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? ;)