Impressions of New Delhi

It must be embedded in my dna - the instinct to bargain for anything I buy from a vendor. It's as though I think he has no right to earn any profits! I go vegetable shopping and I ask the sabziwalla - how much for the onions? He says, "20 rupees a kilo." And I go - "I'll give you 15". Or he says, "madam your bill is 138 rupees" and I say, "here's 130". I don't bother about his working conditions, I don't worry that he may not have money to pay his children's school fees. I saunter away feeling very pleased. I saved 8 rupees. Then, on another day when I walk into a Reliance Store to buy rations a reverse action happens. And it has happened often - My bill is 2154.55 rupees and I walk out paying 2155. I gave 45 paise extra and I am still not thinking about the owner of this retail chain. Surely - Just the electricity used to keep his multi story eyesore home in Mumbai running could light up the lives of all t

At a random red light in New Delhi, during peak traffic, with windows rolled up and airconditioning on full blast, I am suddenly confronted with a face unwashed. She peers at me through my drivers window. Her hair is matted, her clothes are rags and her blackened fingrnails beat a tattoo on the pane. I scrounge around in my bag for a few coins. "You aren't going to give her that!" scolds my driving companion. Beggars are just lazy good for nothing so and so's. Ask her to come to your house to work for a days meal and see how fast she'll go away. But why should a 6 year old leave familiar surroundings and climb into a strange ladies car to wash her dishes to earn a meal?? Surely she has survived life on the streets because she knows better than that. Besides, wouldn't that be child labour? It puzzles me. Why do we look at beggars as lazy good for nothings. Dodging killer bluelines all day, dashing between unpredictable bikes and scooters, inhaling diesel

Yesterday I suffered a panic attack as I saw my daughter step out of the house. She planned to catch the metro to meet friends in Gurgaon. I was fine with that. She would be back before dark - and that was reassuring. So what was my problem? I had read the morning papers. Some days ago a young college girl had been shot dead in an area crowded with people. A few days later the killer has been nabbed. What worried me was that being in a crowded public space did not protect her. Whether any bystanders tried to help her or not is another question. So the culprit is behind bars - why was I still panicking? Possibly because, unlike the vociferous banner wielding protesters - I do not blame the police. I see the eve teasers and stalkers as frustrated testosterone charged men who do not know what it is to be friends, or have relationships with a member of the opposite sex. They get their behavioral cues from bollywood and tollywood film heroes. Or possibly an equally misguided peer group. Th