Story: Two employees of fraud loan firm held

I've missed racketeering. This is the e-paper version, so just scroll over to page six.

Story: Can Delhi become a caffeinated capital?

My first HT business story. Also the first in a series I'm considering pitching titled "Things I like to consume."

And I helped Michelle Stockman with videos. She gave me producer credits:

Video 1
Video 2

Multimedia is somewhat new here, and sometimes the videos struggle to load. But there are YouTube versions. Second one here.

At the Golden Temple

Our visit to Amritsar last weekend was as smooth as our previous trip to Agra was needlessly complicated. Indian Railways, it turns out, is stunningly efficient -- the trains leave right on time, and the departure is followed by a steady sequence of tea and snacks. After the five-and-a-half hour train ride, we arrived at 1:30, giving us just enough time for a quick lunch of Punjabi food before visiting the Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple.

The difference between visiting the Taj Mahal and the Golden Temple is the difference between being part of the spectacle and being a mere spectator. At the Golden Temple, even Westerners with only a rudimentary knowledge of Sikhism (like myself) understand that they are visiting a shrine of immense spritual significance to the religion's followers. Were it not for the welcoming nature of the Sikhs present, I would've felt uncomfortable, like an intruder. At the Taj, on the other hand, tourism is largely the point -- most of the people there have made the trip so they can cross it off their list of must-see Indian landmarks.

Unfortunately, we did not have time to go to Wagah, on the Indo-Pak border, to see the flag-lowering ceremony. That will definitely be one of my stops when I take a week or two off in the fall to see more of the country.

Pictures from the trip can be seen here. No trip this coming weekend. I am going to take Sunday to explore more of Delhi.

Farewell, Harpaul

Our favorite driver, Harpaul, whose love for the U.S. was eclipsed only by his love for the gerund, quit his job on Monday to go work for a "surgical instruments factory." This was devastating for everyone -- among his many kind gestures, Harpaul happily drove us to the wine shop after stressful days and placed jasmine bought from the street vendors over the car vents to make the drive more soothing. He also tried to teach us Hindi.





Some vital statistics:

Age: 22
Married: Yes
Kids: 2
Likes: When ma'ams our happy
Dislikes: When ma'ams are sad, pedestrians
Favorite Movie: Titanic

On his last day, we gave him money and a picture of the four of us with our signatures on the back. We also gave him this framed picture (above) of himself, which he loved. We will be missing you, Harpaul-Ji.

Story: Sparkle murder case trial begins

A brief story from Sunday's paper. The Internet situation at our house is currently touch-and-go, so I have had trouble getting photos and other posts up. But they are coming.

Gawker India?

At the end of last week, I noticed the reporter next to me scanning a blog titled "Don't trust the Indian Media! Riding the Indian media boom and removing skeletons from closets for three years straight!" The reporter did not strike me as subversive enough to divulge industry secrets from the inside, so I assumed she was not the author. I asked if she knew who was, and I was told that the blog belongs to a reporter at another daily and that its content consists mostly of media gossip. "Oh, like Gawker," I said. This, naturally, was met with a blank stare. After reading some posts, though, I've concluded that the comparison isn't particularly apt, anyway.

Some of the posts, including one from earlier this month titled "Trouble at HT Media?", vaguely resemble something that might appear on Gawker -- in this example, speculation on where top media executives might be heading. But many posts simply outline the author's reactions to the news of the day, and others are decidedly more personal: "I will admit to anyone who cares to listen to me, that I hardly ever studied in college, I was far too stoned or too drunk, but I still pulled off some rather good grades, won enough quizzes and even a debate or two to have a decent life and enjoy the company of some great people."

The reporter who introduced me to the blog also mentioned that it had been blocked from the servers of several newspapers, either because reporters were spending too much time on it or because it was considered too controversial. Both reasons seem ridiculous: It is neither controversial (what little gossip I've seen has merely
compiled information that has been reported elsewhere) nor, I assume,
all that entertaining to people who do not know the author directly (a lot like my blog!). I am still looking for an Indian blog that, like Gawker when I lived in New York, could consistently entertain me during a 30-minute lunch break taken at the desk.

In other news, there was a company party at QBA last night, at which staffers were treated to an open bar for a mere Rs 300. Except they did not let the Americans pay ("You are guests!'). Is it possible to be too accommodating? When it comes to open bars on Monday evenings, no I don't suppose it is.

Of touts and the Taj

In my childhood home there hung in a guest room a silk-embroidered print of the Taj Mahal. My grandfather, Warren Corey, had been stationed in India during World War II, and, I was told, he described visiting the structure as the only activity that gave him any sort of peace during his tour.

For this reason, I was very much looking forward to the second day trip arranged by HT: a visit to Agra, which is about a four-hour drive southeast from New Delhi. As far as I know, I am the only member of my family to visit India since my grandfather, who died when I was very young, and I was eager to take in his favorite sight.

Photos from the trip can be seen in this Facebook album. Quite a few things went wrong during the course of the day: it rained; the drive took longer than we expected, forcing us to pass on the other attractions in Agra; the driver and the guide, not to mention the many touts who pestered us incessantly, kept trying to get us to buy tacky things; men kept trying to take pictures surreptitiously of Karyn and Michelle; and the grounds were far from peaceful -- swarming with tourists, actually, even during one of the weaker parts of India's tourism calendar. Despite all that, I felt genuinely spoiled the entire day, and pictures like the one posted above may offer some suggestion as to why.