Chandigarh Location Recce

Day 1

Jantar Mantar
We had a brief layover in New Delhi. Hence we walked through the wide boulevards, thorough the PTI building and Sansad Bhavan to reach Jantar Mantar. For foreign nationals the entry fee is 1 pound (hahha!)and for Indians 5 bucks. It is one of the ticketed sites that Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has done well to maintain well.

The Rajputs kings took great interest in astronomy and built these amazingly accurate observatories. I had to watch a couple of more YouTube videos to understand the workings of the structures. I was never good at trigonometry, but at least I know this that the hypotenuse of the giant triangle (Samrat Yantra) is parallel to the earth’s axis. We came along pretty impressed with the architecture and emphasis on science by the Rajputs, even when they were fending off the Mughals.

Soon we were joined by scores of class VII and VIII kids, each with a fancy mobile tucked in. The teachers had it easy as the kids are easy to control. They are more bothered about their screens and images that they will upload and share.

Chhole kulche @ Connaught Place
Nirula’s was supplying the day's stock to its metro kiosk and we saw the boys in red offloading food items from their van.

However, we opted for the roadside delicacy and staple diet of the area- Chhole Kulche for a mere 15 bucks a plate. And here’s what! The guy gave us a second serving and topped it up with thin ebullient onion chops, fried chillies and a dash of lime juice to perk it up. The dish has the chutzpah!

Delhi has THE metro 

The similarity between Dadar and Rajiv Chowk is that both are important junctions in their respective mass transit networks. The differences are many. To start with, the Delhi Metro station is underground and clean and has security checks for the commuters. While one stands for gradual decay, the other represents spurt in progress.

And the clinching argument in favour of the young Metro is that not one single person spat in its premises. Who says infrastructure doesn’t change people. It does!

Empty streets

We arrived in Mohali when the third ODI between India and Australia was into the 96^th over. MS Dhoni had played a gem we had heard and were informed by the twitter chatter. It was fairly desolate on the streets as mostly everyone was inside the park. Then James Faulkner hoicked a few Ishant Sharma deliveries outside the park in a sequence of 4 6 6 2 6 6. An over later he tonked another six into the stands and sealed a memorable win for the aussies. Well, for the neutrals it was a great game, for the locals, not so much. But the nip in the air as we reached in Chandigarh and its outskirts was refreshing and welcoming.

Work starts early tomorrow. So should be hitting the sleeping bags now.