I have heard of  resentment towards Delhi  that is no different to the resentment towards London. It is due to the perceived  centralisation of resources.   Whatever the case,  there is a strong  intelligentsia here that will (and must) take advantage of all opportunities, just like they do in London.   The Delhi-nteligensia. 

I am attending a meal  (“attending”, when did I start saying “attending”) with author  Rana Dasgupta and his heavily pregnant partner, the artist Monica Narula. Also down are the poet Jeet Thayli and Independent   journalist  Raekha Prasad. Raekha is the Good friend of The GF. Her partner  Guardian Foreign Correspondent  Randeep Ramesh  is on deadline so not around.

Rana and Monica’s  apartment is reflected in London’s Notting Hill, New York’s Brooklyn or Paris’s Trocadero.   Talking of incredible people Monica cooked a tremendous meal virtually on the delivery date of her first child.  I brought a cake from The Park as a present I decide travel in the three wheeler known to tourists as a  “tuk tuk.  As It  banked at roundabouts I was reminded  of Whacky Races . It was  freezing cold with no windows.  The sikh driver touched his bindi (for good luck and more)  one too many times for my liking. There’s  no suspension in a tuk tuk except  the suspension of disbelief so I grip the chocolate cake for dear life as it and I bounce in alternate rhythms towards what may or may not have been the destination.  This lack of suspension made my  attempts at giving directions sound like  a  distrespectful attempt at  Himalayan throat singing.

Finally I arrive stumbling through the door of Rana and Monicas beautiful home.  “I brought you a present” I exclaimed with pride and opened the large cake box to reveal what can only be described as chocolate roadkill.  We laughed and the evening went well from thereon in.(“thereon in” when did i start saying “thereon in”) . I am absolutely crap dinner party material. The delhi-ntelligensia is alive and well, connected to the world and proves Delhi to be the satellite that New York is, or London, or Paris.   Only a while ago Salman Rushdie was sat were I was,   having other conversations with Rana and Monica and eating there delicious food. I return to The Park hotel full of spirit and looking forward to storming the stage tomorrow.