Crazy Schedules and Shopping

With my busy schedule and travel the only time I really get to shop for is not at my destinations but actually during transit at the airports. And I really don’t mind that much. Since airports stocks up variety and chosen products at a preferential rates than the ones I would actually get after I walk out from the airport. Chocolates, souvenirs, liquors and perfumes, in addition to accessories and clothes- one can very well choose the best of brands from a duty free shop.

After a long time, I had this opportunity to fly from Delhi and as soon as I completed my immigration formalities, I was greeted by a glitterati of lights and nicely showcased perfume stalls from the finest perfumers of the world. The stocking was eye catchy and the range of products available was also huge. I had been meaning to check out some perfumes so I strolled leisurely towards the perfumes section. There were some offers also available, but more than offers, it is always the product that finally clinches the deal for me. I have recently seen quite a few ads of Robert Pattinson donning the Dior homme perfume, so I went towards the Dior section first. In fact perfume and wide range of cosmetics by luxury perfumers is the first section of the Delhi Duty Free experience. And believe me when I say, you will be hooked from this section onwards. Awesome ranges of perfumes and cosmetics were lined up across big showcases. From Dior and Chanel to Issey Miyake and Elizabeth Arden, you will find one for everyone in your list. There were collector’s edition perfumes too, where some small bottles of five or six different perfumes by one particular perfumer like Estee Lauder and Bvlgari were packaged in a neat box- ideal for gifting. My journey had not even started and looked like I was about to spend all my money in the Delhi Duty Free section itself.

‘Get a grip’ I tell myself and saunter out of the perfume section only to be greeted by the liquor and chocolate section. I am not looking at the liquor section at all, but I can still see all the big brands like Johny Walker, Jim Beam, Baileys and the ever popular Red/Blue/Green/Black labels almost tauntingly inviting all connoisseurs to come and grab a bottle. The display is really effective, and I am sure it does have the desired effect, since the POS has a long queue. I am almost tempted to pick up a bottle of Irish Cream myself. Adjacent to this section is the chocolate section. I have a really sweet tooth, and this place was like a paradise for me. From Lindt to Guliyan this section boasts of stocking every brand any chocolate lover have heard of. There was a section of some of the most premium chocolates from across the globe and yeah, my favorite Godiva chocolates were nicely stacked. It was almost like they were calling out to me to grab all of those packs and run. And yeah, I did pick up a few, but considering that I had the journey to continue, I didn't want to be burdened by too many packets. 

Then I move on towards the clothes and apparel section. The collection In Delhi Duty Free is really admirable. The brands are also at par with any Duty Free Shop in the other airports. But one shop where I really splurged is the Swarovski store. They had some awesome collections, and some of the pieces were exclusive to the Delhi Duty Free Store only. I bought a pair of ear-rings for my mom and I did get a pendant for myself too. Although I am poorer by a few thousands I am really glad I stopped by Delhi Duty Free. Courteous and helpful staff and really hassle free shopping. Delhi Duty Free is now available for every traveler going onwards from Delhi Airport Terminal 3. For more details log on to: http://www.delhidutyfree.co.in/

Musings

Its been so long since I have written anything.  I have tried everything- blank stares at the wall, typing a few random words in the laptop to see if it keeps me going, cooking innovative food so I might be inspired enough to swing a story around it while writing the recipe, the travels, the rains and I come up with naught everytime. I can't be having a writers block for so long, can I ?

And then it all began. The tipper-tapper sound of the rain falling on the roof of the house. The splattering sound it makes when it hits the floor. The birds chirping in the distance. The rain drops on the window panes. And mixed with it all I can hear the distant sound of someone breathing. An even breathing like someone is asleep. I get out of the bed and look out the window.

A cool air hits my face, I can feel raindrops on my face. And then I look back at the bed hungrily, calling out to me. Still asleep, your mouth open, but its afternoon here and I have work to do.

Happy Sleeping, all of you who is now beautifully engulfed by the warmth of the night. What would I give to turn the clock right now! 

Some lost music,
Some Unwritten pieces of Poetry,
Of music unheard,
Of songs sans Melody

Of love, smiles and gifts..
...of Moments yet to come !!

The Scarlet Woman !!

My hair done up, my face flawlessly made

Lips as bright as a cherry red.

Smoky eyes, and the long slit dress

Chanel no. 5,  and how I swayed.

As the music played,

And I gyrated,

Every man was left jaded

The bubbly flowed,

My lips it caressed,

I saw your eyes follow me in-stead.

Scarlet woman they knew me as,

But for you I am the fair-maiden

Or  so I thought, before I saw

The look in your eyes now dissuaded.

You judged, you strayed

My mind now obeyed,

Why the title they bestowed,

“Scarlet Woman”- has now stayed.

Salt !!

The taste of the saltwater was still raw in his mouth. His nose still stung and he had a headache. He must have swallowed a sea of saltwater. He closed his eyes, and then the picture came back to him again. He felt the strong waves hugging him tight and pulling him down. His hands were flapping and he was trying to push himself out. Always a strong swimmer, the sea was his sanctuary and he like a fish was used to all it trials and tribulations.

The smell of the saltwater, the humid air, the fish- they have always had a calming effect on him. He had strong legs and hands and a muscular but lean torso. Coming out of the water, with the sun shining in the background and the water droplets shimmering on his shoulder like diamonds he looked like a Greek God. He gave his head a shake, to shake off the salt from his face and hair. His golden locks now forming soft curls and falling over his forehead. He looked at a kid playing at a distance and smiled at him. The kid smiled back. He picked up his towel and swung it over his shoulder and started a light sprint towards his shack.He heard bullet shots in the distance, or were they fire crackers.He didn't look back. He was angry. There was pollution everywhere nowadays and even the sanctity of this small beach town was slowly getting adulterated with the number of tourists that it garnered. Tourism was good for the livelihood of the people but it also meant an end to the routine and simple things that was so endearing about this town. 

It was late evening and he switched on the radio. The alert again. High Tide !! And then he remembered the kid. The kid was going towards the sea ready to jump in with all surfing gear. He had seen the kid in the neighborhood quite a few times over the last few weeks- innocent, independent  and aloof most times, the kid reminded him of himself about a decade back. The same anger, the same aura, the same desire to prove !! He heard some whispers close-by, some random music, almost like he was playing a part in a movie and he equated himself with the hero. He tried to shut-off his mind to the foreign sounds and concentrate.

He lugged his swimming suit and started sprinting towards the sea where most professional surfers take to tame the sea. He saw the figure in the distance entering the sea. He screamed out, but he didn't know the kids name. He cursed himself and increased his speed. He had spent quite some hours in the water just sometime back and his legs were giving away, but he kept on. He saw the figure enter deeper into the sea, and then he seemed to have caught up with him, only to have lost him again. He kept going deeper and screaming out to the boy. But the kid was already going under. And then he saw a mighty wave come towards him ready to swallow him too.

He felt the water pressure all around him. His heart started aching and he swallowed a lot of the water, the wave pulled him down. He closed his eyes and nose, but the wave was strong and managed to enter him. He could feel it stinging his brain now. And he was sure he would die. He tried hard and managed to kick one of his legs hard. It hit something like a wooden structure and then he felt a numbing pain sear through his legs and move up towards his body. He tried to mumble something, his legs still felt heavy but the pressure of water was gone. He tried moving his hands and they hit some something like the back of a sofa. It was dark and there was commotion all around, or so it seemed. The screen ahead of him flashed "Intermission- Grab your Drink and Snacks".

Been There, Done That and Lived to Tell the Tale

"Didn't I tell you long back to buy a tripod", the voice inside my head accused. I did a "Guilty!! But I can't change it now, Can I?" This was in response to my wailing over not having a tripod while driving towards Atlantis and Palm Jumeirah. Nights in Dubai is really unbelievable. You are left wondering how good an architect these guys must be to have constructed an island, to have made a tunnel under the sea, and to have made a hotel that looks like a huge gate from a distance. I traveled through all of these at night and could not capture any of these in my camera for lack of a tripod.. phew  !!

So it was my last night in Dubai and the seniors had left for London, other colleagues had plans of their own and me and two other colleagues-- Su-perky and pretty but dependent and Naveen-focused,supportive,rational and the one you could depend on--who have by now become friends decided we would go down and spend some time in the dance bar before deciding where to go. I wanted to do Atlantis again, that was before I realized that it is some 45 kms away from our hotel. Oh!! the hotel we stayed at belongs to a South Indian Don and had a dance bar called Bollywood Cafe and every night after we return back from office, followed by dinners and drives we would go to the dance bar and have fun looking at girls gyrating to songs like "chat pe soya tha behnoi". Seriously, there have been instances I wanted to be a guy then.

So we went to Bollywood Cafe, and we promised that we would sit down for just two performances but the music was good and it was fun so we ended up being there almost till 2:45 AM. Then we went out and I came up with the idea that we should go to Creek or Deira (that is where rich Arabs park their little private Yachts). I thought photos there would come out good, and before I forget I finally managed to purchase a travel tripod earlier that evening. I could not wait to test it.

We took a taxi and like a pro I said " Creek". We reached there in less than five minutes and started clicking. I tried all angles, all exposures but to my woe, I did not get even a single decent picture. I was pissed with myself. It was hot and humid and I had come out in the middle of the night to capture Rich Arabs tiny toys and I could not get it right. Just then Su said, "Girl, we should get moving. Lets walk", I agreed and we started walking. Naveen was walking a few steps behind. We did come some 200-300 metres from the Creek when I saw a beautiful Mosque in the background. The lighting was just perfect. It was on the other side of the road and like a temptress calling out to a wanton, it caught my eye. I took out my tripod, fixed my camera and was clicking away to glory. It was pleasure and the result was perfection.

Just then Naveen saw a police car in the distance. He warned me, but I had long exposure on and could not touch the cam. By the time I was done, police arrived. They got out of the car and took one hard long look at the three of us. Me and Su, both were in knee length dresses. Then one of them spoke,"What are you doing in the middle of the night?" I said,"We are tourists, going back tomorrow, we are just taking pics." The police said, " Here, not allowed, this is VIP area, this is Indian Consulate, the other one is Libyan Consulate. Show me ID." Me like a heroine took out my Indian Passport. He did a double take. I think he thought I am a terrorist. He said "Come to Police Station, We do a check and give a warning".  And then the scary looking man opened the back seat of the police vehicle and the three of us hopped in. I was a little scared I think, not because I had done anything wrong but because all three of us had a few shots of tequila at the Dance Bar. 

"Su, in my own country even I have never entered a police station. Get a grip Girl," I said. By then I think she was almost on the verge of breaking down. And then like a heroine I added for extra effect,"Anyway it is my passport that these guys here have." By then the first reaction of the cold, unfeeling building had settled in and I was getting my composure back.The station looked like an alien place, there wasn't a single woman there, the whole place was white-washed, and alien looking people with alien sounding language was talking among themselves.They took away my camera and I saw it change hands a number of times. The camera is almost my lifeline and I was scared they would put it in a polythene packet like Indian police and stow it away like evidence. My heart was almost breaking and then I heard Su say, "Ask them to keep the camera and let us go for Gods sake", I was about to snap when Naveen intervened and said,"Dont worry nothing will happen. The camera is our savior. It has all photographs of our event as well as our trip and masti. That should serve as a proof of our innocence." Thanks Naveen !!

The police there were really nice. I mean they kept on smiling all the while. They didn't question unnecessarily and didn't harass any of us. Just then a man in Kandura, the Arabic Robe, came in checked the camera and then came to me. He asked me to delete all the beautiful pics. And then he looked at the police and said something in Arabic and then said Khallas. During my week long stay I realized Khallas means "The End". He then handed me the camera and pointed me towards a room. We went there after ten minutes. The man there asked me questions and then asked me my passport number. I gave them all details, they wrote something in Urdu/Arabic and handed me the paper to sign in, saying it says you will not photograph at night in VIP area. I nodded and signed. He said "Khallas, go", I said "My Passport". They had misplaced my passport. They could not find it. It was almost 5 AM then. And I had a flight back home at 10:10PM. I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

Then Naveen whispered in my ear,"Shaayad yeh log tere passport ko khufiya taareeke se kuch kar rahein hain." My eyes went big and I said, "Perhaps". We sat for some half an hour more and then suddenly the man in Kandora came back again, he took out my passport, smiled at me and said,"Sorry, I am busy, sorry sorry!! I come back for you." Relief ran through me. I took my passport and then everyone there smiled. The chief gave a thumbs up. I asked "Now". He said,"Khallas, now go and sleep". Like an idiot I looked at the man in kandora and asked, "Can you drop us at the Hotel",.He looked at me and said,"Sorry!! I am busy, I come back for you. Take Taxi!!"

We ran out of the police station, we ran out of the lane and then all three of us burst out laughing.

It was a trip of a lifetime. I went back to my MBA days when sleeping was a luxury. I hardly slept for 3-4 hours everyday the whole of 8 days. I had deactivated my facebook account for the period of my stay there. I went to a dance bar almost every night. And I ate so much I am now scared of finding out how much I weigh. And yes, I even spent a few hours in a police station. I never realized photography would land me in a Police Station.

Moral: 1. No wearing short dresses in Gulf country at night.

           2. Always find out if photography is allowed in the Area, in whatever country you are in. 

The Door !!

The Door !!

Sometimes unlocking an opportunity,

Sometimes closing in on your dreams, 

At times protecting you,

At others letting you loose,

Sometimes fascinating, sometimes scary

But always standing tall....

As a gate to enter another world-

The Door