Categories
Miscellaneous

Visual Treat


A little while back, I visited the food court at HUDA City Centre Metro Station.

Now I’m not very fond of fancy restaurants. I usually end up buying corn on the cob from a street vendor. But when my stomach groaned, I reluctantly entered the newly opened food court.

It didn’t take long for me to get a snack. A keen eye behind the counter of petooz noticed a hungry customer and helped me decide my order. But more than the snack (which was delicious), I liked the colourful illustration on the wall of the street food stall.

A hat-tip to the artist Arif Hussain. From the Red Fort and Qutab Minar to a foul mouthed auto-rickshaw* driver and the Metro line, the illustration captures the big landmarks and the quirks of New Delhi. If you happen to find yourself at the HUDA City Centre Metro station, be sure to check out the food court, whether you are hungry or not.

More photographs at Sasi Menon Design’s FaceBook Page:

* also known as a tuk-tuk

Categories
Poetry

A Flower’s Life


You put in all your efforts,
I smile ’cause I’m impressed.
That is what you think.

To you, I am always pretty.
But it’s not because of you,
That is my ill fate.

You wait for me to blossom,
And at just the right time,
Cut me off my stem.

You give me sparkles,
A little water to drink,
To show me off to your mate.

I may cry before your very eyes,
But you choose to ignore.
For you, that’s my smile.

I wait patiently to get my own way.
That is not what you want,
And I must stay.

Soon the day will be here,
And I will become free.
That is the day you will throw me away.

Categories
Musings

The Last Hurrah?


Roger Federer
Roger Federer (Image by Squeaky Knees)

It’s well past 10:00 pm. I have to get up early tomorrow morning to get to work. My father nudges me more than a few times. I need to rest my weary eyes.

Roger Federer is struggling in his quarterfinal match against Stanislas Wawrinka.

‘Not again!’ I say to myself. Is he going to miss this one too? Both of us are on the edge of our seats, hoping we weren’t watching yet another upset.

I had missed every single match he had played in the tournament. With the newspapers focusing on the football extravaganza, Federer had slipped under the radar of most news reports, becoming only a one-line announcement in articles dedicated to other flamboyant players.

I followed as closely as I could; half expecting a line saying he’d been knocked out; and at the same time, hoping he was still playing competitively.

Playing in his quarterfinal match against his compatriot, Wawrinka, I couldn’t help but think his campaign was going to end. And like all those other matches, I’d end up watching the only match he lost. The past few years I had stopped watching his matches for this very reason. It’s hard to think that my watching television could have an impact on the result, but that’s how it invariably was.

Later today, Roger plays his semi-final. Many people have written him off. His run this Wimbledon may well be attributed to the ‘easy’ draw he’s been given. It’s very tempting for me to skip the match. It can be painful to watch him lose on the court he used to own not so long ago.

But I will still stay up tonight. I won’t bother about the result.  His best days may have passed him by and it is very possible he may not win another match*. But I do not want to regret missing a match, when I am lucky to be part of the generation which get’s to watch, arguably, one of the greatest grass court players of all time, play live.

* Federer, please prove me wrong.


Image Credit: Roger Federer (26 June 2009, Wimbledon) by Squeaky Knees CC-BY-2.0