Year: 2009

The preparations for the Commonwealth games are felt everywhere in the city and getting the traffic to run smoothly and well is one of the more challenging tasks facing Delhi. An article appeared in the Guardian newspaper a few days ago entitled “Minister urges Delhi motorists to get into gear before 2010 Commonwealth games” and…

Kumari Sittaram Shiva In my multiperson household this is how I perceive them: Kumari is my Nepalese housegirl. Girl is a term widely used. If you see her, girl comes to mind. I am told she is in her late 30s, married to Tomasin and has five children and apparently is already a granny !…

Everyone salutes me and I don’t look remotely like the Queen or Sonia Gandhi, not even like Manmohan Singh for that matter. There is a constant display of reverence which I am sure I don’t deserve. Only Parmesan orders me around and shouts at me as if I am the kitchen washer upper. There is…

The other side of life for most of the population here is the one which is not behind manicured gardens and high walls but the scenes that unfold on the way to school or on the way into Delhi. Now with the construction of the Delhi metro there are migrant workers living in makeshift corrugated…

well last weekend my good friend from South America must have rounded up all the beef there was to be had in the whole of Delhi. She was celebrating her birthday and like all good South Americans having a meat feast is all important.So she went out in search of it and my goodness did…

Here is Parmesan and his side kick Cool Kumari The two of them and I have a riot in the kitchen between 5-7 pm. We use extensive and often hilarious sign language, Parmesan shouts at me in Hindi to make me understand and uses a strange and probably totally unique mixture of what I would…

On Friday night I had my first experience of this “happening”city.I had a VIP invitation to one of the fashion shows for the Van Heusen India Men’s Fashion week. I went with my wonderful friend Aruna, who is such a special person. We were ushered into the pre-show cocktails and we rubbed shoulders with hip…

For two days now the rains have come and beat down on the parched earth. The clouds circle and swirl and the wind in the trees talk of the storm arriving.The raindrops ping like ping-pong balls off the tiles outside my window. All night the rain falls strong, relentless and rough. The dogs’ bowls are…

He came, he cooked and he conquered. Chili chicken was perfect, succulent and tangy with a touch of chili but not too much, in a nice tomato sauce of red and yellow peppers with a sweet and sour taste to it, lots of onions and accompanied by a rich fried rice with chillies and carrots.…

Every day in Delhi has little surprises, some welcome, some bizzare some quite unexpected. Incredible India has a lot in store and today my surprise was a cook who came knocking on my door and who has offered to cook for the family. He arrived on his bike.He has an unpronouncable name beginning with P…