ON THE MOVE

My office is relocating from Noida to a place called MG Road in Dilli, in the next two days. The metro is being constructed along the length of the road, and we can expect lots of dust, traffic and concrete, in all directions.

On the bright side, there's a decent furniture hub in the vicinity. And the malls of Gurgaon are just a stone's throw away, in case, we feel like some retail therapy.

Yes, this Dilli adventure is getting more interesting (conveniently ambiguous word that reveals absolutely nothing!).

The swimming is coming along great. I find it rather amusing to watch the ladies in the pool sport little frills attached to the swimsuit. Personally, I think it looks tackier than flabby thighs, which are meant to be seen in a pool. The men though are very satisfied to show off their f(l)ab abs, and in fact, freestyle along with a quiet air of contentment, flabby thighs or not.

LOTS IS HAPPENING

So, I finally have some new friends, who remind me of the gals in Mumbai. It's like I suddenly don't feel alone in this city, anymore.

They have similar interests -- books, shopping, partying, animals, romance, et al -- all the girly interests without silly chicklet trimmings. And it feels good to connect on a real, non-superficial level.

On the other hand, I attended this gathering of obviously interesting people, but they came across as somewhat clannish. Yet, I know that there must be a smattering of depth in their beings. Or else how would they make such soulful music?

These days I have a new indulgence -- swimming. It's the best part of my day, post office. Lounging in the pool. Doing laps. Waiting patiently for noisy swimmers to whisk past.

CONFIDENCE ON STEROIDS

THE other day I meet these two gals for lunch -- well-travelled, sophisticated types (in a Sex And The City and not a South Bombay way) -- in who's presence I felt a wee bit self-conscious. In the first few minutes of the meeting, I was transported back to school; I was the fat, ugly one, and they were the 'popular' people. This feeling decreased in intensity, as the afternoon wore on. But it did not go away completely.

There was this one booboo moment, where their Italian guy friend stooped down to catch my name. Stupid me -- I thought he was being all Portuguese about introductions, and giving me a peck on both cheeks. He smiled and asked, "Do you want a kiss?!"

The girls smirked (I don't blame them) at my little faux pas, and maybe, two years back I would have shrivelled up and died. This time round, I smiled awkwardly for a few seconds and then the moment was over, overshadowed by a volley of clever repartees from two gals and the guy.

The afternoon proceeded fluidedly. Food, drinks, conversations, confidences and lots of launghs. They were very conversant, and had news, views and staunch opinions to share on all topics under the sun -- from politics to high fashion, food and culture. But they are far from perfect. One had much to desire in her personal life. The other had much to desire in her professional life.

Yet, I have a feeling they will exude confidence in any setting, due to some inherent X-factor, which one can't define. Or maybe it's due to their Ivy League education, having lived in more than one international city, and being born to somewhat affluent (and by that I don't mean necessarily rich) backgrounds.

These girls were funny and smart and nice. At first I thought I was in awe of them. But no, I don't want to be any of them. But I do envy that level of confidence, of being able to hold your own anywhere.

Yes, I felt both envious and slightly in awe -- of this quality in them.

HBO BOOBOO

It's a great thing that a TV channel like HBO offers sub-titles for all its films. Some people find it distracting. However, think about the hearing impaired who can decipher a film, completely because of these.

What I find amusing, is the choice of choice words filtered out of the script. Profanity, of course. Is the word lesbian, one of them? Yes!

Am I to understand that this is supposed to be a bad word? Should we be amused or pissed off?

VARUN IS BAD NEWS

It's funny how Varun Gandhi has now retracted his words about not having made any hateful speeches, and how the videos were fudged.

Now, his lawyer has agreed that he will not make any 'more', which means that he actually made them in the first place, and that all those denials were absolute hogwash. Sigh.

CHILL MAAR YAAR

The other day I got very frazzled about the liesurely pace of life in the capital. A friend of mine tells me,"Arre Merril thu chill mar yaar. Enjoy life."

Hmmm...in Dilli do as the Dilli-ites do. I could get used to this!

EASTER SUNDAY

MY first Easter in Dilli was a culinary orgy of sorpatel, xacuti, sana (fermented rice cakes) and cheesecake. That mingled with the vermouth and bailey's irish cream had us feeling very lethargic, soon after.

I chatted with two 21-year old stephenians, an economist and mother of three and her two school-going daughters.Their house was lovely, and apparently their building is inhabited by several 'political scientists'.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a very well-decorated Easter egg made of dark chocolate (with more choco goodies inside) in the neighbourhood patisserie (this is Noida!), which I gifted to my host, along with a bouquet that had all the colours of spring.

By the way, in Delhi having no car equals having no life. So, I am taking classes, and my instructor is this elderly gentlemen who painstakingly explains the logic behind every technique and movement. Reminds me of my dad's Physics classes in school, where he would make it all very interactive, much to the horror of many a slacker.

So, in 2008 I made several resolutions, two of them being get fit, learn how to drive (this one was also made in 2007). Well, in 2009 I am actually managing to work on them. Better late than never.

OF RECESSION AND APPRAISALS

So, I have this friend whose dad is genetically condescending, and whose blatant sarcasm irks me. I go the whole hog to avoid him as much as possible.

However, he did make an observation that was almost funny in one of those terrible Somalia-esque joke sorta ways.

He told another friend: If your company does not fire you in this sort of job climate, it's akin to a promotion. I can hear him smirking, already.

TWITTER TIMES

I seem to have totally lost my literary mojo in the last few months. Maybe, as we get more evolved, we become so understanding and calm, that going-ons of the daily grind and the world, cease to bother us any more. However, I do think it's comin' back...even if in twitter mode. We really do live in a twitter world, and have wonderful thoughts to share in a precise format. I think the twitter guys were truly ahead of their times!

Dilli expedition

So, today is my first social outing with a 'local' from Dilli. Not any Mumbai buddies. Que sera sera!

Update: We attended a chorale music concert in French. She was bored stiff, whilst I was thoroughly amused by the weird dancing and theatrical singing. However, we still had a good time. Those momos and sauce at Lajpatnagar were succulent. I highly recommend spending all of Rs 30 on the chicken momos, here.

FUN SITES

The HuffingtonPost is fast becoming my new haunt for news, views 'n' juicy tidbits about the US of A. Then there's Votefortheworst.com an anti site for American Idol junkies. The ideas is to campaign for contestants with the worst singing credentials/ strategies, et al. Entertaining stuff that isn't scared to get nasty, too.

Lassie rules!

Every holiday, my folks think of keeping Lassie (the pom) in a home for pets, back in Goa. But ultimately, they just can't bring themselves to leave those puppydog eyes and snout behind. So, one of them stays behind. It's been a long, long time since, we all travelled together as a family.