Delhi Diaries: Weekend!

My first weekend in Delhi was absolutely memorable. My dear friend Avijit Bhaiya came to pay me a visit. Here a special mention needs to be given to his beloved Priya Scooter. I had never before seen a scooter having a life of its own. Very loyal to her master, she seemed to be extremely reliable and comfortable to ride on! With the international locking mechanism, I guess the most hardened criminals too would fall flat trying unlocking her. So Avijit Bhaiya (Kathore Praani) arrived in the peak Delhi (Noida to be exact) heat with the promise of expecting a nice lunch. But to his great dismay and bewilderment, there was no lunch left!! What a welcome! Well Pizza Hut saved the day and in the evening we decided to go to the Great India Place (presumably the largest mall in the world ;-) err.. in the north of India I mean!). It also houses an amusement park. Shocked by the obnoxious rates we had to pay for the entry ticket, we decided to more than double the ROI (‘Return on Investment’, for the lesser mortals ;-)). With this final goal in mind, we entered the park with the determination of a 10 day hungry tiger going for a kill. (I must at this point tell you that the rides were extremely good and state-of-the-art and I had not seen any such rides at Essel World). We sat on the free fall ride that takes you up a 100 feet and then lets the gravity do the talking! We sat on a grossly mutated cousin of the Tora Tora which kept us throwing in all possible directions. The most entertaining ride was the bumping car, although here the cars had been replaced by some futuristic vehicles resembling hover crafts. We sat twice on the ride with the sole intention of maximum collateral damage! And we sure as hell succeeded! J Then came the seemingly fun ride which seemed to be a cake walk. You just had to sit in one of the cars and it would go around like a caterpillar. While we were sitting in the car, a divine voice (coming from an old timer girl who had sat for like a 100 times that day on the ride) warned us against sitting together in the same car because of some fictitious forces they call the centrifugal. Not completely ignoring the advice we sat with the healthier (read Rohit) victim sitting on the outer periphery. It took only a few seconds for the doomsday prophecy to come alive and even to this day as I write, I bear its symptoms (Read aching rib cage, bruised arm, et al.). As if this wasn’t enough, the cars started rotating backwards at a never ending pace as if seeking revenge for underestimating their brute force. Stirred but not shaken, (with the lighter victim thanking his fortunes as he stood alive!) we decided to go. But like THE RING which would get attracted to evil Sauron’s power (Courtesy LOTR), so were we attracted to this menacing looking ride. I was having second thoughts but then our undying aim came into picture and we decided to take the tiger in his own den. What a ride it was!! We were warned against wearing spectacles and keeping anything in our top pocket. But we had not at all anticipated what was in store. The ride in itself was poetic justice for having dared too far, it was like the ride understood that people were greedy for achieving or over achieving their ROI and was there to teach all of them a lesson. Only the truly determined chose to ride. The ride took us very high and then turned us upside down and waited till our things started falling down. To facilitate objects falling from our jeans pockets, it started tossing us like wheat is tossed to remove the impurities. I saw something fall down and my heart skipped a beat. Thankfully it was the sandals of the lady sitting beside us. The ride reminded me of the mean machines like trucks and steam roller, that Stephen King defines in his short story collection ‘Night Shift’, which had inadvertently gone nasty. It was literally punishing us for having chosen to ride on it, tossing our bodies like fresh baked popcorns! Finally the ride came to an end and at that moment I was willing to sue the ride owners under charges of manhandling and physical abuse! Well then we went to the mall and had a sumptuous dinner followed by the newly released movie ‘Bhoothnath’. The less we say about the movie the better. The return ride in the beloved Priya was very eventful with us losing the way and heading many kilometers off course. Such was my first weekend in Delhi, thanks to Avijit Bhaiya! You Rock!!
For more Delhi Diaries (not at all inspired from the Munger Diaries) watch out for the same space. You wouldn’t be disappointed! ;-) Until then keep safe!