Defining Cities:

This year was a markedly different year for me – the only year when I could not take the looong break and escape to the mountains or some place as inviting – call it a sudden sense of professional responsibility or just simply a lack of rebellion. But I did get a few chance to go to cities I had not been to in years and was happy to see them from a new perspective altogether.

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I went to Kolkata after almost six years expecting the chaos to hit me on the face. Instead I found no traffic jams, smooth roads, tall swanky buildings, big showrooms and malls and the ever increasing suburbs. It was such a pleasant surprise. The people were as warm, the markets and food stalls as inviting as ever….yes I did get to devour those yummy phutchkas, churmur and jhal muri after so manyyy years!! All would be just great if only the lazy attitude of the people changed….!! Hmm..or maybe that’s what give the city that character….ok am not complaining anymore!

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Hyderabad is a city with a heart….no city can ever beat the hospitality that’s ingrained in the people of Hyderabad. Wherever I went, people offered me something / anything that they had to offer – paan, maaza, lassi. It’s a growing city but with the soul of a cultured town. I had to give the hyderabadi cuisine a sad miss because even a mere drop of red chilli on my food makes my stomach spit fire literally! The best part…I saw a shoot of a Telegu film’s dance sequence….sadly I don’t know the name of the movie or the Hero…I think I just missed my 15 mins of fame – one could have seen me standing among the spectators looking wide eyed at the extras in short skirts and bulging tummies!!

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Mumbai - SIGH!!!!!!! My favourite city with some of my favourite people living there!! Mumbai for me spells FREEDOM. But when…that’s a question I have been trying to answer for the past 10 years.

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The only word I have for Pune…its Fundoo!! The chaotic traffic and potholed roads still exists…even after 15 years (when I had visited Pune as a tourist) and vehicular pollution is in the extremes. But I loved the city with its roads lined with banyan tress and those colonial style tiled roof houses sprinkled here and there. I did not go to the pubs or german bakeries or fashion street that my friends had suggested. Instead my young niece took me around in her scooty (this city survives on scooties!) to her small hangout places. I walked from one end of the city to another with a friend late in the night without even a thought about our safety. It was only with great control that I stopped myself from shouting YoHooo!!!

GS, SwB, Cactus - u lucky people!!!

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Goa simply ROCKS!! I have fallen head over heels in love with Goa. This is the only place in India which can make everybody its own. It welcomes you with a big warm hug and refuses to let go. It has something for every possible kind of person. It has the hills, the oceans, the rivers, the cities and the villages, the pubs and the peace, the colours and the monotone. It’s a place where any lost soul can come to find oneself back!!

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Is it strange that I am getting less cynical about sada Delhi?? No, I haven’t had a sudden change of heart and now falling in love with the city…but I do see a perceptible difference in the city. It seems to be opening up slowly…very very slowly and it is giving its people lots of new things to experience…night life is not rocking but one can still choose from so many live shows – rock or jazz without feeling you are a piece of meat. There’s less honking on the roads, more festivals, exhibitions etc. I still don’t think it can ever reach that height….but atleast its trying!

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It is so amazing that each city in India has a character of its own – traveling hence can never be boring!