nopes!

The more I think about it and the more experiences I have in life, I get that one thing my brother about Delhi Station is true about life in general.

Delhi Station is a mad place. You get off and you are accosted by touts of all types of slime and sleaze. Everyone wants to thug you and you can’t get a decent conversation happening with anyone. In fact what conversation, asking someone for directions itself can be very stressful and crazy. Many years ago we landed at Delhi station and we were told to move to the rail yatri nivas to stay. As a family we got down and started wondering where to go. A tout just kept talking to my dad and then finally showed us a few hotel pics and booked us a hotel to stay in. this was on the return leg of our journey. Dad thought he was booking us a good hotel.  Needless to say – the experience wasn’t that great. We had booked two rooms and the AC from one was flowing to the other via a duct made and other such weird stuff. Those days there was no internet and we don’t hear about the Lonely Planet and there were defiantly no Trip advisor. So choosing where to stay and where to go and what to do was one hell of a nightmare. Before you go anywhere, you have to ask people where they went, think of an itinery that was largely based on theirs and the hotel that they went to. People would have records of hotels and rooms and the phone numbers of the hotels they stayed in. this was very valuable information. The agents were essentially people who could arbitrage on the knowledge of hotel names and numbers. That was all. Things have moved up quite a bit. Now people know where to go and what to see from searching the internet. Jasmine and I came up with our own formula… Lonely Planet plus internet. Curation plus peer discovery! This has worked for us. And GPS… the bets thing is that now you know exactly where you are. When I was selling the Backberry concept to my brother in law – I showed him GPS. Now in a train, you don’t need to look out of the window or ask someone where you were. You simply opened your cellphone and you knew if your station is coming or is far away. This is especially useful if you are waking up in the middle of the night for your station and are wondering if the train is late or which station just passed!

Cut to my brother’s experience – he once alighted at Delhi station and refused to talk to the touts. He was making a beeline  for the tourist office. On the way the tout kept following him talking all the time. And then at one point the tout just said ‘look, the office is shut’. My brother lifted his head and sure enough there was a board of the tourist office and it was shut.  I don’t know afterwards what really happened but my brother then realized that the tout was pointing out to the wrong office which had moved. That’s when told me – in Delhi station – you should not even listen to the touts. Even listening is a crime.

I find this real in office as well. There are some real bad ass guys. People who gossip and spread evil vile around them. Even talking to them is a crime. They slowly make you believe that they are on your side, they gain your trust and confidence and then pass on gossip to you…. and then, they POISON your mind. Such people must be avoided no matter how sweet they sound or how nice a company they are. They give you the juiciest gossip but at the same time are the ones who will not hesitate  to use your name or you as a target of their gossip. Even listening to them is a crime. Hanging around, talking or texting or anything with them will only poison your mind. These guys are slow boa constrictors. These are available all around you. I keep telling Jispa that in school or in class or at the pool, these people must be avoided. After I have realized this and I preach it to all I care about, I have been seeing more of this. Positive nice people fill your mind with positivity. They help you think and take right calls and make better decisions. The bad ones, they figure out a way to co-opt you in their plan. They have sinister plans and then squeeze you in their plan. Without knowing so you are involved and a part of their support group and boom – there goes your credibility.

I have learnt over a period of time to simply not listen, avoid and if unavoidable – not encourage the conversation. And when they co opt you, it takes effort but there is no shame in saying, Sorry yaar – I am part of this. I disagree or nopes… I don’t care about this. At first it’s so difficult for nice guys to do any of this, but if you value your credibility and your sanity, you will disagree. Its then very easy to simply say no and weasel out. Avoid them like plague.

Daddy knows

We are dam irritated with Jispa’s school class teacher. We have had a series of issues. It started by her wrongly correcting Jispa on the light year concept, then came a few more incidents and these days Jasmine and me are completely pissed off as she doesn’t even bother to explain the concepts properly. On the weekend I was given the task of explaining different plants to Jispa. Especially the carnivorous plants. These were the Pitcher Plant and the Venus Fly trap. Normally Jispa always came in understanding the concepts very well but this time I realized she knew very little. And she was just given worksheets to memorize or learn from.  So I decided to teach her properly.

Now I also don’t know exactly how the mechanisms work. From the explanations it seemed obvious that the Venus fly trap simply smashed shut it leaves, but the pitcher plant seemed more complex. Here is the picture of the Pitcher plat. Looking at it, it seems obvious that the top part closes in after the insect is within grasp.

 

But that is not the truth. Thanks to power of youtube, you realize that the top leaf is practically immobile. The Ants slip in thanks to the fine waxy layer at the edges. They first get drawn by the nectar at the sides and then they simply slip into the pouch which is a deadly concoction that helps digest the insect. Lovely isn’t it. See this video for the whole truth.

The uglier and more sinister looking one is the Venus Fly trap. This video on youtube is very good and makes you feel bad for the fly. But one thing you are sure of – Jispa won’t forget this in a hurry. See it. Highly recommended. http://youtu.be/O7eQKSf0LmY

Then yesterday jasmine was also pissed that the teacher doesn’t even explain words and other stuff. She just reads out and expects kids to understand. This was corroborated with Jispa. According to her , the teacher just reads and then if you ask for a certain meaning, her standard response is that in fourth grade you guys should know. Jasmine was  super-duper pissed when Jispa was given worksheets for horizontal division without the teacher explaining how its done. For example solving 330/11. Which you have to do without using the standard horizontal method. Jasmine had to explain this to Jispa.

So in the evening Jasmine and me discussing this and we both were cribbing when I just turned around and said, “great. We always wanted to be involved parents, right? This is the perfect opportunity. I am ok teaching whatever is required to Jispa. In any case I do a better job of it. I love teaching and I think this is my life’s calling. What better than to teach my own daughter”. I guess this is the best thing that happened.

I told Jispa the next day – don’t bother about school stuff. What we will do is that you tell me what all you are studying over the weekend or over dinner and I will teach you how it works. We will use Videos and internet and learn the real stuff. Her teacher also taught her that the pitcher plant closes the top leaf as a trap. Let’s learn the real thing. Exactly how it happens and what all else we can learn from it.

This also helps me and my general knowledge. The other day I learnt that Delhi while having a chief minister and a high court is not exactly a state. It is still a Union territory and has some special privileges that help it get managed as a state. So that’s your favorite quiz question, Is Delhi a State? One idiot in office challenged me. He even put 1000 bucks on the table in a brazen act befitting a brash North Indian (sorry for racial prejudices). I told him don’t do it, I just taught my daughter that and I looked up Wikipedia and the internet and it’s a UT with special privileges. Don’t bet. He still bet. He lost. I gave him back his thousand. He was serious on his bet so I took a hundred and that should have taught him a good lesson. Don’t bet with a man who kid goes to the fourth grade. Just don’t.

From wiki entry on Delhi -

“The name Delhi is often also used to include urban areas near the NCT, as well as to refer to New Delhi, the capital of India, which lies within the metropolis. Although technically a federally administered union territory, the political administration of the NCT of Delhi today more closely resembles that of a state of India with its own legislature, high court and an executive council of ministers headed by a Chief Minister. New Delhi, jointly administered by both the federal Government of India and the local Government of Delhi, is also the capital of the NCT of Delhi.”

see and tell

Indian museums are surely getting nicer. Nopes they aren’t doing anything new. They only seem to have allowed some private guy to sell handsets that give you a low down on the museums most interesting exhibits. That completely changed the way I saw the Prince of Wales museum in Mumbai. We have been through it twice with the handsets. These well produced audio tours are well produced and manage to give you interesting insights with an Indian accented person talking along with the right music and other sounds. It’s a proper two hour tour which completely opens up the museum for lay people.
We also pleasantly surprised to have the same service in the Delhi museum. The Delhi museum is nice with some very interesting exhibits. It is even air conditioned making it a perfect place for an afternoon refuge. We use the compulsory layover in Delhi, in between the Rajdhani arrival and the late even train departure to the hills as an excuse to see Delhi one monument at a time. I normally book an A/c cab to take us through the day. This time the cab driver had no clue where the museum was. He was a Delhi tourist driver and had never been to the place. I was quite surprised. Luckily I had the lonely planet handy and I showed him the location on the map. He remarked that he had never been here. He mumbled something about people normally wanting to go to appu ghar instead. He knew where that was. Haha. Same difference, I guess. Only thing is that the elephant here is around 5000 years.
So we went to the museum to find that it opens later in the morning. So some standard tomfoolery around rashtrapti bhavan and we managed to kill some time to hit the museum. Monuments are always interesting. Everytime I see the India gate I am quite amazed at the geometry. The straight lines that lead to the Rashtrapti Bhavan and I there is something right about what you see through the India gate if you stand dead straight. I am sure the Lutyens had visualised what you must see from the gate of the Rashtrapti Bhavan through the India gate and vice versa. The lines seem to fit so correctly. I tried showing that to Jispa. She seems to be appreciating my attempt to educate her. Haha.


We then hit the museum and had the audio tour guide us. I am no museum expert. But somehow it misses the aura and charm of the Mumbai museum. Possibly its the structure but the even the way the museum is designed or the stuff is exhibited, it somehow does miss the charm. There is little natural light and the whole place is badly lit. Almost a drab. As I had earlier blogged about – the highlight was what is believed to be the actual remain s of the Buddha. No idea why it isn’t so publicised. No one believes it when I tell them. I have to show the photograph.


Here am I with another exhibit. The Natraj. To me my fascination with it suddenly began when I decided to understand it further. To me it is the Indian equivalent of the yin and yan. The confluence of two opposing forces together in one frame. To my mind – in harmony. I don’t know if they are supposed to be in harmony in the Natraj, but for me it is something that yin and yan stood for, the belief that opposites must reconcile. One is merely a reason for the other. One cannot have one without the other. Nopes, I did not bother explain that to Jispa for now, but what I loved was explaining the damuru for the creation and the fire for destruction. The right hand in a mudra that symbolises protection, the other hand pointing towards the toe, and finally the stamp on top of the demon of ego and ignorance. I too don’t remember all the significance at all the times. The audio tours helps.


I am sure Jispa would not be able to retain it all but I guess the fun of being in a museum and discovering it all is something jasmine and I are very happy to have given her. We both attempt to explain and expose her to as many concepts as possible. We want her to ask many questions and seek many answers. I am happy answering but I guess I am at the happiest best when I finally don’t know. When her curiosity gets better of me and I am finally lost. That’s a victory.

Here is the ultimate photo. She is on her own trying to understand an exhibit. We were too tired to be involved in all. Not enough seating there, but Jispa wanted to see it all. He knows at last my response will, dont know, will have to ask Google.


PS: Why dont we have audio tours by age. Shouldn't the younger lot also have a custom designed audio tour?

seekho

The last post I spoke of how there are a multitude of learnings to be had one one is exposed to as many situations as possible. Take the case of the taxi guy I take when I am in Delhi. Delhi is a notorious city. I distrust every Delhi’ite I meet on the road. Every person is a seen with suspicion for a tourist. In the past I have tried avoiding delhi altogether in my travels. Then I chanced upon one man. Ashok. He runs a private taxi service. He has one Indica. I got him through my office in Delhi. Whenever I am in Delhi I contact him. He is busy most of the time but he ensures that some or the other trusted taxi is at my landing point ready to pick me. Typically in Delhi you would have quite a few hours in between your trains. This is the time to be visiting the monuments that make Delhi the capital of India. The last time he arranged for a taxi to take us around and we got to see Humayun’s tomb and Qutub Minar. This time I had to switch stations between Nizamuddin and Old Delhi. He got me a trusted guy. Since we had 4 hours to kill we took the taxi to Connaught place (now rajiv circle) left the luggage in the car, did some shopping, browsing and eating before proceeding towards our station.
On the way back the train was supposed to come in at 4 am. I called him the day before. This time he said he would be there to pick me. In the morning the train was about an hour late. But on the dot at 4 am, I get a call. It’s him. He is waiting ready at the station. We figure the meeting point at the station. When we do alight and catch him the first thing he asks me is if I am with my family. Then he asks me what time is my connecting train. It’s an 8 am. He doesn’t say anything. We exit old Delhi station and he takes us outside. He shows us Chandini chowk and the various points in Old Delhi. I assumed that was the route, but he suddenly did a u turn and I realized the dam thing was a guided tour. He then went on to Lutyen’s Delhi to show us the parliament etc etc. He asked us if we wanted to have some tea. When we nodded to took us to this special Garhwali guy who is supposedly cleaner. He got special chai made with kum cheeni. He even paid for the chai saying that he is taking us for tea and not the other way around. Then took us further around and onto India gate. “ab time hai saab, gaadi mein ghumon. Station pe kya baithna” why go to the station and wait there. Roam around in the car rather than wait at the station, was his logic. We then roamed around India gate and then he decided that it was time to leave as we wanted to grab a bite at the station restaurant.
All this he did on his own. I had not discussed money or anything with him. I knew the drop was around 400 bucks. All he had to do was drop us off at the station in 15 minutes flat and pocket 400 bucks, but he decided to take us around and show us the place knowing we were wearing our tourist hats. He also had bottled water and biscuits in the car. I looked at jasmine and proudly told her – now you know why I call only this guy, and why I don’t take a dam prepaid taxi.
Needless to add I gave him 500 rupees which meant a 100 buck (25%) tip. I think he expected it.
Ashok is a simple a Himachali man who has understood service. Its common sense. When will we MBA’s see this and get embarrassed.
For those traveling to Delhi and want to use his trusted taxi service here is his cell number – 9971257823. He said he is upgrading to an Indigo in a month’s time.