In an empty car with hundreds of Police barricade , and megaphone Police announcement and sirens I lurked out of my Connaught place with Gandhij’is big Dandi Yatra sculptures ---and all the diplomates office then around four five Kilometres of utter silence , My Saradraji driver (originally from Amritsar) knew the ways via which we can lurk out to the India International Centre my National Scientific Conference venue.
It felt like life of December 2019 2019 to 2023, as a clinical microbiologist, I had to leave home every day for long hours ; at first, I drove through the nuke and corners of Rajasthan on such empty roads as rapid response to finding a new case (Bharatpur , Jaipur , Dholpur ,Bayana etc), then on after one Day when the Lock down opened up – I drived down from Bharatpur Rajasthan to Patna with family and two small kids in 2020 just a days after locked down restriction was lifted.
At that time, Patna looked full of people, but soon the 2nd wave hit like anything; the Hospital I work in was declared a COVID hospital, and for about two years (almost), driving in Patna (which requires a lot of skill) was easy because of empty repad due to Covid.
And today, as I type in a remote hotel in the heart of India-i. e. Connaught place, Delhi . I came here for a scientific conference as a technical expert. Typing this down, I intend to keep it an objective observer’s viewpoint. Mind you, it's not for causality or any viral material, just a snapshot of random strangers.
8th October
Landed in Delhi on 8th, the atmosphere looked normal, Randomly I asked my Ola Driverji what was happening and how the atmosphere was.
This one question gave him food for a whole one-hour lecture; he said he is a Dalit. They have been subjected to torture for the last two thousand years, and it is always bad for them, and this time it is worse, and had he not two daughters to feed and marry off, he would have gone and protested by stripping off in protest side. .
Then he said something that is of very higher intellect : Now I don’t see any one with that connection with mass who can bring positive change …look at Buddha , Jesus , Prophet Mohamad , Gandhi or our Ambedkar ji.
I wondered …
After checking in at the Hotel in Connaught Place and some conference duty, I thought of walking a bit to the Inner Circle from my Hotel as it is the most happening place of Delh. Inner circle was was about 1.2 km from Hotel , and I intended to walk, but an auto Wala cought my confusion and smiled.
“inner cycle tak chor du sir?
I know this Delhiwala habit: once you make eye contact, they will extract their goal from you, but as I got a bit lazy and wanted to know the mood, hence said okay. He asked me to sit inside auto and drove his auto to the a Gas pump line present on that very place and requested me with folded hands that he would do his Bouni (Start of Business) with me …so I had to wait for about 20 minutes for the gas to be filled (I would have reached walking till then). To kill the wait I asked him the ice-breaking question
: “Mahol kaisa hai?
This chap had the complete opposite POV to the 1st Driverji I met . Summary of his lecture and viewpoint was : “I am Maharaj of UP, Yogiji ek dam Debardast Hain; he has straightened UP like anything. These cockroaches are antinational; they should be clubbed in the street.
He also asked counterquestion
where I am from. When I said Guwahati, he asked his pro bono questions,
:" Assam, Nagaland same state hain kya?
: Nagaland me Nanga sadhu rahte hain kya?
: Saap Khate hain kya,
etc etc
I have been used to such questions for the last two decades, and hence I answer diplomatically with a smile at his innocent queries.
Inner Circle had all the sirens, megaphone, buzzing; the amount of chahal-pahal was reduced to 25% of any given day (I have visited this place after about three or four years); 50% of the shops were closed, and the rest are also complaining about the protest thing with the common phrase
:“Business thap ho chuke hain yaar….”
9th October :
Took a cab to Lodhi Garden, where the National Conference of Microbiologists and Parasitologists (which I was part of) was held. The conference went smoothly, with fruitful deliberations until 6 p.m.pm then started some VIP movement as at the same venue, Rupa Books was inaugurating a book by Mr Veerappa Moily ex cabinet -minister, was to be opened in that very auditorium.
I promised to meet two of my very senior colleagues at 8 p.m. and had some time to kill, hence I walked through the beautifully curated convention complex called India International Centre. Its curated paintings and books, and saw an Poster of an English play being staged at that time with free entry and decided to stay back . The audience kept pouring in, mostly elite Delhi class (by cloth and aura) and a lot of white audience . The average age of audience was about seventy . Many of them were in wheelchairs, with walking sticks. Before the play was about to start I went to the washroom, and a housekeeping staff made a sarcastic comment in my ear (I think he was right thinking me to be a mango people not a Leutens people )
“Yeh log sab Murgo ko Gali dene wale log hain sale…
I still can't comprehend what he meant.
The play was preceded by the felicitation of two high-profile figures, and one of them happened to be a common face of 10 PM prime time news channel and she has been representing ideologies across the whole spectrum (Left, right, centre) ever since she entered the one of eight to ten box people who used to shout together in News channels after 9 pm. In her speech, she thanked the people and actors for coming to the theatre in the time of political turmoil and doom scrolling.
And after ten to fifteen minutes of drama , she lurked out of the hall, aided by some guys who looked like her bodyguards. Maybe the housekeeping staff was referring to stuff like that –I am thinking while I am typing the incident out.
By that time, the road was getting congested, with a lot of sirens.
Maybe it is my PTSD --- post-COVID experience; any sirens give me tinnitus for a long time.
But as I gave commitment to my seniors, I would come to greet him –Till then the internetnet was getting a bit murky, I wasn’t was not able to find my destination properly .I generally am a bit apprehensive of Delhi strangers, and many a time they will try to cheat you with some extra money, but once you could connect a Delhiite will help you (if he is not a professional thug), and in this strange time with absurdity on all fronts (customer and vendor alike) asking for help isa errie situation.
An auto Wala bhaiya came forward to help me find the location , as jam was approaching he was busy maneuvering his auto via gullies of Delhi , hence there could not be any discussion with this bhaiya.
I met my seniors , I am associated with both since last two decades-and blessed to have many scientific ventures, we mostly talked on academics and other staff , both of my seniors had inhibition about all those hulabaloo that has been happening ---how can Antinationalism be given a hawa by some so called podcaster and leftist thinkers was their major concern.
While coming back to the hotel at night, I got the vibes that something massive is going to happen the next day, where I am supposed to be speaking on a scientific topic (and thanks to procrastination, I was yet to give my final touch to my slides ). With all the confusion like how to reach Lodhi Garden from CP, by passing Jantar Mantar, with barricades at every turn, no one allowed, no internet, no public movement; hence, slept over without opening my laptop.
October 10, 2026
Morning looked chaotic –internet was not working from evening. From Hotel to the Conference venue places were not having internet, Hotel breakfast was delayed as staff had to walk a long distance to reach their workplace, As reaching conference venue was a key problem and started to get call from many from 7.30 am from venue to reach fast.
: It is better you come via back of hall and walk”.
Seeing all thee I decided to take help of Travel desk of the Hotel –though will be little costly, A British elderly couple were booking cab ahead of me, they were accompanied by a local guide who stated he walked seven kilometre to reach the Hotel. The couple seemed to have come for medical tourism and wished to visit a Hospital for which they needed a hotel cab, they were counselled that this visit might take longer as situation is unpredictable, the couple had no Indian money, and WIFI operated card swipe system were also showing glitches.
Seeing all this I intended to take a cab from the hotel to reach the conference site, though it was exorbitantly costly …and the girl at the travel desk suggested it would be better to take it for the full day, as you never know how the day will evolve, as she herself also had to walk 5 kilometres to reach the hotel (that day hotel breakfast was not ready on time). I was hesitant to spend double the amount and willing take the risk (by booking on way only)
: “Your choice, sir “
I could see all the bell boys, Housekeeping , security personnel, and foreign visitors talking excitedly and voraciously amongst themselves (Vote, Kanun Byabastha, Cockroach, Internet were the common words I heard)
Eventually, I paid double and booked the cab for the whole day (to reach and come back from the conference venue, which is hardly six kilometres away)
The conference started on time (with half of registered member on that day) and one of our students who had her poster presentation at 11 am arrived at 12 pm. She left her hotel near the airport at 8.50, got stuck in traffic, and after walking past the barricade, she had to walk about 1.5 km to reach the venue. My (half prepared) talk went smooth , no one could make out that I worked less than otherwise I should have.
The conference finished on time. And I could find one benefit of internet Jamming in the conference : the quiz was unbiased; otherwise, back in the audience, people Google the answer and whisper loudly, which breaks the inquisitiveness and sanctity of any quiz.
Usually, outside the auditorium you get a lot of autos, or can book a cab in 3 minutes. But with the internet down and not a single vehicle running, only two or three people were seen on those posh roads—it was like a curfew on road.
Now the exorbitantly priced hotel car came handy, as a few young students and female doctors had little idea how to get out of this maze to their respective Hotel. I asked my Sardarji chauffeur , who happily navigated all of us to places where random taxis and autos were waiting, and eventually all got a vehicle to required destination. I somehow navigated back to the hotel in Connaught Place, and only the hotel Wi-Fi gave me any idea of what was happening in Delhi.
I had plan to meet one more senior, but it wasn't possible.
Still, I decided to take a walk down memory lane in Gole Market, one of the areas I frequented when I first came to Delhi in 2006 . I was Jobless for a month or two and had nothing to do, and when I visited (parasitise) my friend working in RML. Then Gole market was a place I used to frequent. The place looked almost the same even after two decades , but that day only 10 or 15 shops were open; some people were talking among themselves. Announcements echoed all around, which made the situation feel creepy. Another problem I faced during the lockdown was that dogs and Monkeys suddenly took over the street and market. And somehow I get creepy when I am alone in the street in such a situation. I found one shop –took some tea. A female CRPF lady was also buying food from the shop and complaining that there was no internet, which made it difficult for her to pay. As UPI and internet were not working, I thought of visiting an ATM. The wait was unusually long, as many others were in line. Once I entered, a voice in the ATM corner shouted,
: "You are identified; please remove your helmet for proper identification (AI? CCTV? Big Borther ? don’t know what)."
I didn’t have a helmet. Still, I removed my spectacles and felt satisfied when I saw the machine had at least disbursed my money.
Then walking back to the hotel, all the streetlights were blinking, with lots of sirens, as if there was a fire…In an empty car with hundreds of Police barricade , and megaphone Police announcement and sirens I lurked out of my Connaught place with Gandhij’is big Dandi Yatra sculptures ---and all the diplomates office then around four five Kilometres of utter silence , My Saradraji driver (originally from Amritsar) knew the ways via which we can lurk out to the India International Centre my National Scientific Conference venue.
It felt like life of December 2019 2019 to 2023, as a clinical microbiologist, I had to leave home every day for long hours ; at first, I drove through the nuke and corners of Rajasthan on such empty roads as rapid response to finding a new case (Bharatpur , Jaipur , Dholpur ,Bayana etc), then on after one Day when the Lock down opened up – I drived down from Bharatpur Rajasthan to Patna with family and two small kids in 2020 just a days after locked down restriction was lifted.
At that time, Patna looked full of people, but soon the 2nd wave hit like anything; the Hospital I work in was declared a COVID hospital, and for about two years (almost), driving in Patna (which requires a lot of skill) was easy because of empty repad due to Covid.
And today, as I type in a remote hotel in the heart of India-i. e. Connaught place, Delhi . I came here for a scientific conference as a technical expert. Typing this down, I intend to keep it an objective observer’s viewpoint. Mind you, it's not for causality or any viral material, just a snapshot of random strangers.
8th October
Landed in Delhi on 8th, the atmosphere looked normal, Randomly I asked my Ola Driverji what was happening and how the atmosphere was.
This one question gave him food for a whole one-hour lecture; he said he is a Dalit. They have been subjected to torture for the last two thousand years, and it is always bad for them, and this time it is worse, and had he not two daughters to feed and marry off, he would have gone and protested by stripping off in protest side. .
Then he said something that is of very higher intellect : Now I don’t see any one with that connection with mass who can bring positive change …look at Buddha , Jesus , Prophet Mohamad , Gandhi or our Ambedkar ji.
I wondered …
After checking in at the Hotel in Connaught Place and some conference duty, I thought of walking a bit to the Inner Circle from my Hotel as it is the most happening place of Delh. Inner circle was was about 1.2 km from Hotel , and I intended to walk, but an auto Wala cought my confusion and smiled.
“inner cycle tak chor du sir?
I know this Delhiwala habit: once you make eye contact, they will extract their goal from you, but as I got a bit lazy and wanted to know the mood, hence said okay. He asked me to sit inside auto and drove his auto to the a Gas pump line present on that very place and requested me with folded hands that he would do his Bouni (Start of Business) with me …so I had to wait for about 20 minutes for the gas to be filled (I would have reached walking till then). To kill the wait I asked him the ice-breaking question
: “Mahol kaisa hai?
This chap had the complete opposite POV to the 1st Driverji I met . Summary of his lecture and viewpoint was : “I am Maharaj of UP, Yogiji ek dam Debardast Hain; he has straightened UP like anything. These cockroaches are antinational; they should be clubbed in the street.
He also asked counterquestion
where I am from. When I said Guwahati, he asked his pro bono questions,
:" Assam, Nagaland same state hain kya?
: Nagaland me Nanga sadhu rahte hain kya?
: Saap Khate hain kya,
etc etc
I have been used to such questions for the last two decades, and hence I answer diplomatically with a smile at his innocent queries.
Inner Circle had all the sirens, megaphone, buzzing; the amount of chahal-pahal was reduced to 25% of any given day (I have visited this place after about three or four years); 50% of the shops were closed, and the rest are also complaining about the protest thing with the common phrase
:“Business thap ho chuke hain yaar….”
9th October :
Took a cab to Lodhi Garden, where the National Conference of Microbiologists and Parasitologists (which I was part of) was held. The conference went smoothly, with fruitful deliberations until 6 p.m.pm then started some VIP movement as at the same venue, Rupa Books was inaugurating a book by Mr Veerappa Moily ex cabinet -minister, was to be opened in that very auditorium.
I promised to meet two of my very senior colleagues at 8 p.m. and had some time to kill, hence I walked through the beautifully curated convention complex called India International Centre. Its curated paintings and books, and saw an Poster of an English play being staged at that time with free entry and decided to stay back . The audience kept pouring in, mostly elite Delhi class (by cloth and aura) and a lot of white audience . The average age of audience was about seventy . Many of them were in wheelchairs, with walking sticks. Before the play was about to start I went to the washroom, and a housekeeping staff made a sarcastic comment in my ear (I think he was right thinking me to be a mango people not a Leutens people )
“Yeh log sab Murgo ko Gali dene wale log hain sale…
I still can't comprehend what he meant.
The play was preceded by the felicitation of two high-profile figures, and one of them happened to be a common face of 10 PM prime time news channel and she has been representing ideologies across the whole spectrum (Left, right, centre) ever since she entered the one of eight to ten box people who used to shout together in News channels after 9 pm. In her speech, she thanked the people and actors for coming to the theatre in the time of political turmoil and doom scrolling.
And after ten to fifteen minutes of drama , she lurked out of the hall, aided by some guys who looked like her bodyguards. Maybe the housekeeping staff was referring to stuff like that –I am thinking while I am typing the incident out.
By that time, the road was getting congested, with a lot of sirens.
Maybe it is my PTSD --- post-COVID experience; any sirens give me tinnitus for a long time.
But as I gave commitment to my seniors, I would come to greet him –Till then the internetnet was getting a bit murky, I wasn’t was not able to find my destination properly .I generally am a bit apprehensive of Delhi strangers, and many a time they will try to cheat you with some extra money, but once you could connect a Delhiite will help you (if he is not a professional thug), and in this strange time with absurdity on all fronts (customer and vendor alike) asking for help isa errie situation.
An auto Wala bhaiya came forward to help me find the location , as jam was approaching he was busy maneuvering his auto via gullies of Delhi , hence there could not be any discussion with this bhaiya.
I met my seniors , I am associated with both since last two decades-and blessed to have many scientific ventures, we mostly talked on academics and other staff , both of my seniors had inhibition about all those hulabaloo that has been happening ---how can Antinationalism be given a hawa by some so called podcaster and leftist thinkers was their major concern.
While coming back to the hotel at night, I got the vibes that something massive is going to happen the next day, where I am supposed to be speaking on a scientific topic (and thanks to procrastination, I was yet to give my final touch to my slides ). With all the confusion like how to reach Lodhi Garden from CP, by passing Jantar Mantar, with barricades at every turn, no one allowed, no internet, no public movement; hence, slept over without opening my laptop.
October 10, 2026
Morning looked chaotic –internet was not working from evening. From Hotel to the Conference venue places were not having internet, Hotel breakfast was delayed as staff had to walk a long distance to reach their workplace, As reaching conference venue was a key problem and started to get call from many from 7.30 am from venue to reach fast.
: It is better you come via back of hall and walk”.
Seeing all thee I decided to take help of Travel desk of the Hotel –though will be little costly, A British elderly couple were booking cab ahead of me, they were accompanied by a local guide who stated he walked seven kilometre to reach the Hotel. The couple seemed to have come for medical tourism and wished to visit a Hospital for which they needed a hotel cab, they were counselled that this visit might take longer as situation is unpredictable, the couple had no Indian money, and WIFI operated card swipe system were also showing glitches.
Seeing all this I intended to take a cab from the hotel to reach the conference site, though it was exorbitantly costly …and the girl at the travel desk suggested it would be better to take it for the full day, as you never know how the day will evolve, as she herself also had to walk 5 kilometres to reach the hotel (that day hotel breakfast was not ready on time). I was hesitant to spend double the amount and willing take the risk (by booking on way only)
: “Your choice, sir “
I could see all the bell boys, Housekeeping , security personnel, and foreign visitors talking excitedly and voraciously amongst themselves (Vote, Kanun Byabastha, Cockroach, Internet were the common words I heard)
Eventually, I paid double and booked the cab for the whole day (to reach and come back from the conference venue, which is hardly six kilometres away)
The conference started on time (with half of registered member on that day) and one of our students who had her poster presentation at 11 am arrived at 12 pm. She left her hotel near the airport at 8.50, got stuck in traffic, and after walking past the barricade, she had to walk about 1.5 km to reach the venue. My (half prepared) talk went smooth , no one could make out that I worked less than otherwise I should have.
The conference finished on time. And I could find one benefit of internet Jamming in the conference : the quiz was unbiased; otherwise, back in the audience, people Google the answer and whisper loudly, which breaks the inquisitiveness and sanctity of any quiz.
Usually, outside the auditorium you get a lot of autos, or can book a cab in 3 minutes. But with the internet down and not a single vehicle running, only two or three people were seen on those posh roads—it was like a curfew on road.
Now the exorbitantly priced hotel car came handy, as a few young students and female doctors had little idea how to get out of this maze to their respective Hotel. I asked my Sardarji chauffeur , who happily navigated all of us to places where random taxis and autos were waiting, and eventually all got a vehicle to required destination. I somehow navigated back to the hotel in Connaught Place, and only the hotel Wi-Fi gave me any idea of what was happening in Delhi.
I had plan to meet one more senior, but it wasn't possible.
Still, I decided to take a walk down memory lane in Gole Market, one of the areas I frequented when I first came to Delhi in 2006 . I was Jobless for a month or two and had nothing to do, and when I visited (parasitise) my friend working in RML. Then Gole market was a place I used to frequent. The place looked almost the same even after two decades , but that day only 10 or 15 shops were open; some people were talking among themselves. Announcements echoed all around, which made the situation feel creepy. Another problem I faced during the lockdown was that dogs and Monkeys suddenly took over the street and market. And somehow I get creepy when I am alone in the street in such a situation. I found one shop –took some tea. A female CRPF lady was also buying food from the shop and complaining that there was no internet, which made it difficult for her to pay. As UPI and internet were not working, I thought of visiting an ATM. The wait was unusually long, as many others were in line. Once I entered, a voice in the ATM corner shouted,
: "You are identified; please remove your helmet for proper identification (AI? CCTV? Big Borther ? don’t know what)."
I didn’t have a helmet. Still, I removed my spectacles and felt satisfied when I saw the machine had at least disbursed my money.
Then walking back to the hotel, all the streetlights were blinking, with lots of sirens, as if there was a fire…
Creepy!
I reached the hotel, locked myself in, and started typing my experience objectively.
11 October 2026
Now I am typing it from New Delhi airport. Today, it seemed the internet was working, and more shops were open. I booked a cab to meet a friend on the route to the airport. But in the way I saw Bangla Saheb Gurdwara was fortified with hundreds of Police and paramilitary forte (80s d Déjà vu )
In the car I sat besides the driver and asked the question again
“ Hal kya hai aaj ?“
This time driver gave an balanced answer;
: Sir, we get up in the morning, start our work, earn some 600-100o munafa and take our roti and sleep ; this is what I want, but now I have a feeling that there needs to be regular reshuffle of power.
I met my friend and his family after a long time and was introduced to his active octogenarian Father in law. He is a young jolly men , practices jumba , walk ten thousand step briskly and also do two hour work out at Gym, in his explanations he briefly discussed the Zen G , he said these gen G have , everything , they don’t have analytical ability and gets hijacked very easily . As they are not able to accept hard work, they become renegade .
Hopefully, I will board my flight to my workplace now, and I think I wrote everything objectively, without any judgemnt .
One feeling I can share is that COVID-19 time was stressful for all , and the whole thing felt like revisiting those times.
Creepy!
I reached the hotel, locked myself in, and started typing my experience objectively.
11 October 2026
Now I am typing it from New Delhi airport. Today, it seemed the internet was working, and more shops were open. I booked a cab to meet a friend on the route to the airport. But in the way I saw Bangla Saheb Gurdwara was fortified with hundreds of Police and paramilitary forte (80s d Déjà vu )
In the car I sat besides the driver and asked the question again
“ Hal kya hai aaj ?“
This time driver gave an balanced answer;
: Sir, we get up in the morning, start our work, earn some 600-100o munafa and take our roti and sleep ; this is what I want, but now I have a feeling that there needs to be regular reshuffle of power.
I met my friend and his family after a long time and was introduced to his active octogenarian Father in law. He is a young jolly men , practices jumba , walk ten thousand step briskly and also do two hour work out at Gym, in his explanations he briefly discussed the Zen G , he said these gen G have , everything , they don’t have analytical ability and gets hijacked very easily . As they are not able to accept hard work, they become renegade .
Hopefully, I will board my flight to my workplace now, and I think I wrote everything objectively, without any judgemnt .
One feeling I can share is that COVID-19 time was stressful for all , and the whole thing felt like revisiting those times.
#DelhiOctober2026 #DéjàVu #JajabarDiary #দিহিঙৰপৰা #Jajabar #যাযাবৰ #ভ্ৰমণদিনলিপি #TravelDiaries #BackToMyRoots #MomentsAndMemories
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