To Delhi, Again

A little more than a fortnight ago when I flew to Delhi (in a plane, naturally. I haven’t yet sprouted wings) I did not expect to make another trip for a long time to come. I hadn’t even finished telling everyone I knew that I had actually been to Delhi by plane when I was told I had to make another trip. It was quite a dramatic decision to send me to Delhi again so soon. I was busy with a report when out of the blue, late in the afternoon, I was told to be ready to leave the next morning. Any trip at such short notice leaves me a bit jittery about things like tickets and accommodation but luckily my tickets were arranged by the office so I only had to pack a few things and leave.

It isn’t much fun traveling anywhere on work even if it is by plane. Though it wasn’t a very critical mission I was going on nevertheless I was anxious about doing it right. So it was in a somber mood that I started out for the airport. This time I was booked on a late morning flight on Spice Jet. I had the mission worked out in my mind. I would visit two offices before having lunch at AP Bhavan. Afterwards I planned to visit another office which, by a happy coincidence, is located in Khan Market. I was looking forward to go around gawking in Khan Market after finishing my mission. I would be free until the next day until eleven in the morning so I made my own little plans which included looking for a certain book that I will write about in the next post.

Unlike in a bus where you can look out of the window to make out which place you are passing through you cannot do it in an airplane. Unless one possesses telescopic vision that can penetrate through cloud cover it is impossible to know where one is. On my previous trip on an Air India plane there was this screen that showed the plane’s trajectory that also displayed in how many minutes the plane would land at Delhi. The only discovery I made about Spice Jet is that they serve rice items on the flight which wasn’t the case with Indigo on the return trip.

The cab my brother booked for me at Delhi was driven by a Sardar. Tejinder Singh would have been at home on the roads of Hyderabad given the way he drove the cab. He was muttering under his breath at driver blocking him, passed through the red signal a couple of times, glared at drivers who did not let him pass and did all the sort of things that we Hyderabadis do as a matter of habit. Tejinder Singh's driving was making me extremely nervous. As it is I was already nervous about accomplishing my mission in time and the Sardar’s driving wasn't exactly making me glad I was out of Hyderabad.It did not also help that Tejinder did not appear the sort to be told to drive safely by someone out of town and sitting in the back seat. Anyway it wasn’t until I had a sumptuous lunch at the crowded restaurant at AP Bhavan that an idea struck me about taming Tejinder.

After lunch I quickly finished the last leg of my official mission and made my way to Khan Market like I had never been there before. I went around trying my best not to look out of place in that posh market teeming with the chic and the fashionable crowd of New Delhi. It wouldn’t have been difficult for anyone to make out that I was an out of towner given the way I was gawking at everything and everyone like a true Hyderabadi. I’m exaggerating a bit but I find it hard to believe that there are people don’t mind spending a couple of lakhs on one’s footwear or a bag. I know there are a lot of super rich people in the country just that I haven’t seen any of them in person. There are a lot of such rich folks who come to Khan Market to splurge on things. Luckily for me there was nothing to splurge on. I couldn’t even find the book I was looking for. But I did see something that made me wish I was a millionaire. It was a book that will feature in my next post.

On the way back to my brother’s house in the peak evening hour traffic I tested my idea to calm down the Sardar. I had noticed that he had put on the car stereo that was playing Punjabi songs. I asked him if he had a CD of Gurbaani. ‘Yes, sir,’ he whispered in a hushed voice and put the CD on. As the mellifluous Gurbaani filled the cab Tejinder seemed to calm down. He drove in a manner that in turn calmed me and convinced me I would reach home in one piece.