Building the City

I spotted this construction site, with the bright yellow poles, in Connaught Place recently. The construction in the city continues months after the Commonwealth Games 2010.

I often wonder what the generations who come thousands of years after us will think about us when they find our civilization (buildings, things we use, roads, etc) buried beneath several layers of soil.

CWG 2010: Hockey Matches at Dhyanchand National Stadium

Shera, the official mascot for the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010, welcomed my friends, other spectators and me to the Dhyanchand National Stadium on Saturday, 9 October 2010.

Some supporters of India had the tri-colour painted on their face, while others wore the blue jersey, with the flag proudly adorning their chest.

Water sprinklers readied the field for the matches.
Indian women's team played a fantastic match against South Africa and won the game 3-1. Here is the Indian women's team taking the winner's lap.
Soon it was time for the Indian men to thrash the Scottish team, and we had a wonderful time cheering for the brilliant hockey players who won the game 4-0.


With smiles on our faces with the double win, we bid adieu to Shera :-)

CWG 2010: A Wedding Procession

As a part of the Commonwealth Games 2010 celebrations, several places in Delhi are hosting various festivals and fairs. I recently went for the Incredible India fair being held at Baba Kharak Singh Marg.
Huge hoardings with jalebis welcomed the guests to the street food fair.

The main attraction at the fair is this massive installation, made of jute ropes, showing a wedding procession.

Here you can see the royal groom, perched on an elephant, while taking his bride home. Horsemen and musicians are accompanying the royal couple.

Sitting in a doli, the royal bride is shy and is constantly looking down. Doli is a special carrier made to carry the bride from her parents' house to her husband's house after the wedding ceremony. Usually, the brothers of the bride carry the doli to the grooms house. While the bride here is sitting coyly, the royal servant blows the tuturi.


A closer look and you can see that the bride is wearing a flowing chunri or dupatta and a beautiful maang tika. Her doli is also designed keeping the feminine curves in mind.


There is more to come from Incredible India... see you soon!

Lion's Den

These three lions and several others like them have been given the duty of welcoming the guests expected to come to Delhi for the Commonwealth Games 2010, slated for next month. You will find similar statues on either side of Mother Teresa Crescent road.

Roadside View: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

This is the roadside view of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which is being readied to host the Commonwealth Games 2010 in Delhi in the month of October.

Delhi at this moment looks like a war zone. It is dug up all over the place and driving is an exercise that leaves most exhausted at the end of the day. Hopefully things will improve in the coming month and the city I love will be at its beautiful best to host the athletes of the Commonwealth Nations.

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.

Words of the great Michelangelo. It seems that the Delhi government agrees. With just 70 odd days left for the city to host the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010, the process of beautifying Delhi is on full swing. I spotted this statue on the Baba Kharak Singh Marg, facing the several state emporiums in Connaught Place. Thumbs-up for the government's aesthetics, at least in this case.

Sprucing up Delhi for XIX Commonwealth Games

A Delhiite knows something big is round the corner, when we see India Gate being cleaned. This huge mesh of iron rods has been created to clean the nook and crevices of the monument that rests in the centre of Delhi to ready is before the XIX Commonwealth Games. I had visited the India Gate lawns yesterday with my family to enjoy the Monsoon showers . I was not the only one, it seemed the whole city had decided to go to India Gate, walk in the rain and have ice-cream. It was an evening spent well. :-)

Digging up Delhi for XIX Commonwealth Games 2010

If you come to New Delhi for the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010, please spare a moment and appreciate that Delhiites have gone through a whole year of dug up roads to present a beautiful city to the visitors expected in October 2010. Here, men are working on replacing drainage pipes just outside of my house. Who said the games were all about sports?

XIX Commonwealth Games 2010, Delhi

XIX Commonwealth Games 2010, will be held in Delhi from October 3 to 14. The city is gearing up for the international event with much gusto. This is the office of the Organising Committee. The building was lighted on the Republic Day as January 26 also marked just 250 days left for the Games.