There are all kinds of things one notices when you come to delhi. The hustle and bustle of the city, the pollution, traffic, the autorikshaw walas. Delhi hasn’t changed at all since I came here few months ago. On a Friday evening, after the much hyped movie was released. We managed to get the first day show tickets for Udta Punjab in Citywalk at PVR. It was not expected to be a full house but suddenly when we entered the cinema hall, slowly people kept on coming inside and soon it was jam packed. It was surprising as I had heard that the movies pirated copies had been leaked online and it was even available on cable.
Kudos to the director who made the film, the director did justice to the story and made strong characters who weaved magic to their roles. Intense film with powerful performances by lead actors. Piracy has always been an issue in India.
This was always the case. In Delhi, you have a fake for anything and everything even before the original comes out. Anything you want under the sun is available in gafar market, Nehru place and the likes. So this was not unexpected. The whole country caught this fever soon as it spread from its capital.
The other thing that works in delhi is Juggad. And there is juggad for everything. The next day when I went to get my international driving license as I was going to travel abroad. There at the transport department office in south delhi, I saw a huge line of mostly youngster standing in a never ending queue since morning, trying to get their learners permit and then going through the biometric. Since nowadays everything is computerized. The only reason all this is happening is because of the fact that there was a huge market for fake licenses, passports , adhar cards etc. You name it and you could get it. Just throw some money and it’s done. I am sure there are some people out their who are still trying to beat the computers and hack the system and continue their business of fake stuff.
Another thing that has a big market in delhi is laziness. Yes, people in delhi are damn lazy. They need an agent for everything. The other day I was speaking to an immigration consultant and he was telling me about the different type of people who come to get visa at his place. Technology is not really helping these lazy bums at all and creating a big hassle for them.
He exclaims, there was one person who called and said, I need a tourist visa, can you please get the biometric to my home as I don’t want to go to the place.
There are all types of crazy incidents that he hears from people. Another person,went up to the embassy asking if he could get the uk visa as he wanted to meet his girl friend. And he didn’t have the necessary amount of bank balance in his account. And somehow he got the visa as the person over the counter bought his story.
Then about One couple from Punjab who wanted to settle in Canada but applied for a tourist visa. They got rejected as his wife told the embassy officer that she wouldn’t be coming back from Canada during the personal interview.
It’s just hilarious.
