Commonwealth Games 2010

Posted on October 4, 2010 by Sushubh Mittal

So, the opening ceremony was a huge success I heard. I get to hear about it mostly from Twitter as I was pretty much traveling during the event.

I also get to know about how bad the coverage was. DD was probably running a delayed feed (by around 10 minutes I hear) to add the stupid f advertisements.

I also get to hear about the crappy presentations given by Suresh Kalmadi and our beloved (NOT) president Pratibha Patil.

I also heard that Zangoora was performed live which is a major shock because it was supposed to be a Kingdom of Dreams only thing. But then, I cannot confirm this fact.

You may call me an ass**** for saying this but I would still love to have one big day of heavy rains in the city of Delhi during the next couple of days.

If that does not happen, there is a very solid chance that the IOC and Mr. Kalmadi would take away the entire credit along with all the rumored monies they made during the organizing period.

The games should go on just fine. But the people who mismanaged them should be punished. But that is now very unlikely to happen.

Delhi Metro BLAH.

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Sushubh Mittal

Update: I was part of this latest Delhi Metro Fiasco!

I am not saying that Delhi Metro is not doing a good job. But what I am going to say here is that they are faltering and they are faltering rather badly.

Maybe, it is not their fault. Maybe the government is pushing them so hard that they are giving up on the previously set standards.

But I am a disappointed man today.

I have been hearing cases on how Metro stops on the way for an hour or so… for not so apparent reason. Passengers are just told that there are some technical faults causing the delay.

I became part of a similar journey myself today. I was on my way to Shahdara from Gurgaon on the newly open metro route.

We had managed to reach Delhi but Metro stopped on the way. After a while it started and stopped on the next station.

At that station, we were told that it would not go any further and we would have to take another one from another platform.

We took the other train but after waiting for 20-25 minutes, we were again told that there are some more technical difficulties and the journey would resume after a while.

No clear details. Just a generic message that kept repeating after every five minutes or so.

I can give them the benefit of the doubt. But the way it has been happening rather regularly, I would not be taking a Metro unless I have ample of time in my hands and I am prepared to handle such random delays.

With no water and loo accessible… This is turning into a not so excellent traveling alternative for us folks.

Noida welcomes you with a bunch of awful speed-breakers

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Sushubh Mittal

If you enter into Noida from Delhi through the Akshardham route, you are going to see a lot of welcome messages from the state of Uttar Pradesh and the authority of Noida.

The problem? They also welcome your visit with a bunch of awful speed-breakers which I bet cause traffic related problems during rush hours.

I have to admit however… Greater Noida is pretty impressive. It feels like more like Panchkula/Chandigarh than a city in UP.

I am also pretty impressed that they have provided the Noida Greater Noida Expressway for free. No toll charges. DND Flyway looks like a douche in comparison.

We are already entered the phase here in India where every decent stretch of decent roads is going to cost you money in the form of toll charges. The problem mostly is that you pay toll even for roads that are not very pleasant to travel on. As I like to call the concept of Toll Tax… Government sponsored extortion.

Whoa. Connaught Place is a mess!

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Sushubh Mittal

I just arrived back from Connaught Place after a very long time and I am shocked to see what they have done to that place.

The inner circle is a complete mess. No one stopped me from going in but apparently the route is blocked for construction.

I had to make a U turn and go back to the outer circle.

The last time I went there, outer circle was a messy place to park your car. But apparently, they have completed the destruction in the name of beautification.

Two months to Commonwealth Games. Can Delhi get dressed up for the event? With all the scandals that are emerging, I am hoping to see a freak show resulting in proper investigations on the entire project. India does not deserve anything. We cannot do one simple thing right.

Auto Rickshaw Drivers of Delhi

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Sushubh Mittal

One thing I found out recently about them was that they have started operating on a different format.

Instead of you telling them where you want to go and to take you there. You now stop them and ask where they are going. And if they are going to the area you want to go, you ask them if they can accommodate you. And of course, they have the right to ask the price they want to charge for the service delivered to you.

I could not find an exception to this new rule that was a total surprise to me.