Delhi: Childhood memories and aspirations for the city

[jaihind]

Seems like there hasn’t been a new thread posted in the Delhi – NCR forum for quite a while! So here I go……….

Most of the posters on this forum have R2Ied/are considering R2Iing to NCR. As someone who grew up in Delhi, the city obviously has a special place in my heart. I am planning to R2Iing to Delhi sometimes by the middle of 2008. I was wondering if anyone else originally raised in Delhi has R2Ied to Delhi or is about to in the near future. I would like to know what are your fondest childhood memories of growing up in Delhi? What are the major changes you noticed on your last few trips to the city? What do you think does the future hold in store for Delhi (as far as city’s urban development, business, social and political environments etc. go)

Just want to dedicate this space for people to reminiscence about the Delhi they grew up in, their hopes and aspirations for the city, and the challenges they have faced/anticipate facing upon relocating to Delhi.

Thank you in advance for chiming in with your views.

[naam-ghum-jayega]

i grew up in delhi.

Random memories:-
1) eating bread pakoras with chai at roadside stall.
2) going to CP for the evening with dinner at Madras Hotel next to Shivaji Stadium. really tasty dosas with sambhar served from jugs.
3) daily drama and enjoyment in U-specials for North Campus.
4) Riding bicycle thru foggy winter mornings to school wearing garam pant, coat and tie.
5) Ganne (sugarcane) juice in summers.

Delhi has undergone lot of +ve changes in last 5 years.
1) CNG,
2) flyovers
3) Metro

But i would like to see
1) less aggressive attitude (comes from Punjabi culture), I am a punjabi myself. "law tordne main maaza aata hai or get macho feeling" , this attitude has to go.
2) dip in property prices (so i can buy :emwink:)
3) not judge people from appearances, kya pehna hai, kaun si gaddi chala rahe ho
4) more professional mentality rather than trader
5) more software companies setting up base.

I plan to r2i in 2-3 yrs to delhi (gurgaon mainly since delhi is not affordable).

[Desi_by_Nature]

Me too. Grew up in Delhi.
What a city! perhaps one of the best planned cities in India.

The old/historic part of delhi has it's own charm - sadar bazaar, chandni chowk, lal qila, jama masjid, nai sarak, parathe wali gali - you could spend days admiring the way of life and historic buildings in this part of the city.
Or you could drive out and in an hour you could be in south delhi - a completely different world with designer stores and world class malls.
Or you could be in central delhi and get a feel of the british influence and architecture.

It's also a food lovers paradise - from road side halwai's making greasy chole bhature to chic resturants serving up cuisines from all over the world, Delhi has it all. If you have a sweet tooth this is the place to be - what awesome mithais! I bet no other place in India can boast of all this high cholestrol, artery clogging, diatbetes causing food - but it's food worth living for.

[lalitisbhatia]

The poet Zauq has summed it up as follows:


in dino.n garche dakhan me.n hai ba.Dii qadr-e-suKhan
kaun jaaye "Zauq" par Dillii kii galiyaa.N chho.Dakar

Trans:
Agreed that in deccan they value their poets these days,
But who, Zaq, would want to leave the alleyways of Dilli

[qadr-e-suKhan=value of poets/poetry]

replace "qadr-e-sukhan" with "IT professionals",
"dakhan" with Bangalore and u get the modern version

[Bobus]

I have spent 5 years of my life in Delhi. Finished high school there and also worked in Delhi.

Used to think ring road was a big road, until when I returned to Delhi after a few years. It is a pampered city. The culture promotes a certain aggression and one-upmanship. I do not see it as coming from Punjabi culture as one member has opined. The Punjabis I met in Punjab were very sweet. The source is a bit more complex, in my view.

The city is changing rapidly and expanding. It is now several cities. What used to be outskirts are bustling now.

I also met many people with a heart of gold and who were very hospitable. It is a city am comfortable with, but it aint one I will R2I to, if and when I R2I, coz I have better choices.

[jaihind]

i grew up in delhi.

Random memories:-
1) eating bread pakoras with chai at roadside stall.
2) going to CP for the evening with dinner at Madras Hotel next to Shivaji Stadium. really tasty dosas with sambhar served from jugs.
3) daily drama and enjoyment in U-specials for North Campus.
4) Riding bicycle thru foggy winter mornings to school wearing garam pant, coat and tie.
5) Ganne (sugarcane) juice in summers.

[/quote]

Aah mention of bread pakoras and CP bring back some strong memories.

Bread pakoras were the staple in the school canteen largely due to their inexpensiveness - i remember spendinng as little as 50 paise on them although the price bumped up as I entered high school.

My favorite beverage to accompany Bread pakoras was not chai or Thums Up or Limca - it was that awesome tasting (but downright unhealthy) kanche/goli wala lemon drink we used to call 'banta' - Do they still make that drink? I unsuccessfully tried searching for that drink during my last trip to Delhi

Favorite CP memories:
- Regal/Rivoli theatres
- Madras Hotel
- Nirulas (i.e. whenever I had enough pocket money to buy one of those
delicious ice cream cones)
- Strolling through the labyrinths of Palika Bazaar or just soaking in the rays
laying on the grass around Palika Bazaar - saddens me to realize how this
one-time shopping mecca has now been reduced to being known as the
place to find dodgy products and porn paraphrenelia.
- The Chanakya theatre ticket outlet - don't know if it still exists - or if
Chanakya theatre exists for that matter!

Ganne ka ras was amongst my favorite summer time drinks. Never mind the filth surrounding those juice stalls and the flies swarming around the crushed canesticks. Wah kya swaad hai - yummy!!!

[quote]

But i would like to see
1) less aggressive attitude (comes from Punjabi culture), I am a punjabi myself. "law tordne main maaza aata hai or get macho feeling" , this attitude has to go.
2) dip in property prices (so i can buy :emwink:)
3) not judge people from appearances, kya pehna hai, kaun si gaddi chala rahe ho
4) more professional mentality rather than trader
5) more software companies setting up base.

I plan to r2i in 2-3 yrs to delhi (gurgaon mainly since delhi is not affordable).[/quote]

I spent about 7 years of childhood in the Patel Nagar area which is as Punjabi a colony as they come (or atleast was in those days). The bulk of the old timers there were folks who had migrated from West Punjab after partition. Punjabis constituted the bulk of my friends and neighbors and for most parts they're extremely friendly, hospitable and open. I have to agree with Bobus that the agressiveness, rudeness, crass materialism and urge for one-upmanship isn't just restricted to Punjabis - it's a disturbing behavior I have observed pretty much across the board amongst current Delhiwallahs irrespective of what state/province they originally hail from. It certainly seems to be getting progressively worse.

Apart from certain localities of South Delhi, are the property prices else where in Delhi greater than they're in NCR?

[jaihind]

It's also a food lovers paradise - from road side halwai's making greasy chole bhature to chic resturants serving up cuisines from all over the world, Delhi has it all. If you have a sweet tooth this is the place to be - what awesome mithais! I bet no other place in India can boast of all this high cholestrol, artery clogging, diatbetes causing food - but it's food worth living for.[/quote]

DBN - definitely food worth living for or for that matter, dieing for. If it's the later, one would atleast die a very happy man! Now death (oops I mean food) comes to your doorsteps in form of home delivery. On my last trip to Delhi, I remember ordering chole bature and gulab jamun for lunch and samosa for the evening nashta almost every other day. Bus number ghumaya aur aadhe ghante mein chotu apne bicycle par khana lekar haazir hua - no delivery charges, although I tipped chotu (who hopefully retained the tips unlike the poor waiters here). Wasn't surprised at all to find out after return to the States that I had gained 7 lbs.

You're right about the variety of restaurants found in Delhi and the sweets. Some of those namkeens and sweets they sell in the bylanes of Old Delhi take me to heaven. Can't wait to savor the burfis, gulab jamuns, gajar ka halwa and faloodas of Delhi in less than a month's time!!!

[Desi_by_Nature]

My favorite beverage to accompany Bread pakoras was not chai or Thums Up or Limca - it was that awesome tasting (but downright unhealthy) kanche/goli wala lemon drink we used to call 'banta' - Do they still make that drink? I unsuccessfully tried searching for that drink during my last trip to Delhi
[/quote]

Oh man! banta is the best drink ever! Yes I had banta last time I was in Delhi - dunno why you couldn't find it.
Go to any of the ubiquitous juice stalls and they'd surely have it.

- Nirulas (i.e. whenever I had enough pocket money to buy one of those
delicious ice cream cones)
[/quote]

Nirulas rocks! best fast food place ever. No one makes pizzas like them.

The Chanakya theatre ticket outlet - don't know if it still exists - or if
Chanakya theatre exists for that matter!
[/quote]

Yes it still does and nothing has changed - including the Nirulas. That used ot be the most happening hangout in my days.

I spent about 7 years of childhood in the Patel Nagar area which is as Punjabi a colony as they come (or atleast was in those days).
[/quote]

I guess we're from the same part of Delhi. I grew up in Rajinder nagar.

[jaihind]

I guess we're from the same part of Delhi. I grew up in Rajinder nagar.[/quote]

DBN - yes seems like it. I grew up in East Patel Nagar to be precise, then relocated to South Delhi when I got to the 9th grade - however my heart has always been and will continue to remain in neighborhood where I spent the earliest years of my life.

Have many fond memories of the times I spent in the Patel Nagar area and of some of the landmarks there:

- Was sad to find the Vivek theatre demolished on my last trip to Delhi in
2005 - 2006. Now I believe they have a metro station in its place.
- Watching matinee shows at the Rachna theatre with my school buddies -
remember seeing some pretty decent old english classics like Mckenna's
Gold, Guns of Navarone and Escape to Victory.
- My school located at the junction of Pusa Road and Upper Ridge Road (Hint:
name begins with an 'S' and ends to with 'S'). There were quite a few other
schools in the neighborhood too like Salwan and Ramjas.
- Pusa Institute - whose quiet and clean campus roads are where I learnt
to ride my Hero bicycle.
- Roadside hawkers selling jamun and phalsa during summers - man I loved
that stuff!

Any of these ring any bells?

[Desi_by_Nature]

Have many fond memories of the times I spent in the Patel Nagar area and of some of the landmarks there:

- Was sad to find the Vivek theatre demolished on my last trip to Delhi in
2005 - 2006. Now I believe they have a metro station in its place.
- Watching matinee shows at the Rachna theatre with my school buddies -
remember seeing some pretty decent old english classics like Mckenna's
Gold, Guns of Navarone and Escape to Victory.
- My school located at the junction of Pusa Road and Upper Ridge Road (Hint:
name begins with an 'S' and ends to with 'S'). There were quite a few other
schools in the neighborhood too like Salwan and Ramjas.
- Pusa Institute - whose quiet and clean campus roads are where I learnt
to ride my Hero bicycle.
- Roadside hawkers selling jamun and phalsa during summers - man I loved
that stuff!

Any of these ring any bells?[/quote]

Absolutely dude!

I learnt swimming at the East Patel Nagar Siddhartha hotel pool. Have seen the East Patel Nagar market grow from just a few shops to the buzzing place it is now. I vaguely remember a bakery (was it called Standard?) that's probably still there. Good stuff! those guys have been in business since ages.

Rachna was one of the first few theaters in Delhi that started playing hollywood movies - a lot of fond memories of those days.

I know what school you are from :) A lot of friends from my neighborhood went there too.

I learnt to ride my bike in NPL colony (right across from Pusa institute).

The Patel nagar chowk, rajendra place, all the way upto to Jhandewalan is completely unrecognizable now due to the metro.