I saw them practicing for the parade….

Yes, Republic Day is just around the corner, which is why you feel the difference in the air the minute turn into the wide radial roads surrounding India Gate.  The whole area seems spruced up….it isn’t really but its the parade build up that does things to your head, so everything seems greener, cleaner and the roads invariably wider.  They aren’t really…it’s all in your mind.

So there I am, all scarfed and buttoned up, ready to take on the chill. Die chill die!……yes, so I was saying, there I am sitting in the auto, listening to the faint reverbations of  Tito’s guitar when the traffic stopped.  I stuck my head out the auto.

The parade was on!   Actually it was a regiment of Delhi Police practicing march past for the parade.  I asked the auto-wallah to move a bit closer.  He looked at me as though I’d gone insane, then very slowly intoned, that he wasn’t going anywhere near a whole battalion of policemen.  Lord knows he got enough of them on his tail all day long without asking for the trouble.

I resigned to being stuck at the back of traffic while the contingent marched and drummed its way past.  But I did manage to get a picture.  You can catch a minuscule glimpse of mustachioed, uniformed Delhi belly-coppers between a row of cars.  I’ll try to get a better shot next time I’m stuck at India Gate.

In other news, I’m updating A Game of Chess in a few minutes, and Ramalinga Raju is a balance sheet chef, and he spoilt his broth rotten.