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This is not like the Calcutta trip where I documented my days rather religiously each night before I went off to sleep or on early mornings when I woke up, so that I could pick up extracts from them for blip. I write in retrospect affected by far too many things to be rational. There is much to write but I shall only stick to the facts for now. So here goes.

It began amid chaos and uncertainty. And on the surface didn't quite look like a vacation. The duration was too small and tickets far too expensive. But just as we neared the airport, things changed. Perhaps triggered by a large lake surrounded by greenery I hadn't seen before. Or perhaps the effect of the lake was a manifestation. The music overhead didn't contribute anything positive though. It was coarse and tasteless, much as filmy music in these parts tend to be.

After a lot of Nat Geo and cloud watching, we landed in Delhi. I've hardly been in Delhi during peak summers or winters, so the weather has always been inviting for me. So has the diffused light through a curtain of fog. Wide roads and greenery took us through. After an excellent lunch (one of many to come where I ate far more than I do!), we had to wait. Only in the evening, did we manage to find time to go out. Malls are malls anywhere, so I wasn't particularly thrilled. But I was in for a surprise.

In the vast open space, there was this electronic piano (shaped like a Grand) playing the classics on its own. Though it would have been a whole new experience if someone was there actually playing it. After a delicious dinner of loads of cheese (a smoked chicken sandwich and lasagna to name a few), we decided to take a round before we left. Whenever I've been to Delhi, it has always appeared to close down by early evening and take on a distant cold look. But this being the long Diwali weekend, there were loads of people out there enjoying themselves. For some reason, I loved the well lit up fountain spray and the lights hanging upon rows of trees. That coupled with some good music made me want to linger on...