I hate going out on Sundays, the only day I get to laze around at home. Last Sunday, my husband almost pulled me out for an off-beat city excursion. We headed to Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi, around 20km from our home in South Delhi. After having parked our car next to Red Fort, we set out on a walking tour. Over crowded streets packed with shops selling saris, salwar kameez, electronic goods, footwear — I felt like running back to home. A brief walk halted at Gali Paranthe wali.

Haunting! I couldn’t afford to break my diet chart but was forced to. I was surprised to see foreign tourists stuffing themselves with paranthas in medium sized stalls. Expecting a menu card was foolish on my part, instead walls of the stall had almost 45 varieties of veg paranthas scribbled on them. Starting from mirchi, bhindi, aloo, gobi, dry fruits, rabdi, pulses, mixed vegetable, carrot, bitter gourd — parantha stuffings were myriad! Steel plates with aloo subzi, cheese, kaddu subzi, kele waali meethi chutney & green chutney graced our table before we ordered for paranthas. I wanted to taste the rest after the first bite. It wasn’t the usual parantha that we have at home, it’s more of stuffed pooris deep fried in ghee. No complains, it was heavenly! Forget diet, we wanted more!

Next, we headed to Amritsari Lassi Corner. I am a huge sweet lassi fan! I don’t count calories when it comes to this cold drink. I can’t let go a golden chance to savor a plain sweet lassi (topped with a dollop of butter). A spoon helped us see how thick the lassi was. Sinfully delicious. But butter was a strict no-no, hence my better half gulped it from my glass.

We couldn’t leave the narrow lanes without stopping at Ghantewala, a legendary sweet shop which sells halwas and authentic Indian sweets (pure ghee products). We bought a kilo of jalebis. We tried searching for the same near home, but failed miserably! Hence, we wanted to take home a huge quantity good enough to last a few days. While they fried our pick in front of us, I fed myself with kesar kulfi and faluda! Suddenly there was a gentle pat on my shoulder, turned — we met an old friend with his wife.

The duo wanted us to join them for lunch, but we were through. Nonetheless, catching up with old pals is fun, so four of us went to Gole Hatti. The menu featured chhole bhature, chhole kulche, veg. pulao, chhole-chawal-palak, dahi-bhalle and ras-malai — all clean with proper standards of hygiene.

Walking through Chandni Chowk was not easy. Small and big vehicles, scores of heads at every corner. We walked into Giani Faluda, just to check what they had in store and ended up buying Rabdi faluda, dal halwa to take home.

Walking would probably aid in losing the countless calories I consumed last Sunday. Deadly combo of friends and feast just made my Sunday so special. Trust me, it was stomach friendly. So without worrying about Delhi Belly, you can spice up your Sundays too!

New Delhi wasn’t originally on my list, when I first chalked out a tour of India. For us Russians, the beaches of Goa continue to be the main draw as far as ‘Incredible India’ is concerned. So while Goa was an automatic inclusion, I was really spoilt for choice as far as other destinations were concerned. When I rounded off Jaipur on the map as one of the options for its annual Literature Festival, I thought over and decided on committing a day to the capital city of the country. There wasn’t anything in particular that I wanted to see, but the capital of a country as vibrant as India surely must have something interesting to offer, as my boyfriend Vladimir believed.

Sure enough, I did Google for details subsequently. On the eve of my departure from Jaipur, I had marked Humayun’s tomb, Lotus Temple and Connaught Place as the three must-visit spots that we had to cover in whatever limited time we had.

Leaving Jaipur in the wee hours, we dawned on the ‘Sultanate of Delhi’, as Vladimir jokingly termed it, virtually together with the sun’s rays. Traversing a part of the central Delhi, we were quite impressed with the wide roads and Government buildings with an unmistakable British architectural imprint. Then on we entered the zone, known as Lutyens’ Delhi, named after the British architect Edwin Lutyens in 1920s and 1930s, as per our driver Nareshji. We got to catch a nice glimpse of the India Gate, which looked much more magnificent than I had seen it in the pictures.

After a brief halt and breakfast at the hotel, we proceeded to the Humayun’s tomb, fortunately, opened for visitors relatively in the early morning itself. Our local guide, a reasonably good English conversant, took us around the place. Vladimir, for all his pretensions, appeared to take the place more seriously when informed President Obama and the First Lady’s visit to the place during their India trip. As we made our way toward the tomb, we were simply floored by the grandeur of the monument. Having been to the magnificent Taj Mahal just days ago, I couldn’t help but compare the two. The Delhi monument all but matched up to the seventh wonder of the World in almost every aspect of the superlative Mughal architecture.

Soon after, we were at the Lotus Temple, adoring its stupendous flower like shape. A Baha’i temple, to me its real beauty lay in the fact that it heartily welcomes to all irrespective of religion. While I wondered over this most fascinating concept of the place, Vladimir, who can never keep mum for barely even seconds, steadied his thoughts and we sat together quietly absorbing the spiritual environs of that soulful place.

After lunch, we were headed for Connaught Place or CP – as I picked up from the local people, a cool market place to hang out and eat at we discovered it as. Right from roadside street food vendors to fine dining restaurants to luxury brand outlets and a good-sized flee market, CP had a lot to offer coming across like a microcosm of India. We didn’t shop a lot but really enjoyed the sheer vivacity and the evening hustle-bustle of the place. In all, our Delhi trip, even though a short one, was a good call. And as I write this, I have already marked my date with the Old Delhi, DLF Emporio mall and Khan Market for my next trip to Delhi.

The vibrant capital city of India is one of the famous tourist destinations. It is visited by hordes of international and foreign tourist from different regions of the globe. The beauty and charm of this city allures the people so much that they don’t get bored of visiting Delhi again and again. The same was the case with me. I don’t even remember how many times I have visited Delhi, though the reasons are not similar all the time. But most often I visit the place with no particular reason.

Since most of my friends stays in the National capital, it gives me a good reason to visit Delhi. Few days back, I packed my bags and set out to Delhi again. Though I have explored most of the popular destinations, I don’t mind visiting again. I stayed with one of my friends in North Delhi and passed around two days by meeting some other friends. Shopping in the streets of Delhi is what I like most. Staying near the University of Delhi and not visiting the Kamla Nagar market is not my cup of tea. So, it was the first shopping destination of this Delhi visit. I along with my friiend strolled on the streets of the market the whole evening. I did some street shopping by buying things like ethnic jeweleries, clothes, purse and lots more. I just love spending time in this colorful market of the northern part of this capital city.

The other day I paid a visit to the land mark of the National capital. India Gate is a place which I don’t dare to miss which is always crowded with people. Be it the localities or the tourists, it is a nice place to spend some quality time and witness the majesctic architecture along with paying respect to the thousands of soldiers who lost their lives in the safeguard of the nation. There is a different kind of fervour associated with this place. You will automatically feel a sense of peace and enjoyment in the vicinty of the India Gate. The local people are seen flocking to the place during the evenings. You can witness a mix of different colors of people from different regions of the globe gathering in the place. It truly represents Delhi being a city with a mix of diverse ethnic groups. After spending some time there, I went to Delhi Haat, one of the places which I loved visiting again and again. It is like a cultural hub where you will find the flavors of different states of India. The array of handicraft items, enthic attires and jeweleries, authentic Indian delicaies, cultural program and the beautiful setting of rural India makes this place totally outstanding.

The week I spend in Delhi included exploring other interesting places of Delhi. Really I had fabulous experiences this time as well.

The melting pot of all things, the imperial city of Delhi witness large number of footfalls every year. Travelling in Delhi allows the tourists to explore the varied beauty the city has to offer. The large number of hotels in Delhi with an array of choices, the visitors can accommodate themselves according to the interest and choice.

If you are in Delhi, and not enjoyed the awesome delicacies, your journey will remain incomplete. Gorge into the lanes of Chandi Chowk in Old Delhi and enjoy the variety food it offers. The streets are full of activities going on here and there, vendors selling different items, brokers who will insists you to follow them promising to land you at the best place of your interest. Get all the details before landing up in the lanes of Chandni Chowk.

The most awesome food you will get to experience in the streets which are known to all as street foods. The real flavors are the chaats which is combination of various items such as pieces of potato, dahi balla, crispy fried bread and various other flavored spices. It is beautifully garnished with various other mouthwatering items. You can taste the variety of chaats available in the area.

Among the various other lip smacking delicacies, you can have Aloo ka Parantha, Gobi ka Parantha, Matar ka Parantha, Aloo Tikki, Pao Bhaji, Cholle Kulcha and the list goes on and on. Don’t waste time in thinking what to eat, just grab whatever you feel like eating at the moment. You will enjoy every bit of it! The namkeens, sweets and the fruit salads deserve special mention. It gives the best. For the connoisseurs, the famous eatery in old Delhi is the Karims where you can enjoy the most famous kebabs.

For food lovers and who likes trying different food items, this is the best place which will provide you with lots of options. Don’t think about the calories and all, otherwise you will miss one of the golden moments of your life. You will regret afterwards for not enjoying the awesome foods. Make your Delhi trip more memorable and exciting by enjoying the various flavors of food, lifestyle and places!