….need, when you come back from that 3-week whirlwind trip to India. Last summer, or atleast part of it was spent in Delhi. And needless to say, its hot, with swirling gusts of dusty winds, which manage to dump thin layer of dust inside the home, right after it has been swept and mopped. We don’t venture outside the home in the afternoon, and now that everyone has inverters, the load shedding isn’t that unbearable either. I did manage to shop though, heat or no heat. Of course, Delhi is a shopper’s paradise. Everytime I buy fabric, I am amazed at the variety, the weave, and the different and beautiful prints and techniques used. There’s a fabric for every mood, moment and occassion. Some so stunningly beautiful, that you have to just stop, look and feel, and buy possibly.

Everywhere I shop though, the newly sprung malls are hard to miss. Cool and air-conditioned, this is a welcome break from Delhi’s heat. And crowded, oh so crowded, especially during the weekends. Its like everyone’s favorite way to avoid the heat. Most people are just lounging around, not even browsing the stores. Or they are sipping coffees in the newly trendy Barista. Some make it to the attached movie theaters. In Delhi, you find well-dressed crowds, women often heavily-jewelleried, and wearing dressy suits. The younger pack mostly sporting jeans and other “in” apparel (are we hip, or what ?).

You walk into a restaurant or a service-oriented store, and the staff is pretty young. Like 20-somethings or just-out-of-college folk handling the cash register or showing jewellery, or just plain cleaning up. One thing is for sure, this is not the regular Haldiram kind of service counter – no old fogies here. Opportunity, you say ? Knocking very loudly.

I leave the malls, and browse through the popular markets of Delhi, where people abound and parking doesn’t. Nevertheless, such pleasure, browsing ! Little shops, cheek-by-jowl, walk-in-peruse, walkout. Of course, in some cases, some needy shop proprietor gets hold of you and you need to indulge in a little off-the-cuff Q & A about your intents and purposes on perusing/buying stuff.

As I pass by the fast food section, of the open market, my mouth waters involuntarily. The smell of deep-fried chole-puri, reaches deep into my gut, and causes me to physically stop. I succumb. Amid large crowds of people, in sweltering heat, sweat dripping off my brow in little salty drops, I relish my bites of puri and spicy chole, with red crescents of onion and tiny circles of green peppers. It looks lovely, very color-coordinated, lying steaming hot on my hastily washed plate. It tastes amazing too. The shop-keeper offers me a Coke, and I take the can, returning a much-soiled currency note to him. The ubiquitous coke helps me in keeping the fierceness of the fiery green peppers at bay. And so I eat, and sip ….