This weekend, I ran!

The Delhi marathon was fun, but hardly a marathon. It was less a race and more ’shuffling-through-a-large crowd.’ Behold:

It was also the site for some clever advertising tie-ins, like this one at the finish line:

Afterwards, I went to a concert:

and saw a Vigilante on the streets of Delhi:

Added a new page on top. Go take a look!

This weekend, I cooked!

Paneer! Of the Kadai variant! With old newspaper!

I also found the greatest Vicks knock-off ever.

Happy Diwali, everyone!

I spent the last week trying to ask someone out.

The decision, I think, was made while staring into the swirling vortex of freshly stirred coffee on a Monday morning. It was industrial grade coffee, of course, brewed by the eternally whirring coffee machine in our office. I’m eternally suspicious of it, convinced it contains industrial-grade additives that addle unprepared minds.

Of course, this was also the first time I’d be asking someone out. Don’t get me wrong, I have been in relationships before…I’ve just never had to encounter this particular part of it. Usually, I get off easy, either being asked by the other person (once), or through a wordless understanding that somewhere, an invisible line separating the verdant plains of platonic friendship from the rocky cliffs of relationship-land had been crossed (twice)

So yeah.

Said person works in the same office, and the idea was to just bring it up in conversation at the end of a workday. Monday and Tuesday I chicken out. But of course.

I’d prepared for this eventuality. So no problems there.

The conversation had been endlessly rehearsed in my head, with some furious mental debates on the grammatical structure of it. I settled finally for use of the word ‘would’ and the sentence prefix ‘So….umm…’ accompanied by scratching of head.

Wednesday, goaded by insistent calls to action by supporters on IM, I decided it was the day. Unfortunately, at 2:00, she is sent on assignment, one that might take more than 3 hours. ‘I’ll probably just head home straight from there,’ she typed on IM.

My heart sank. ‘Come back, no?’ I ventured, throwing in a few sad smileys.

‘Whyyyyeeeee???? ‘ she asked.

Closing my eyes momentarily, my fingers poised over the keyboard, I considered the moment. An uncomfortably inviting question, to be sure, one whose tone set up a potential response quite well.

But no.

I couldn’t during office hours. Something about that seemed wrong. ‘I’ll be….umm…really bored.’ I replied, instantly regretting it.

‘Blah,’ was all she said.

Thursday, there was a citywide rerouting of traffic in effect, with most major roads into Central Delhi cordoned off. As luck would have it, she found herself unable to come to office, and spent the day at home.

‘I triiiieeeed! ‘ she said in defence.

So Friday, then.

After hours of squirming, almost-quites and false starts, I finally asked her from the passenger seat of her car at 6:25 pm, speeding down Mathura Road towards Nizamuddin.

I swallowed a few syallables from my rehearsed sentence, but I think I did pretty okay.

‘Wdyou liketo Gaahhwtth me?’ was approximately how it sounded.

She said no.

It’s been far too long.

And a few older ones I’m not sure I ever uploaded:

The wonderful photography is courtesy my friend DA.

I’m back from a holiday to Nepal, with cool stuff and leech bites! Behold my bitten foot:

Comics and pictures soon.

Pickings from the Delhi Book Fair:

While there, I also saw some unintentionally lovely signage:

The ‘latest’ videogame doing the rounds at Nehru Place.

One of the many interesting bits about a train journey is trying to guess what brand of Mineral Water you’re going to served this time. These seem to change almost weekly, even inspite of the Railways’ efforts to standardize ‘Rail Neer.’ I supposed that there were only so many synonyms of ‘pure’ and ‘fresh’ that you could use in combination, but these dubious water companies continue to surprise me. This is what I got this time:

Also, now that I’m back in Delhi, and back at work, I can continue to chuckle politely at these lovely daily sights:

and, my favourite: