Pursuit of Happiness: Finding Oneself!

Back in 2011

As the smell of old books lingered around my bedpost and the economic books under my pillow started making way for the previous year’s edition of RSM's (read Rolling Stones Magazines), winter had faded away and the sun had started greeting me earlier in the bed. Chipped wooden floor, torn out film posters, towering unused tea-cups and tea-bags and the covers of newly rented Dvd’s gave my room the ambience of a David Finch film set from the 90's. I was lazy, tardy, confused, angry and frisky most of the times and could be seen sporting long unkempt bed head and worn out sweats and shorts. I would wake up in the middle of the night and realise that I had been sleeping at a stretch for three continuous days. I would stay locked in the room for hours without any care for the outside world. Sometimes, I would step outside to realise that I had not been home for over a week and had been sleeping over at a friend’s place. My phone would have missed calls from weird unknown numbers and my music player would still be stuck on repeat, playing the same damn song it had been playing a day before.  I had no clue where I was heading and nor did I care.

Today

I haven’t slept in over 48 hours and have been working as a freelance copywriter, editing articles for an advertising and marketing firm based in Singapore. I have a meeting at 2pm with fellow film enthusiasts to discuss the concept of our next television episode and a research paper on the positive impacts of piracy to be completed. I need to meet film directors and producers for interviews related to my research later in the evening and need to go on a recce at night for the next week’s shoot. In the last one year, I have been the editor cum creative head of a college based annual magazine, the video editor/director for a college based film club. I have worked for an International students’ film festival and currently am heading the festival’s next edition. My entire next week is planned in advance and if you could see me right now, you would find me hitting the keys of my laptop real hard and staring at its brightly lit screen as if I am zoned out. I am writing this post for a blogging competition in the college and with 15 minutes for the competition to end I am still running a race against time. I can still be seen sporting worn out sweats and shorts and I still get missed calls from weird unknown numbers on my mobile phone. And yes, I still step outside sometimes to realise that I haven’t been home for days. I don’t have the time to think as to where I am heading nor does that bother me. So, what has changed in these two years, you folks may ask and to that I say. I am driven, motivated, creatively satisfied, possibly in the best shape of my life and most importantly happy inside.  In these two years, I think I’ve found myself, and boy do I care? Well, I leave that upto you to decide.

In the past two years, I followed my heart sincerely, made decisions that made me happy within and never gave in to procrastination. In another six months, I will be a Journalism and Mass Communication graduate and boy do I take pride in that. O yeah! *Smirks*

The Gods of Thrash Metal came down to our city. Megadeth kicked the daylights out of Greater Noida. One memorable experience of my life. All hail Megadeth \m/

I was here. It was magical. ^-^

CHILLSPOTS KA ITIHAAS: HOW IT ALL STARTED

When you’re the youngest in your family, with two sisters from JMC,  a Stephanian as a cousin brother (who spent almost his entire college life crashing at your place after his late night revelry and his midnight exploits), numerous uncles and aunts and innumerable friends and acquaintances as alumni’s of the country’s hippest university, chances are you grew up on their legendary tales from college and you know everything from their Top Bird watching(if you know, what i mean) sites, to their most favored hangouts.

Now since the beginning the North Campus slackers had K-nags, The Bonta(The ridge) and Majnu Ka Tila to call as their own territory, while the South Campus revelers had Satya Niketan to call as their own turf. They had the odd Qd’s and Chache Di Hatti  in these areas, which had almost mastered the “craft of being a Chill Spot ” for all the wild ones, or as could be told by the number of people that thronged these places. Now as time passed by, a whole bunch of new universities cropped up in and around the city, with its students forming a major chunk of the college going crowd. These kids were left with the options of either “biodegrading” (yes I did use that word intentionally) in their own, rajma chawal serving canteens or to follow in the footsteps of their cool DU bhai bandhus and wander around in their terrain, feeling like a pale skinned donkey amongst a herd of UV colored zebras(not trying to glorify them).

Cut to 2012 (transition used is a fade out) 

Umpteen number of restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, standalones, food courts and other eateries come up in every nook and corner of the city, trying to recreate the charm of a K-nag and a Satya Niketan outlet, drawing scores of people. It becomes such a phenomenon that the capital today boasts of a rich café culture, with innumerable cafes catering to the young and the restless, with school kids who just hit puberty and kids from the recently opened colleges and universities forming a major part of this crowd along with their DU counterparts who are too tired of the limited options at their disposal and are in a constant quest for something new and refreshing.

What happened in these few years was that restaurant owners realized that there was a huge crowd in the city dying for a eating out experience in a young and buzzing campus sort of atmosphere. Also with colleges and workspaces witnessing formation of small little cliques with people with varied interests and likes forming a part of it, entrepreneurs found a perfect business opportunity here.  Over the years, the city witnessed cafes catering to special groups of people like the backpackers, photographers, cinema lovers coming up.

So, here is a list of some of the uber cool options that the capital has to offer to all you restless souls out there scouting for a place to call your own.

1. Sams Cafe/ Club India Cafe: If international cuisine, rooftop seating's, cheap food and a mixed race crowd to mingle with is your idea of chilling out, Paharganj is the place to be at. Located in Central Delhi, Paharganj is the hippie haven of the capital and boasts of some dirt cheap international food serving type pseudo dhabas, where almost everything from Italian, Mexican, Lebanese, Russian, Japanese, Korean and Israeli food is available at throwaway prices. Sam’s Café and Club India Café are two of the well known cafes in the area amongst the various others. Ideal time to visit them would be once the sun goes down, and that is if you wish to enjoy their terrace garden seating overlooking the busy main market.

Price: Approx Rs 600 for two.
Highlights: Israeli Schnitzel, Chicken Lasagna and the deserts at Sams. Masala Chai at CIC.

2. Spell & Bound: Located right across IIT Delhi campus, Spell & Bound is the quintessential destination for all the book lovers in the capital. The concept is quite simple, there is a book store on the ground floor and a small eatery on the upper floor serving sumptuous rolls  and lip smacking shakes. The decor is classy Victorian with shades of dark green and brown thrown in. It attracts crowd from the schools nearby and the IIT Campus which is right opposite to it, along with the book loving, British council membership holding, literati from all over the city.

Price: Approx Rs 300 for two.
Highlights: The Kashmiri Kathi Rolls along with all the shakes, and great collection of books.

3. Kunzum Travel Cafe: One of its kind “pay as you like” Cafe located in the upmarket Hauz Khas Village. The walls at Kunzum are adorned with the pictures clicked by the owner and photographer Ajay Jain. Kunzum is a travel cafe and is a small place for travelers to meet, exchange travel stories, make plans, post travelogues or simply laze around and get to know each other over coffees and cookies. There’s free Wifi too, so you can just sit, work on your laptop for endless hours, without worrying about the time or the bills or anything else, besides this place is always buzzing with some sort of interactive activity like book reading sessions with authors and screenings of documentaries and short films followed by a discussion on the same. There is a small donation box at the exit, where you can put in any amount, keeping your experience in mind.

Price: Pay what you like.
Highlights: The photographs, the free WiFi, the lovely staff and the people, the ambiance, the books and of-course the coffee and the cookies.

4. Iron Curtain: If you love your movies and your food together, Iron Curtain is made for you. One restaurant, one mini theatre, screenings of classic films and some great gourmet food, perhaps the only place in the country where you can enjoy a gourmet meal and watch a film all at once. The food is slightly overpriced, however, food served in your seats and the whole experience of watching a classic film at the same time while digging into your food, kind of makes up the experience worth the money you shell out later. In short the movies are free, the food is not.

Price: Approx Rs 1000 for two.
Highlights: The mini theatre, the movie collection, the friendly staff, the mac and cheese and  the hot girl sitting next to you.

5. The All American Diner: The kings of Yankee cuisine, All American Diner is the place that defines coolness for me. Done up in a 70’s style look, the American Diner is the place to visit if you love your bacons and sausages, pancakes and cheesecakes and waffles and maple syrup and you like them served huge. Located inside the Indian habitat Centre, AAD is the place to visit if you like kickstarting your day with a heavy breakfast.

Price: Approx Rs 1000 for two.
Highlights: The huge portions, the sumptuous food and the ambiance.

6. Indian Coffee House: Now if you happen to be out of those “too cool for a Mocha and a V spot” and 'other fancy cafes in fancy locale' types(which usually attract the biggest attention seeking superficial little brats from the city) and prefer a more desi, Parsi bakery type atmosphere to chill and hang around, ICH is the place to be at. Indian Coffee House boasts of a rooftop seating, and also has an indoor seating option for those less enthusiastic about an open roof cafe, which reminds you of the once popular Iranian cafes and Parsi outlets in Mumbai. The crowd consists of mostly artsy students and government office employees, who come for a quick snack and a long chat.

Price: Approx Rs 300 for two.
Highlights: The mutton dosha, the hot cream coffee, the odd langurs chilling with their buddies(Yes) and the laid back atmosphere.

7. Andhra Bhawan: Now most of us in college are broke by the end of the third week of the month, but hunger can strike you anytime and any day of the month and eating out becomes an expensive affair. It is during these trying times of the month that Andhra Bhawan comes to the rescue of us young poor souls, with its all you can eat super yummy vegetarian thali(with an option of turning it into a non veg platter for few extra bucks). Be sure to reach an hour early for lunch and dinner, if you want to save a seat for yourself. Andhra Bhawan can’t be called a cafe but the kind of food that it serves and its dirt cheap prices earn it a spot on every students eating out list.

Price: Approx Rs 200 for two.
Highlights: Unlimited South Indian Vegetarian Thali+ Non veg options+ Cheap food+ Great taste,  Kya bole toh pheeel.

Also visit Café 2 2 tango HZV (previously the brick house diner), Thadi HZV, Ziro HZV and Eatopia Lodhi Road, which score well on the coolness quotient.
Auur Jaankaari ke liye Kkrrrupiya share kare blog aur Kkrrrupiya acche comment daalein yehaan.  Signs off!