang of Girls: Besides me this gang includes

Ritika Jain(who’s also been my friend in school time! We’ve been classmates, neighbors, friends, colleagues and then stronger friends as colleagues and after)

Rajni Gehani (whom I knew from my college time through a common friend but got to know her better as a colleague)

Taruna Rathore

Sapna Jain

Bharti Lullani

Abha Jeswani

These guys made my last days in Johari so special! I’ll always treasure the beautiful farewell I got making me feel so cared for!

A Big Thanks to

Syed

KG

Satish

Sapna

Ravi

Aditya

Atul

Supriya

Hemant

Dipendra

Pawan Choudhary

Ziya

Manjeet

Zaheer

and all members of the JDHL family!

The 45 mins Caricature Artist!

So what does one do to divert oneself from the songs? Simple…use imagination!

You must have seen human like caricatures… Ever seen caricature like humans? Travel one day in our staff bus and you’ll know what I’m saying! One fine day, my friend pointed at a person who had pleasantly dozed off on the way to office. The look of his face was so comical that my mind almost sketched out a caricature. The one sitting next to him was awake but with his thin petite frame was so highlighted by a Charlie Chaplin mustache making him the second caricature. Another one was in sleep with his eyes half open… well I took off on the most amusing journey of finding a caricature in every face. It was like a superpower; one gaze and the caricature was ready… making it 30-35 caricatures in the entire bus! Alive, Talking, sleeping, snoring, staring, laughing wooo… dynamic caricatures!
At times I built up short stories imagining them working in office! Knowing their departments only added more creativity and colour to the caricatures! These caricatures were my puppets I could use to my advantage to kill boredom of those 45 minutes or even make the most ‘bored- to- tears’ songs to ‘laughing –to-tears’ songs! At times I had to resist my giggles to keep the others from thinking I’d gone insane!

I’m delighted with the caricature artist inside me… on my call wenever needed! Just one regret, wish I could share some of its creations with you! ;)

Fir a gaya kambakht

Even if the 45 minutes seemed too long at times…arriving at office was not something the bus passengers looked forward to! Which explains the phrase above! ;) :P Sorry No offence!

Dhora Mate Jhopadi Ooooo….

This is no ordinary Marwadi song… Till date I’ve not been able to
(a) Translate any more than the first three words of this song even after straining my ear’s everytime the song played?(mentioned above!)
(b) Uncode whether the singer is a male or a female?
(c) Why the song has to be 1 hr long with the same lyrics repeated again and again?
(d) How can someone sing a ‘supposedly’ romantic song in a high pitched voice?
(c) Comprehend how such a baritone can be among the top favourites of the people?

Yeah, the song was specially played on demand! And when not on demand at least once every day along with the other equally strange and long Marwadi Songs. Our staff buses boasted the most weird playlists on the earth…a torture that lasted the 45 minutes ride in the morning and then again on the way home! It was truly one of its kind with the most unheard, strange and at times embarrassing songs! A lot of times I din know whether to be amused or angry! Let me give you some bright examples

1. Mehbooba o Mehmooba from Ramu ki AAG (ARRRGGHHH!!)

2. Jaipur ki Choli Mangwade re saiyaan (an old hindi song! Mistakenly I mentioned I once to my mom who to my shock identified it and started singing it too…as it the bus trouble was not enuf)

3. De De Chumma Chumma De…Ashiq hai tera Chumma De… ( This ‘Govinda-Type’ was played quite many times before it was finally omitted on our request! Thank God! :P)

4. Marwadi version of Dil Le Gayi Kudi Gujarat Di and other pop songs!

5. All songs of movies like Hadh Kar Di Aapne, Dulhan Ham Le Jayenge (Ab to had hi ho gyi)

6. Bach Ke Rehna Re Baba Title Song (Starring Rekha and Mallika Sherawat)

7. And ofcourse Dhora Mate Jhopdi Ooooo… and other Uncomprehendable Marwadi Songs lasting upto 45 mins or 1 hr.

There are lots more to add but I suppose you get the idea!

Not that not a single good song came our way but such instances were just so rare…I can’t recall more than 8 in my entire tenure! Okies one more point before you comment! I know you’d say you could put on your earphones…listen to some other songs etc! well with the speakers blasting the bus we could hardly hear our own voices let alone any other song!

And the Tea Shots!!

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What kept us going through the chilling days was a reasonably better alternative; Ordering tea from the banna’s tea stall outside! With permanent customers from JDHL and factories around this one has a prize location just across the gate of our office! Yummy hot ginger tea and decently good coffee is just a call away (God Bless the chai wala)! And if somebody else from the department volunteers to fund it, even better! J The small cuplets sent by the chaiwala carry just enuf tea to kick start the day! They are indeed chai shots (like tequila shots) saving the day wenever it’s too cold, to monotonous, just after a long tiring meeting, for the milieu of running noses n sore throats in winters, for the numerous times ppl stay back for overtime or just after hours of staring at the computer screen etc. etc….!

The one gulp tea

Kabhi bakri ke dudh ki chai pi hai?
Ever tried tea made of goat’s milk?) …

The question came from a colleague of mine just when I was mid way through my first sip of the JDHL tea. Now that was not the best time and way to warn coz all I cud do is gulp down the sip! Only when the bitter liquid (supposed to be tea) hit my throat, I realized the gravity of the warning! It was almost like talcum powder boiled in water with a drop of cheap artificial tea essence, colour and traces of milk just enuf to certify it as tea!! Yaar is se to accha hamari school ki mess ka milk tha!

Oops I missed the most predominant ingredient…Sugar! The amount was already fatal to a diabetic and ppl still asked for more! Couldn’t blame them…coz the rest of the overcooked talcum solution was so freakingly bitter! Well I shoudn’t be complaining coz I rarely availed the ‘luxury’ of the office tea but those who underwent the torture had beautifully adapted to the taste! So much so that they asked for another cup…bravo! The poor peon was often torn between departments where to serve the hot tea first. (coz it worsened as it got cold!)

Powerhouses of Knowledge

One thing I’d always thank JDHL for was excellent bosses like Johari Sir and Ma’am, team leads like Dilkash Sir, Dinesh Sir, Prashant Sir and the always helpful colleagues!

Never once did I feel I did not have a person to fall back upon when I needed knowledge, resources or help!

If there is one person I’ve been most influenced by in this year it’s Dilkash sir. He’d have a 100 issues pounding on his head, N number of shipments due, 95% of the people in the office asking him different but he’d never dish your queries away, complain or let you go empty handed to fend for yourself! You would get the exact piece of information you need within a blink and many times with a bonus of his childlike smile! He does complete justice to his name!

Talking about Dinesh sir he was always ‘cool- as- a –cucumber’ come what may! And ask him something, you’ll get an in detail explanation like a mini encyclopedia! Prashant sir, Head of R&D was another bittersweet person I respect for his dedication!

With people like these around the work became so much easier! At times I would not even have to refer the net! Don’t know whether I’ll be able to work with them again in my life but I really wish that I get such seniors wherever I go…n the same for all you there!

Ji Ji Ji Sir Ji Boob Sir

Before you take it otherwise, I’m talking about a highly experienced member of the Johari family, Mr Venugopal Boob!

Well what can one do if one has such a controversial name? But trust me no one else would know how to flaunt it better than this old chap! Even the Intercom list sports his name as “Boob” (understandably one of my first shocks in the company after “Gui”)

“Ji Sir….Ji Sir Ji Ji Ji…Main Boob bol raha hun”

Another person after Amitabh Bacchan jinka naam hi kaafi hai…ask anyone at Johari!

GUI

JDHL has given a new dimension and pronunciation to G-U-I (Graphical User Interface)! Our bosses had embraced the word with love that I’d never seen b4…not even in the numerous computer classes through school, college or even my technical writing course. Such was the intensity of the love that they called it a pet name “gui” (like sui(needle)).
Sounds cute huh?
Well the best is yet to come…
While G-U-I, as per Dictionary.com can also be pronounced as gooey; “Gui”(like sui)= A*$ (Yes, Homo Sapiens’ rear end!!) in one of India’s popular languages! A very enlightening piece of knowledge from one of my colleagues! :P
Knowing this I made a resolve to eradicate this embarrassing nickname! Well I guess I got a bit too overconfident!
Try as I might, even after correcting my seniors countless times over, the “Gui” stay put on their vocabulary n lips!
“Kitni sundar design hui hai na Gui”
“Sir a ke zara eb baar gui check kr lijiye”
“XYZ mujhe apni design kari hui Gui dikhao”
“Ye Gui mein colours sahi nhi hai… ise kala kr do”
“Meet Gui ki pictures le kar manual mein dal do!”
“Madam ek idea hai! Kyun na ham apni website par apni Gui ki snapshots dal dein” ARRRGGGHHH!!!

And the list goes on! One of the clarifications dished out to me in “Gui’s” defence: Kya Meet… tujhe pata nhi US mein bhi sb aisa hi bolte hai…short and simple!” Yeah Right!!

Moving on…

13 mail ek saath!!

What bigger shock could a girl get looking at the computer screen? The screen she was using just a moment ago to fix her hair and lip balm! **snicker*snicker**

Well this was the shriek we got from S (name hidden for privacy) the moment she switched on her screen! “13 MAIL EK SAATH!!??!! [:O] ” (sounded more like 13 male ek saath!!) The horror echoed in the marketing department…silence for a moment and then the guys burst out laughing! Being the only other girl I had to force myself not to laugh!
Probably she couldn’t digest her first inflow of communication as a Customer Relations Manager! Poor S, As much as I wud think of helping her, she gave give everyone a reason to joke!

JDHL Diaries

It’s been over a month since I took break from the job! I am obviously quite enjoying my freedom, pampering myself! Ah I love it!! But then I have a number of memories I’ll always carry with me as souvenirs from JDHL. The posts that follow are some of these sweet-salty-bitter moments which made my tenure colourful