Delhi Shopping: Sarojini Nagar market

The Sarojini Nagar market is a very famous market of South-Central Delhi. Surrounded by Government colonies on all sides, it is patronized by all sorts of people, from those looking for good bargains to those looking for some quality branded stuff, including clothes, bags, accessories, footwear.
The Sarojini Market is reachable from the Safdarjung/INA side, from the Chankyapuri side and from the Ring Road side. How to get there? Just ask for Sarojini Nagar, and most people will be able to easily guide you there since it is the local landmark.
What is the market famous for ? People living in the neighborhood go there for all sorts of things, with eatables being a major reason. The market provides a number of shops selling chaat, snacks, aloo tikki, golgappa and very tasty. In some of these shops, there is seating available as well. Besides eatables, the market is full of vendors in temporary shops selling cheap clothes, and everything is available. You get shirts, trousers, jeans, T-shirts, ladies clothes such as suits, jeans, etc. Near the back of the market is an inside lane where in winter time, you get a wide variety of comfortable jackets and coats. Shopping for kids, you get a lot of clothes for them. and that too at very reasonable prices.

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Delhi Shopping: Kamla Nagar Market

This is a fairly busy market located in North Delhi, and one reason it can get very busy is because it is located right next to the North Campus, and is the favorite haunt of college students. The market is located very close to HansRaj College, and is actually the best market in that area of North Delhi, especially for clothes and accessories.
So now what does this market contain? It has a road called Bungalow road where a large number of clothing, bags, chappals, footwear, etc are located on the ground floor of the buildings, with the upper floor being used for residential purposes. In addition, there are a number of restaurants and snack joints located in this area. The market is also famous for its momos, with the famous places being Momo Point and Momo King (next to the Barista and Nike shops). You will also get chaat joints, juice places, etc.
So ladies, if you want to buy trendy kurtis, shirts, coats, jackets, skirts, jeans, suits, salwar-kameez, etc, then Kamla Nagar market is a great place to browse through for the variety it offers.

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Delhi Eating: Bukhara restaurant in the Maurya

This can be called Delhi's most famous restaurant. I know personally that when we have company visitors from outside Delhi, if they have heard of a restaurant in Delhi, The Bukhara will be the one. The Bukhara is world famous, and got even more famous when the story went around that Bill Clinton, on his maiden visit to the Indian capital as President, stayed in the Maurya Sheraton because the Bukhara restaurant is located there.
First the negatives: The place is very busy, so you need to make a reservation in advance, and they don't hold the reservation for very long. When we went there with a reservation, we still had to wait. Next, the seating is uncomfortable. You sit in fairly cramped interiors, with seating on what seems like a tree stump. The decor is hard, with stonework and non-soft colours, depicting the rugged region on which the Bukhara is based, namely the rough mountainous region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
By Indian standards, the food is very expensive, with most dishes being in the range of Rs. 500 to easily over a thousand. Add wines or other alcohol, and the bill can run up very fast. If you must go with a visitor, and the visitor offers to pay (and if it does not hurt your relationship or ego), then let the visitor pay.
And in my experience, when we were sitting there in a group, satiated after eating a nice meal, and dawdling after drinking the post-dinner coffee, the staff eyed us for some time and then politely evicted us, asking us to carry on the conversation in the bar or anywhere else since there were more guests waiting for the tables, and if we were done, we should get going.
What is it most famous for? Well, the kebabs are excellent, and the non-veg is truly great. The platter gives you a sampling of everything, and then mutton raan is excellent. In addition, the Bukhara is very famous for its black daal (lentil), and is so famous that it is now canned and sold.
The Bukhara is located in the Maurya Sheraton Hotel on SP Marg, right next to the Dhaula Kuan roundabout in South-West Delhi. If you ask around, you can't miss it.
Hours: Daily 12:30-2:45pm and 7-11:45pm. Reservations can only be made for 12:30-1:30 PM and 7-8PM, after that it's your luck about whether people are waiting.
Contact telephone number: 011-26112233

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Good Italian food in Delhi: Flavours of Italy

It is always hard to get some good non-Indian food in Delhi, and once you get such food, the places serving these become very popular. One such type of food not easily available in Delhi is authentic Italian food, and one place serving such food is called 'Flavours of Italy'. The restaurant is located next to Moolchand Flyover in south-east Delhi, a stone's throw from Ashram Chowk. The address for the restaurant is 52C, Moolchand Flyover Complex, Defence Colony
Phone number: 24645644
It's run by an Italian gent called Tarsillo Nataloni, who set this up more than 11 years back. The restaurant slowly became more popular, and is frequented by a number of foreigners, as well as natives of Delhi, who are fond of Italian food, or want to get a different taste. You get a variety of pizza and pasta, but the prices are in the moderate to high zone. You can also enjoy wines from the wine cellar.

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Best Rajasthani & Gujarati restaurant in NCR

While there are a large number of restaurants who would want to claim that title of best Rajasthani and Gujarati restaurant in the area of Delhi and surroundings, one outstanding contestant is a restaurant called Farsaan.
Located on the Mehrauli-Badarpur road south of Delhi, the restaurant has been located earlier in Lado Sarai and then Greater Kailash, and then finally to its ultimate destination of Saidulla Jab, near Mehrauli, and this is where it seems to have found root.
The food is cooked by traditional Maharajs and the decor is authentic as well. There is an option of traditional seating on the floor, or on tables. The food is not very complex, with an option of a Gujarati thali, or a Rajasthani thali, these being served on silver thalis.
The Gujarati meal is sweeter, while the Rajasthani food is more spicy. In these meals, you get the regular stuff of khandvi, dhokla, srikhand, sangri, gatte ki sabzi, bajre ki roti, choorma. The restaurant also serves fried namkeens. The meals have unlimited eating, so build up a healthy appetite before heading there.
Address:
KH 30, Saidulla Jab, MB Road, Opposite D Block
Saket
New Delhi, DL
110030

Contact number: +91 (0)11 2684 5861 / +91 (0)11 2683 8827

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Shooting in Delhi

If you want to indulge in the art of shooting in Delhi, whether it be for shotgun, or for rifle practise in skeet, double trap or trap, or in air pistol, then you actually need to head for Haryana, Faridabad to be precise. The location is the Dr. Karni Singh shotting range, close to the Tughlakabad Fort. This is supposed to be one of the best shooting ranges in Asia, and will be the location for shooting events of the Commonwealth Games of 2010.
Contact Ph.: 6986802.
The following events will be held there:
10 meters Range, 25 Meters range, 50 meters range, 3 Trap Ranges, 3 Skeet Ranges

As the map shows, it is on the Surajkund road, and is fairly easy to find once you are near that area.

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Boating in Delhi: Purana Qila

There are not too many option to go in case you want to go for some boating in Delhi. The lake just next to Purana Qila is one option, where you have some options. You can either use some pedal boats or go for a shikhara ride. The place is open in summer from 12pm to 7pm, and in winter from 11am to 6 pm. Boats are available in various shapes and types, and this is an extremely popular spot.

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Roshnara Bagh (Garden), Club and Tomb

Seems strange to mention a garden, a club, and a tomb in the same place, but this is exactly what Roshanara Bagh, located in North Delhi is. Easily reachable, near the North University, it is reachable by going to Kamla market, from there to the Clock Tower and then the Roshnara Road.
So what is the Roshanara Garden all about? Well, it is a very old garden, constructed by the younger daughter of Shah Jahan, Roshanara in 1650. She helped her brother, Aurangzeb in the fight for the Mughal throne with Dara Shikoh, and was his favourite sister for a long time. However, things change and she was poisoned in 1671 on Aurangzeb's orders, and buried in the garden.
Her grave is right in the middle of the garden, called the Baradari. Right now, it is not in a well maintained condition, but it used to be a simple roofless grave surrounded by carved marble screens, and a big hall with lots of beautiful paintings. The British really liked the garden due its location amongst the greenery of the Ridge, and made some alterations in 1875 to substantially make the place more open. In 1923, the Roshanara Club was opened, which is a fairly exclusive club, and not open by default to everybody; only to members and their guests.

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Purana Qila: The Old Fort

Delhi has a major fort that is very popular, the Red Fort in Old Delhi, where the Prime Minister unfurls the national flag on Indian Independence Day (August 15th). But the Red Fort was constructed by the 5th Mughal, Shah Jehan. What was there before that ?
Well, the answer is the Purana Qila (Old Fort). Located on Mathura Road, very centrally, right next to the Delhi Zoo, next to Pragati Maidan, and connected by a short road to India Gate. This looks much more of a ruin, as compared to the Red Fort. The Old Fort has a chequered history, having been completed by the Afghan ruler, Sher Shah Suri who had managed to over-throw the second Mughal, Humayun. The idea of the fort was to defend the city against invaders, and this worked till Sher Shah died 5 years later.
Humayun was able to win his way back over the throne, and occupied the fort. However, the reign was short, and he died in a fall from the steep steps of the library. After his death, the Mughals considered the fort as cursed, and eventually started the construction of a new fort, the Red Fort. The Purnana Qila is a wonderful garrison, with its walls being very high, as high as 20 meters in some places, and with a circumference of around 2.5 kilometers. The fort introduced the concept of spy holes in the walls, something which was copied by other forts.
The Old fort also has a way to show tourists about the history of the city through an incredible sound and light show, run by Delhi Tourism.

Tickets available at - DTTDC Office, N-36, Connaught Place, New Delhi, India 110001.
Phone : +91-11-3315322

Connaught Place Coffee Home, New Delhi, India 110001.
Phone : +91-11-3363607

The Old Fort is supposed to have been built on the site of the historic Indraprastha, the capital of the Pandavas. In some excavation at the site of the Old Fort, pottery dating back to 1000 BC has been found; and in addition, coins and such relating to the Gupta and post-Gupta dynasties (4th century AD onwards) have also been found.

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Delhi Structures: A colorful building in Noida Sector 25A

If you are passing by this sector, you would have noticed Spice Mall. Next to that is a big building, around 7 levels high. From the back, the building is a combination of grey and white; but from the front, the building is a riot of colours, with red, blue, yellow colors spicing up the front of the building. At the top, there will be a red logo 'A'. This building is Adobe Systems. At the sides of the building, you can see a number of playing areas such as a volleyball court, a lawn tennis court, a mini-golf putting zone and a half-basketball court. If you look closely, and if the weather is not too hot, people will be playing any of these sports at any point of time. The Spice mall building is also fairly colorful (malls should be anyhow), and a few buildings away from the Adobe office (towards the line in which Reliance Energy is located), there is a very bright yellow building. Looking from a distance, you would not believe that such a colorful building is actually the Pension Fund office. Right next to the Adobe office is a wide open area which is right being used as farmland, must be one of the most expensive farmland in the whole of India.
Adobe Systems is the Indian subsidiary of the worldwide multinational head-quartered at San Jose. The Indian subsidiaries are located at Noida and Bangalore, and the company employs a variety of people such as technical writers, developers (preferably people with product development experience, but not necessary; with good c, c++ or Java skills), testers (both blackbox and whitebox testers), program managers/project managers, product managers, UI / Visual designers. If you have some experience in these areas and want to try out for a job in Adobe Systems in Noida / Bangalore, please send your resume to getitjobsindia@gmail.com
The India center does work in some cutting edge areas as well, and the job can be fairly satisfying.

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Pizza Hut in Delhi

Pizza Hut is loved by a lot of people in Delhi. The various Pizza Hut locations that I have been to are always very clean, with courteous waiters and waitresses. Food normally does not take too long to arrive, and they also serve a variety of non-alcoholic drinks, although most groups that I have gone with normally order pitchers of cold drinks.
Pizza Hut also delivers Pizzas, and one hit is the 4 small pan pizzas that they serve for a price of Rs. 200 for vegetarian pizzas and Rs. 250 for non-vegetarian pizzas.
Pizza Hut is located at a variety of locations in Delhi & NCR (remember, not all of these are dine-in. Some are dine-in or takeaway or delivery, or a combination):
- Greater Kailash, M Block market
- Connaught Place, Inner Circle
- 41, Basant Lok, Vasanth Vihar
- Green Park Market
- Grandlay Cinema Building, New Friends Colony
- Narmada Housing Society, Alaknandan
- Padam Singh Road, Karol Bagh
- Community Center, Saket
- Netaji Subash Place, Pitampura
- Janpath, Connaught Place
- Satyam Cineplex, Janakpuri
- Parsvnath Metro Mall, Inderlok
- Aggarwal City Plaza, Rohini
- MGF City Square Mall, Rajouri Garden, West Delhi
- Shivaji Place, Near Rajouri Garden Market
- Fun City Mall, Prashanth Vihar
- Ashirwad Chowk, Aggarwal Mall, Dwarka
- V3Mall, Laxmi Nagar, East Delhi

Gurgaon
- Centerpoint, A Block, Sushant Lok
- Metropolitan Mall
- City Center Mall
- Sector 14, Gurgaon
- Cyber Green, Sector 14
- Palam Vihar, Sector 23A
- Second Floor, Mega City Mall

East Delhi
- East Delhi Mall (EDM)
- Pacific Mall
- MMX Mall, Mohan Nagar

Noida
- Shoprix Mall, Sector 51
- Spice Mall, Sector 25A
- Sector 18 market (just next to Center Stage Mall)

In addition, there is one centralized number for delivery (based in Gurgaon):
From anywhere in Delhi - 95124-39883988 or 0124-39883988 (depends on how you call)

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KFC in Delhi

KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is a famous American chain, currently owned by Yumi International (that also owns Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, etc). It is also known as Colonel Saunder's restaurant (based on the name of the founder). KFC is famous for its chicken bucket (a bucket full of fried chicken). It is also famous for the ransacking of the first KFC in India (in Bangalore) some years back.
KFC is now found in Delhi in quite a few place, with a restaurant in Connaught Place (just next to Rodeo), in Noida Sector 18, in the City Square Mall in Rajouri Garden, one in Karol Bagh. There are a few others which I have not found details of so far. So if somebody knows location of KFC in Gurgaon, North Delhi, South Delhi, Priya area, etc, do leave a comment.
KFC is very famous also for their Zinger burger; I found a number of people who like this burder. In addition, the chana burger is also well liked by vegetarians.

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Delhi Education: School of Planning and Architecture (SPA)

SPA is one of the country's premier places to learn about architecture, and a dream for students to get into. Located in a very crowded location, next to Delhi's ITO location, and Police Headquarters. SPA was started in 1941 as Polytechnic and was eventually renamed as the School of Planning and Architecture in 1959. The website of SPA can be found by clicking on this link.
SPA offers Under Graduate courses leading to a Bachelor's Programme in Architecture and Planning. It offers Post Graduate Programmes in Architecture and Planning, and it offers Doctoral Courses to enable interested students to do research work in the area of architecture, architecture conservation, housing, etc that eventually leads to a Ph.D.
Contact numbers are: Telephone: 91 11 23702375 to 23702377, 23702379
SPA is a deemed university. It offers hostel facilities to outstation students and also provides scholarships to needy students. The girl's hostel is located within the premises of the college while the boys have to stay outside, staying in New Friends Colony.
SPA students typically get involved in a lot of extra-curricular activities such as dramatics, music, photography, involvement in Spic-Macay.

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Journey of Spices: Noida resto-bar

This is a restaurant located in the Noida Sector 18 market, more towards the Atta side. For precise location, if you are coming from the McDonald's side, then proceed straight past ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and keep on going straight till you hit a turn in the road. It is right there at the turn, just straight. For those coming from the Atta side, it is in the same set of buildings as Shyam Garments and the Titan showroom, just around the corner (in front of Bon Bon).
There is a small lift that take one upstairs, and in a twist, the lift actually opens into the restaurant itself. The restaurant has a nice inner look, with a clean and ordered look. There are also some seats that hang from the roof rather than being chairs on the ground, and it is fun to sit on these chairs since they swing with movement.
The restaurant has primarily Indian veg and non-veg stuff along with liquor. It is a trifle expensive since the meal for 4, with 2 cocktails, 2 mocktails, one veg starter, and 2 dishes with roti cost around Rs. 1600 (the cost includes a 10% service charge). Choice of cocktails is fairly comprehensive. Food quality was good, and waiters were very helpful.

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Khooni Darwaza on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg

This is an old quartzite structure, just a short distance from the ITO crossing, and right next to Maulana Azad Medical College (in fact, the gate became even more infamous a few years ago (December 2002) when a medical college student was raped on the gate, something that was a horror !). It is a protected monument because of its historical background.
The Khooni Darwaza has a history that makes the name easy to understand. It was originally called the Kabuli Darwaza (Gate) in Sher Shah Suri's time since it is believed that caravans to Kabul would pass through it. The gate is an imposing structure if you look at it closely (it is 15.5 metres high), and one can imagine it to be a bustling structure at that point of time.
However, it started getting a bloody reputation during the Mughal rule after that. The bodies of criminals, and thieves, and also those whom the emperor ordered dead were displayed at the gate, to be eaten by birds of prey. This tradition continued for a long time, with the Mughal emperor Jahangir ordering the death of 2 sons of Akbar's friend (who had committed the crime of supporting another brother in the succession battle). His grandson, Aurangzeb got the throne by killing his elder brother, Dara Shikoh, and ordered his head to be displayed over here.
During the First Battle for Independence in 1857, after the British won, they killed 2 sons and the grandson of the last Mughal (Bahadur Shah Zafar) here at the Gate. And this was not the end. During the Partition of the country in 1947, there were massive riots, and a number of refugees were killed here while trying to go to safety.
No wonder people avoid the Gate during dusk hours, as it is rumoured to be the haunt of spirits and ghosts of the people who died violent deaths over here.

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Central Park in Connaught Place

Connaught Place in Delhi is a layered structure, with 3 circular roads around a central point, always called the Central Park. This Central Park has been covered for the last 3 years due to the construction of the Metro station right below that, and before that time, it was not in a very good condition, with inadequate lighting and generally unsafe at night.
The Delhi Metro Corporation has turned this park into something that citizens can enjoy, a place where they can go with family in complete safety. And this is something that I have seen just a couple of days back. While driving around the Central Park, it was a magical pace, with soft lights all around, water flowing and in fountains and people with families roaming around. Such a sight is very peaceful, and it is hard to imagine that there is a crowded Metro Station right below.
There has been a lot of work that has gone into the making of this park. Some of the things that are there now are: A 350 seat amphitheatre, lights all over (CFL's) that make sure that every section of the park has light, 4 water bodies and lots of fountains, a water cascade, lush green grass all over , lots of different trees and shrubs from all over; overall a nice place to rest after some hectic shopping in Connaught Place.

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