Weekend hangout: Damdama Lake

Damdama Lake- Moody and withdrawn, the lake unites a haunting loveliness to a raw desolateness. Tired of crowded week-end malls? Pissed of queuing to buy a Mc’ Donald’s burger? Bored of another 'Devdas' type movie? Try this for a week end outing, its Damdama Lake, away from crowded city centers, it’s much peaceful and enjoyment for all. Get the village feeling in the walled city.So take a break from the noise and pollution of Delhi to refresh and rejuvenate.

Sun set at the lake: Often did I wonder why the setting sun Should look upon us with a blushing face: Is't not for shame of what he hath seen done, Whilst in our hemisphere he ran his race? Water Banks lakeside village style resort is an island in the Damdama Lake less then an hour's drive from Delhi and only 30 minutes from the airport. The Resort has 15 ethnically village style independent cottages with modern luxuries- all facing the beautiful environs of Damdama lake.

A small hut by the side of lake-Many miles away there's a shadow on the door of a cottage on the Shore of a dark beautiful lake. Only reached by boats, activities here include rowing, fishing, bird watching, nature walks in the nearby Aravalli mountain ranges, rock climbing and hot air ballooning. Ideal for conferences, training program, leisure retreat, bar-be-cue dinners and weekend breaks. You will love the swinging Burma bridge and the 30 feet tall private machans to enjoy the quite interiors of the lake and its bird life.

In quest of top: One does not climb to attain enlightenment, rather one climbs because he is enlightened. A smooth blend of comfort and nature where you naturally revel in its richness and relax in its serenity. Tune your body and free your spirit at Waterbanks. Peaceful and eco friendly, it encourages people to live in harmony with the environment. In the tranquil surroundings of the Damdama lake, framed by forests, wildlife, bird life and the Aravalli ranges, Waterbanks captivates the romantic and releases the adventurer in you.

Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake. There is never a dull moment here, not even when the sun goes down. In fact, the real fun begins when dusk brings in a subtle change of mood around a bonfire and a barbecue at the lakeside. A perfect time for socializing perhaps with light and soothing music.See that flush back on your children's faces as they ride, boat, trek and breathe the clear fresh air or just climb up the exciting machaans for a view over the beautiful lake and its environs, only an hour away from Delhi. On the whole, have a whale of a time.

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Capital Affair- 'Suraj Kund' Fair

Folk dancers at the fair: The Surajkund Crafts is an annual event that highlight some of the finest handloom and handicraft traditions of the country. From 1st to 15th February rural India basks in the warmth of admiration at Surajkund mela village that lies some 8 km from South Delhi. The Mela also celebrates the rhythms of folk theatre- and a theme State that makes each visitor marvel

Rest wait for thier turn: The Mela is organised under the aegis of the Suraj Kund Mela Authority. This comprises of the Department of Tourism Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Governement of India in collaboration with Haryana Tourism,
Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Commissioner Development (Handicrafts)

A foreign national at Suraj Kund 'Mela': The objectives

• To create a rural ambience for the foreign and domestic tourist to see.
• To educate patrons both from abroad, urban centres and educational institutes about the fascinating technique and skills involved in craft creation.
• To introduce crafts and craftspersons directly to the buyers and help them find their patrons.
• To Identify, nurture and preserve languishing crafts of the country and save it for posterity.

Suraj Kund is a beautiful tourist location of Haryana Tourism and in its lovely setting, folk painters, metal workers, stone and wood carvers, tie dye craftspersons, embroiders, lace makers, textiles printers, carpet and loom weavers, producers of silk fabrics, jewellers and sculptors- execute and display their skills. The entrance to fair: The fortnight long celebrations also come as a food festival. Some of the popular food traditions from Punjab come at the Punjabi 'Rasoi'. South Indian delicacies come in from South Indian Section. Popular Chinese and snack foods also arrive for the event along with a special stalls where patrons are introduced to the traditional foods and sweet meats of the selected theme State. A woman tries the art of heena artist: The Surajkund Crafts Mela has grown equally famous for the rhythms of folk theatre: It resonates with the formal notes of the classical genre: The heady rhythms of percussion instruments: The ballads of singing minstrels: The clebration of the simple joys of rural life and reverence of epic traditions all mingle well. All these colourful events are also presented before the audience in the open-air-theatre named Natyashala. Folk dancers performing at the fair: Some of the most deligtful crafts collections of the Mela arrive from practically all over the country. In wood and cane come inlay work, rose wood carving, sandal wood from Punjab and South India. Chiki wood craft of Kashmir and some very fine cane craft come from West Bengal and North Eastern States. One more: Delcate sholapith and shital patti work come from Assam and West Bengal. The phulkari of Punjab, the Banjara and Banni embroidery of Gujarat and Rajasthan, the Kantha traditions from West Bengal and Tripura, lace and crochet from Goa, the Suzni of Kashmir and Mirror encasing work along with the traditional chikan work of Lucknow delight.Oxidized jewellery, sea shell decorations and agate stone work delight as also do delicate gold work and chunky silver jewellery. Toys in wood and cane, ply and mud make the young thrill with joy. Some of the fine phad paintings of Rajasthan, the kalamkari of Andhra and Karnataka, temple paintings of Orissa, madhubani of Bihar, fascinate. In the metal section tribal dhora work, classical south Indian metal work, glittering brass ware, bell metal and iron craft delight collectors. In the field of woven textiles some of the finest silk work of Orissa, Patola, Bandhini of Gujarat and Rajasthan, Ikat, Kanjeevaram, Dharmavaram and temple silks of South India vie for attention with the most simple cottons of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and tribal textiles of North East India as also do the handloom of Haryana. The Various Crafts particpated in the Mela every year. The Introduction of some of the Crafts are as follows:
Cane & Bamboo
Embroidery
Metalware
Pottery

THE SURAJKUND Crafts Mela 2009 was unusually vibrant and lively with the ambience full of drumbeats and folk music spreading the festivity all over. The display of exquisite handicrafts and handlooms further added the colour to the mela making it a perfect getaway for the visitors away from the hustle bustle of city life. Varieties of cuisines from all parts of India and foreign countries were relished by the crowd.

The Mela is a paradise for the shoppers’ and one could see an entire spectrum of buyers, with their hands laden with bags.

Among the crafts this year, woodcraft garnered special attention and praise. There has been a tremendous increase in the number of stalls of this craft this year. The craftsmen of this art find the platform of the Surajkund Crafts Mela extremely beneficial, as they get immense publicity and recognition. It also helps them to add to their income, which supports for almost the whole year. The mela provides them an elevated stage, with large number of buyers, wherein they get an opportunity to popularise their age old craft in addition to reaping the benefits of selling their products directly to the consumers.

These craftsmen, to say the least, have emerged as the flag bearers of the dying art of wooden carving. Due to the advent of variety of machines, handmade wood carvings find it difficult to sustain in the present day market but a platform like Surajkund Crafts Mela provides unique opportunity for them to sell these products to those buyers who understand the artistic value of these handicraft. Surajkund Crafts Mela mainly has the craftsmen, who have been the recipients of national or state awards. These master craftsmen are the real ambassadors of India for the foreign tourists, who throng the mela, in large numbers, every year. The craft can easily be seen gaining popularity in foreign countries, especially the Arabian countries, where woodcraft has a special place in the hearts of the people.

Abdul Rehman Siddiqui is one such craftsperson, who hails from Saharanpur, UP, and has been in this business for the past 50 years. He learnt his art and skill from his forefathers. He and his nephew Shahid Siddiqui have already helped more than 150 other youngsters to learn the tricks of this trade. Recipient of national award for his woodcarving, Siddiqui had a chance to hone up his skills in wood carvings by visiting Germany. This exposure to a foreign land has provided him an edge over other craftsmen in this trade. This is for the second time that he has got an opportunity to exhibit his craft at the Surajkund Crafts Mela and he finds it extremely profitable, he confessed.

Basher Ahmed, one of the other craftsmen, also hails from UP. He makes an exclusive use of brass on wood carvings. He makes variety of walking sticks, jewellery boxes, coaster sets and even hair clips with this art. His entire family is devoted to this craft for more than 100 years. He also holds a national award for the year 1984.

Sardar Hussein makes use of block printing art on wooden boxes. From mirror frames to candle stands, one can find beautiful wooden artifacts with intricate designing. He has been bestowed with Shilp Guru Award, in 2006, for his special creations.

The mela provides a perfect blend of cultural heritage of various states of India. The cultural events showcase the various aspects like with ethnicity, environment and prosperity of various regions of our country. Khalil Mohammed Kalwal, a craftsman from Kashmir, was demonstrating the art of walnut wood carving in the Surajkund Mela, grounds at stall No.281. He has already exhibited his craft in various countries like Dubai and Romania. The beauty of his art lies in the fact that walnut wood is exclusively used for his creations. He finds this platform very lucrative for his business where he earned name, fame and his livelihood.

This mela is a perfect platform for direct sales as the chances of traders and middlemen to reap benefits out of the creations of the craftsmen is completely shelved, commented Kahlil Kalwal. It also gives them a chance to provide authentic handmade wood craft to their customers as per their own choice. Surajkund Crafts Mela has craftsmen participating from far flung areas like Leh and Ladakh also, who have caught the attention of the buyers. Tsering Namgyar makes use of special wood of Leh and Ladakh region and carves them out to make beautiful tables and boxes. These are matchless, commented one of the foreigners visiting the mela.
Nafisa Begum, a recipient of national award makes sure that she employs economically poor so that they can learn the art of wood carving and become self dependent. Women from extremely poor households, widows and young girls, are also taught the art of woodcraft to alleviate the problem of poverty to some extent. It was heartening to see that these struggling crafts-persons play an active role in the society as a whole.

The Surajkund Crafts Mela authority this year decided to promote this almost dying craft to make it self-sustainable. Fifteen work huts were offered to various craftsmen, belonging to this field, and the response at theses stalls was overwhelming

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Delhi Belly: 'Paranthe wali Gali'

In the heart of old Delhi's commercial hub, Chandini Chowk, lays a historical landmark since the time of the Mughals - the "Paranthe wali Gali." A very famous street, "Paranthe wali Gali" (‘gali' means street that sells ‘paranthas' - an Indian food delicacy, sort of chapatti) has seen almost three passed centuries. It houses descendants of the royal chefs of yore who make Paranthas that taste heavenly. So much so, that the Parantha is perhaps the only food in the world to have an entire street named after it!

The first impression of the gali is that of a bustling narrow by lane, crowds walking, bikes, cyclists' driving past, people browsing through the sari and jewellery shops! But as one strolls deeper into the street there begins an irresistible tingling sensation in the nostrils.

And one looks around sniffing the air for more of it and then you know for sure that you're in the right place. Sizzling hot paranthas are being fried here! Each day the dexterous hands of these chefs toss out the most amazing concoctions of a parantha.
Plain paranthas, salted or sweet paranthas, dal (pulses) ka parantha, gobhi ka parantha minced cauliflower), radish parantha, pudina parantha (mint), popadom parantha, cashew nut parantha - the variety is endless. You name it and they have it! All one is required to do is to knead some dough into small balls, roll it on a wooden base, addfillings ranging from cottage cheese, potatoes sprinkled with chopped ginger, and exotic Indian spices, fry it in ghee or butter and viola, it's the perfect recipe for a lip-smacking parantha.

At the moment there are about 40 varieties of paranthas and these chefs plan to add another 50 varieties in the coming years. The Paranthe wali gali caters only for the pure vegetarian - even no onion and no garlic!

What's different about the paranthas of Chandini Chowk is that they are fried in a kadhai, which is a griddle of sorts but very deep almost like an iron bowl. So the paranthas are doused in ghee or butter. The more oil used for frying the parantha the tastier it gets. It definitely is a satiating experience.

Earlier in the 1980s the gali had thirteen eateries cooking these sumptuous paranthas. But as more and more families are diversifying into other business ventures, only three families of Chandini Chowk are left in the field of parantha-making. It is their sixth generation that has taken on the endeavor to preserve the gali's name and offer the flavor of the past to the present.

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Capital Trend: Tea Lounges

The Tea Lounge, Lajpat Nagar: If you are meeting up with old friends partying late into the night is inevitable. Before the gang returned to their respective permanent addas in Maharashtra, we did some partying here in Delhi. A lot was cooked but only a little was photographed. I was too rushed at times, and the fact that my ‘food photography’ was the source of some amusement to the lot was not lost on me. All in good humor, of course.

Masala Chai, Kidwai Nagar: It may seem to some, who don’t live to eat, that tender ginger, giant cucumbers, and cups of tea, are not the best subjects for photography. Obviously they have forgotten all the art appreciation classes we had as undergraduates students of architecture. Food and drink are very suitable still-life subjects.

Cha Bar, Oxford Book Store: (Cha Bar, Oxford Bookstore, Statesman House, 148 Barakhamba Road, 011-23766084). Most Delhi wallas are tea lovers but only within home. Outside, they talk like coffee connoisseurs. That may be changing. No longer is this humble drink confined to grimy dhabas and JNU addas, or locked behind the counters of 5-star hotel lounges. Chai is becoming cool. Tea bars are the new hotspots. The brewed beverage has started infusing into the milky layer of the Delhi social scene.

App ki Pasand, Daryaganj: Most Delhi wallas are tea lovers but only within home. Outside, they talk like coffee connoisseurs. That may be changing. No longer is this humble drink confined to grimy dhabas and JNU addas, or locked behind the counters of 5-star hotel lounges. Chai is becoming cool. Tea bars are the new hotspots. The brewed beverage has started infusing into the milky layer of the Delhi social scene.

Everest Tea (Everest Bakery Café, G. No. 4591, Dal Mandi, Main Bazar, Paharganj) I sit down on the cane sofa, beside a samovar. Staring wide-eyed at the giant tea caddies, as a Japanese-speaking attendant serves Jasmine in a moderately large glass bowl. He insisted on iced tea but I wanted it warm. Though the chai's heady fragrance is soothing, its faint fruity sweetness playful, I continue to feel lethargic. It is eventually the zesty Neelgiri that lifts me from my afternoon languor.

Crafts House (Craft House, Metropolitan Hotel Nikko, Banglasahib Road (011-42500200)While the Craft House at the nearby Metropolitan Hotel oozes the same character as that of Premier's, here it's not only about the tea. The bar-counter with its cookie tray, and the wooden shelves with their Orange Pekoe and Organic Makabari share the showroom space with spices and silk, perfumes and pashmina. It helps that the place employs two knowledgeable attendants. Try visiting during noon when their work-shift timing clash. As the lady from Imphal prepares the chai, the other explains the art of tea-tasting.

Top 10 Health Benefits of Drinking Tea
There are lots of reasons why I enjoy a hot cup of tea: I love the aroma of various flavors of tea; holding onto a hot tea mug warms my hands on a cold winter morning; sipping tea in front of the fireplace is a great way to relax. And those are just the feel-good reasons. If you're not drinking tea yet, read up on these 10 ways tea does your body good and then see if you're ready to change your Starbucks order!

1. Tea contains antioxidants. Like the Rust-Oleum paint that keeps your outdoor furniture from rusting, tea's antioxidants protect your body from the ravages of aging and the effects of pollution.

2. Tea has less caffeine than coffee. Coffee usually has two to three times the caffeine of tea (unless you're a fan of Morning Thunder, which combines caffeine with mate, an herb that acts like caffeine in our body). An eight-ounce cup of coffee contains around 135 mg caffeine; tea contains only 30 to 40 mg per cup. If drinking coffee gives you the jitters, causes indigestion or headaches or interferes with sleep -- switch to tea.

3. Tea may reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. Unwanted blood clots formed from cholesterol and blood platelets cause heart attack and stroke. Drinking tea may help keep your arteries smooth and clog-free, the same way a drain keeps your bathroom pipes clear. A 5.6-year study from the Netherlands found a 70 percent lower risk of fatal heart attack in people who drank at least two to three cups of black tea daily compared to non-tea drinkers.

4. Tea protects your bones. It's not just the milk added to tea that builds strong bones. One study that compared tea drinkers with non-drinkers, found that people who drank tea for 10 or more years had the strongest bones, even after adjusting for age, body weight, exercise, smoking and other risk factors. The authors suggest that this may be the work of tea's many beneficial phytochemicals.

5. Tea gives you a sweet smile. One look at the grimy grin of Austin Powers and you may not think drinking tea is good for your teeth, but think again. It's the sugar added to it that's likely to blame for England's bad dental record. Tea itself actually contains fluoride and tannins that may keep plaque at bay. So add unsweetened tea drinking to your daily dental routine of brushing and flossing for healthier teeth and gums.

6. Tea bolsters your immune defenses. Drinking tea may help your body's immune system fight off infection. When 21 volunteers drank either five cups of tea or coffee each day for four weeks, researchers saw higher immune system activity in the blood of the tea drinkers.

7. Tea protects against cancer. Thank the polyphenols, the antioxidants found in tea, once again for their cancer-fighting effects. While the overall research is inconclusive, there are enough studies that show the potential protective effects of drinking tea to make adding tea to your list of daily beverages.

8. Tea helps keep you hydrated. Caffeinated beverages, including tea, used to be on the list of beverages that didn't contribute to our daily fluid needs. Since caffeine is a diuretic and makes us pee more, the thought was that caffeinated beverages couldn't contribute to our overall fluid requirement. However, recent research has shown that the caffeine really doesn't matter -- tea and other caffeinated beverages definitely contribute to our fluid needs. The only time the caffeine becomes a problem as far as fluid is concerned is when you drink more than five or six cups of a caffeinated beverage at one time.

9. Tea is calorie-free. Tea doesn't have any calories, unless you add sweetener or milk. Consuming even 250 fewer calories per day can result in losing one pound per week. If you're looking for a satisfying, calorie-free beverage, tea is a top choice.

10. Tea increases your metabolism. Lots of people complain about a slow metabolic rate and their inability to lose weight. Green tea has been shown to actually increase metabolic rate so that you can burn 70 to 80 additional calories by drinking just five cups of green tea per day. Over a year's time you could lose eight pounds just by drinking green tea. Of course, taking a 15-minute walk every day will also burn calories.

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City hangout : PVR Priya

Lets go for movie: One of the most famous hang outs in South Delhi is PVR Priyas, which is usually full of young turks from near by colleges like IIT Delhi, Jesus & Mary , Lady Shri Ram college & also from diplomatic enclave in Chankyapuri. Its crowded on weekends, full of young guns and dating couples.

Unstable Isotopes :Apart from a cinema complex, here you can find all major global brands and second hand book store right at the entry point, its must visit for book lovers. Across India, the way we watch movies today has changed completely, thanks to Ajay Bijli who came up with India’s first multiplex at Saket in New Delhi in 1997. Today, his company PVR is not just a film exhibitor but also a producer and distributor under the PVR Pictures banner.

Why should boys have all the fun? There are some good eating joints like 'Khaaza chowk' , Mcc Donalds, Nirulas, Pizza hut and many other restra offering Indian, chinese, thai, mughlai and other diffrent cusines, making it a good visit for food lovers & also dating couples and college/school bunkers. Beautiful girl can make you dizzy here , like you been drinking jack and coke all morning, they can make you feel high, for the single greatest comodity known to man - promise. promise of a better day, promise of a greater hope, promise of a new tomorrow. this particular aura, can be found in the gait of a beautiful girl, in her smile, in her soul, and the way she makes every rotten little thing about life seem like its gonna be ok.

Show what you have: The youngster here can be seen flaunting the latest bollywood fashion, hair style and wandering with most on window shopping. Smokers have thier own place, at the rear end of the complex. It has a disco and a famous bar.

Beware of night: Crowded by richie-rich kids, the bar here is place to show off money, power and lot more.

Young & restless : Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!

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Lodi Garden : Mecca of Lovers

The Mecca of all the lovers, without places to go and extra money to spend in Delhi, is the beautiful and serene Lodi Garden. Its original purpose was hardly that however. It was designed over two dynasties – the Sayyids and Lodis (15-16 th century) – to be a sort of everyone-take-one graveyard for their families.

During the British times the garden went under the moniker of Lady Willingdon Park, all that stopped with the Independence when they reverted back to being good old Lodi garden. In 1968, the gardens were spruced and relandscaped by JA Stein and Garrett Eckbo.

There are several tombs in this area. You can climb to the top of some of them. However the steps are very steep and dark so it's strictly not recommended. Apart from breaking your neck, you might end up being bitten by a snake or something ('nuff said!). There is no remedy for love but to love more - Henry David Thoreau
Lovers are careless. They are not bothered with the demands of the world. All the cares dissolve down into the substance of the lover. The entire universe gets secreted into the being of that person. Nothing seems important other than the lover. The hustle-bustle of the larger life ceases. All other significant relations - parents, siblings, friends, colleagues - are silenced; their existence reduced down to the melodious hum of the surrounding traffic that whirrs dreamily around the circumference of the garden. Everyone and everything is forgotten. Oh yes, lovers are careless people. A life without love is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead – Oscar Wilde

Lovers are boring. There is nothing new about them. They are occupied in doing exactly the things that millions of people have already done before them. These lovers have no eagerness to the surrounding world. Their eyes do not see beauty in the flowers. Their skins do not tremble under the cool shade of the thick trees. Their hands do not feel the fresh wetness of the evening grass. Their ears do not hear the chirping of the birds. Their sensibilities do not get invigorated by the sight of decaying monuments. Their nerves do not get nervous as the blue sky gradually shuts down to the darkness of the dusk. The lovers are immune to the worldly senses. They have no interest in anything that does not add up to their lover. Oh yes, lovers are boring people.

Romantic love is an illusion – Thomas Moore
Lovers are dreaming fools. Their world is false. The lovers are stupid to fall in love with people who do not belong to their caste. Sometimes, even their religions are different. Occasionally, their families speak different languages and cook different cuisines at home. The lovers forget, momentarily, that they have the aspirations of their parents and the legacies of their families to preserve. That their life is not just their life. In one person lie dreams of many people. The lovers overlook that the world does not consist of just the lovers. They carry on with their romance. They continue seeking dark corners in secret gardens to knit the dreams of a future in which they fancy to live the rest of their live together. Fools! Oh yes, lovers are dreamy, foolish people.

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Random Alphabets: X for... X-Factor

On a a Saturday night at Capitol in Ashoka Hotel, there are scores of people fighting to get in, including a group of 20-something boys in tight jeans and black tees.
“No stags allowed,” says the bouncer firmly. They approach four girls. “Ma’am”, says one, “Can you help us get entry?”
The girls whisper. Minutes later, they all move to the door. “They’re with us,” the girls tell the bouncer and they all get stamped.
An everyday scene outside nightclubs in Delhi. But there’s a reason that single men are kept out. “It is necessary because single men in Delhi are rowdy. They drink too much and cannot handle themselves,” says Amit Nigam, F&B manager, Capitol. “Also, this controls the sex ratio.” Unfair, maybe, but needed.

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What Delhi did on New Year

Some enjoyed live night shows

Some drunk n drive. Taking Delhi Police head on

Waiting before dance floor is jam packed

Fireworks marked the new year eve

Only to woke up to very foggy & chilly New Year

Light gliitered at Gurgaon, NCR

Fountains dance at Connaught Place, New Delhi

City was kept awoke n bikers kept honking at Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, taking Supreme Court verdict of Jan 1st as 'NO HORN DAY' head on , yet again

Businees as usual for MCD workers. New Year or not, work is work

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Jai Hanuman

ShankatMochan- Jai Hanuman.At Shakti-peeth temple (Chattarpur Temole) by the side of the Mandapam, stands in splendor, the statue of Shree Hanuman (around 100 feet high), silently blessing the devotees.

Swastik- Symbol of Hinduism at 'Shakti Peeth', Chattarpur, New Delhi, India.“Hands off our sacred Swastika” must be the loudest roar of the followers of Vedic or Hindu Dharma and all its sects all over the world to save the divinity, purity, auspiciousness, serenity, prestige and position Swastika holds in human race, after the German members of European Parliament called for the total ban on the use of Swastika all over Europe in protest of Prince Harry’s provocation of international outrage by wearing Nazi outfits with a swastika arm band in a private fancy dress party. It is shocking and astonishing news for the lovers of Swastika, irrespective of their faiths, all over the world that the European parliament is in opinion of considering such a ban on this innocent symbol. What has Swastika done wrong? What is the crime of Swastika? Once the most popular, respected, beloved, revered and worshipped symbol of human being all over the world by all races and all faiths is facing socially, religiously and ethical discrimination in Christian dominated European Parliament.

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Of Un-fulfilled Desires

Ala ud din Khilji started building the Alai Minar, which was conceived to be two times higher than Qutub Minar. The construction was abandoned, however, after the completion of the 24.5 meter high first storey; soon after death of Ala-ud-din. The first story of the Alai Minar still stands today.

Ala-ud-din conceived a very ambitious construction programme when he decided to build the second tower of victory when he returned in triumph from his Deccan campaign. However, the Sultan died before even the first storey was finished and the project was abondoned. Ala-ud-Din, felt compelled to increase even further the size of the Quwwatu'l Islam mosque. His scheme called for increasing the size of the enclosure four times, providing ceremonial entrance gateways on each side, and a great minar, twice the size of the Qutub.

This is the unfinished base of the mammoth tower begun by Alauddin Khilji intended to give competition to Qutub Minar. With an arched entrance and spearhead of fringes, identified as lotus buds by scholars, the Alai Minar is a gigantic rubble structure. A short distance west of the enclosure, in Mehrauli village, is the Tomb of Adham Khan who, according to legend drove the beautiful Hindu singer Rupmati to suicide following the capture of Mandu in Madhya Pradesh. When Akbar became displeased with him he ended up being heaved off a terrace in the Agra Fort. There are some summer palaces in the area and the tombs of the last Mughal kings of Delhi. An empty space between two of the tombs was intended for the last king of Delhi, who died in exile in Rangoon, Burma, in 1862, following his implication in the 1857 Indian Mutiny.

And The Desire which came true: Qutb Minar is the tallest brick minaret in the world, and an important example of Indo-Islamic Architecture. The Qutb Minar is 72.5 metres (239 ft) high. The diameter of the base is 14.3 metres wide while the top floor measures 2.7 metres in diameter. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with surrounding buildings and monuments.

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Dating in ruins

Two pigeon in the ruins of Qutub Minar in Delhi.

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Voila Player

Unlike the traditional weekly market, the village Haat, Dilli Haat is permanent. Some shops are permanent but other sellers are rotatated, usually for fifteen days. Products offered may include rosewood and sandalwood carvings, embellished camel hide footwear, sophisticated fabric and drapery, gems, beads, brassware, metal crafts, and silk and wool fabrics. Shows promoting handicrafts and handlooms are held at the exhibition hall in the complex. To sell wares, there is an application process and spaces are allocated according to which state the seller is from

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A Day Out

School kids enjoy trip to Qutub Minar, New Delhi

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