Located in northern India, the Delhi metro area has 16 million people, second to Mumbai in India, and the eighth largest in the world. (Image: newKerala.com.)
Editor’s note: “Popeye” is a new contributor to Borderstan and is posting “Delhi Dispatches,” periodic reports on life in Delhi, India. He and his wife, “Olive Oyl,” are former Borderstanians, neighbors and friends of ours. They moved to India almost two years ago (Olive Oyl is originally from India) and are the proud new parents of a baby girl, “Swee’Pea.” No, these are not their real names, but there are lots of strange people out there and Popeye asked that we use pseudonyms.
Delhi Dispatch 3: October 30
Trying to put the following into words will be difficult, but here goes. The other night I went over to a friend’s house for dinner. Before starting to cook, we decided to go and check out this night festival, followed by dinner at another friend’s place… very close to where this festival was taking place.
As luck would have it, these simple plans held far more in store for us.
The festival was the phool walon ki sair–procession of the florists– and it was unlike any festival I had ever been to. No big surprise there.
What was surprising was how eerily similar it was to something you might see in a strange B-grade horror film: sort of like a carnival set in a rural American town back in the early 20th century–or what I would imagine what one would look like anyway.
Happy Friday morning, Borderstan. A few news items… some news bits… happenings this weekend. So, read this posting and then turn off your computer and go enjoy the fall weekend. See you Monday.
- There was a gun robbery t 11:40 p.m. last night on the 1500-block of U Street NW. Here is the Police Alert: “Robbery (Gun)_2340 hours_1500 Block U Street, NW_No lookout given DO NOT TAKE ACTION CALL 911 W/EVENT #i20090562310. Sent on: 10/08 23:56″
- The Humane Society Walk for the Animals is tomorrow (Saturday the 10th)… 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Constitution Gardens on the National Mall.
- The National Equality March events are this weekend, ending with a rally at the U.S. Capitol around 2 p.m. on Sunday.
- On Monday I will have some Crimes of Note for the past couple of weeks… along with a look at crime stats for September for the Borderstan area.
- Cast members of the Real World DC (which is packing up and leaving town after finishing filming) had some of their individual works displayed last night at gallery plan b on 14th Street NW. I wanted to go to last night’s one-night exhibition, but work called (you know, the stuff that pays bills).
- If you missed the second Delhi Dispatch, it’s an interesting read: “Delhi Dispatches: Commuting with Cobras, Deities and Dust.” The contributor is an ex-Borderstanian and a friend and neighbor.
- NBC Channel 4 picked up the story of the “Men’s Parties” death at 14th and Corcoran NW. The Sexist at Washington City Paper summarizes the police crime report for you. 14th & You has a good posting, too: Is the city trying to shut down the club?
- Don’t forget Luis’ picks for stuff to do this weekend in Borderstan and around town, including some restaurant recommendations: “Borderstan Weekend October 10/11.”
- 14th & You has some very good postings on businesses coming and going on the 14th Street corridor: “Update: “Green Pets” Relocation Moving Forward” and “Latest on Birch & Barley; Diamond District Seafood coming soon.”
- If you’re going to see what’s in your Netflix movie queue, plan to watch something on-demand or are head to the video store (if you can still find one!)… check in with Mary the Borderstan Movie Fan: “Borderstan Movie Fan: Health Care Options at the Movies” or check out some of her other recommendations for food movies or sexy movies.
Located in northern India, the Delhi metro area has 16 million people, second to Mumbai in India, and the eighth largest in the world. (Image: newKerala.com.)
Editor’s note: “Popeye” is a new contributor to Borderstan and is posting “Delhi Dispatches,” periodic reports on life in Delhi, India. He and his wife, “Olive Oyl,” are former Borderstanians, neighbors and friends of ours. They moved to India almost two years ago (Olive Oyl is originally from India) and are the proud new parents of a baby girl, “Swee’Pea.” No, these are not their real names, but there are lots of strange people out there and Popeye asked that we use pseudonyms.
Delhi Dispatch 2: October 6, 2009
Greetings from Delhi. I thought I would share a typical morning commute here in the Indian capital. It’s a bit different than my trip to downtown Washington when we lived in Borderstan.
Unless I drive (which is itself another adventure, and the subject of my next posting), it begins with flagging down and haggling with an auto rickshaw driver. I’ve gotten pretty good at this over the past year, which essentially means I’m able to minimize how often I get ripped off. Stress the word often. (more…)
Delhi, India: Located in northern India, the metro area has 16 million people, second to Mumbai in India, and the eighth largest in the world. (Image: newKerala.com.)
India has an estimated at 1.2 billion people, second only to China, and 70% live in rural areas. The landmass is about one-third that of the U.S. (Image: geocities.com.)
Editor’s note from mattyillini: “Popeye” is a new contributor to Borderstan and will be posting “Delhi Dispatches,” periodic reports on life in Delhi, India. He and his wife, “Olive Oyl,” are former Borderstanians, neighbors and friends of ours. They moved to India almost two years ago (Olive Oyl is originally from India) and are the proud new parents of a baby girl, “Swee’Pea.” No, these are not their real names, but there are lots of strange people out there and Popeye asked that we use pseudonyms.
Delhi Dispatch 1: August 25, 2009
This morning, Olive Oyl and I had an appointment at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, the capital, to apply for our daughter’s U.S. passport.
As we were getting ready to head out the door–rummaging through documents at the last minute, etc.–the doorbell rang. Happy at the thought of our driver arriving a few minutes early, I walked out onto our balcony expecting to look down and see our taxi driver waving up at me.
To my surprise (astonishment, really), I saw a group of about 10 eunuchs looking up at me who, upon seeing me, immediately started singing at the top of their voices, dancing and playing musical instruments.
