In the vast and almost empty lounge we found two Indian journalists: Sandeep Dikshit of The Hindu and Sankarshan Thakur of The Telegraph who had been here since the weekend covering the India-Pakistan talks. Our high commissioner to India Shahid Malik was a fellow passenger, as was Ali Zafar who was on his way to India to promote his movie. We had a few hours to kill so Kamran and I took turns playing DJ at the music store. ‘Coke Studio 3’ was my choice and a few hours later Meesha Shafi’s voice was also going to Delhi — thanks to the two Indian journalists who eventually purchased the CD.
Boarding took an hour. Space was aplenty and Cyril, Moeed, Kamran and I found seats close by. Kamran and Dr Moeed are real celebrities we found and keeping close to them meant VIP treatment which Cyril and I enjoyed thoroughly. I’m talking about unending glasses of juice and even a cold towel courtesy the adoring PIA crew. After 45 minutes, two chicken sandwiches and a gulab jamun later we were in Delhi. In true Foreign Office (or when in India MEA) style we were met by our hosts — who facilitated us through the dreaded immigration process. Luggage collected — hotel taxi sorted and we drove towards Delhi.
Two words when we left the airport: ‘construction zone’. Overhead bridges, hotels getting a face-lift and the tracks in place for the city’s Metro. Delhi is gearing up for the Commonwealth Games. At first glance (and this is my fourth trip) Delhi looks like Lahore except for the women on motorcycles and the street signs in English, Hindi and Urdu. The hotel we’re staying at is the ITC Maurya. Upon arrival we’re greeted like celebrities with garlands and photographs. This is a gorgeous hotel and we’re on the executive floor.
At eight pm after freshening up we met our hosts for orientation and dinner. And what a dinner it was — located on the hotel’s main floor, the restaurant had been declared among Top 50 Restaurants in the World and the Finest Restaurant in Asia. The papars were followed by succulent jumbo prawns, BBQ’d paneer tikkas, potato cutlets, cauliflower pakoras, lamb, chicken boti, dahi and roti, and naan and paratha. This was followed by kulfi and gulab jamun.
Conversation was flowing and no one held back — drone strikes, US policy in the region and why we weren’t visiting Agra to see the Taj Mahal, and the great partition debate. Lively is an understatement for our group. Our agenda for tomorrow is full and why not? As a fellow journalist put it — let’s see if there’s a constituency for peace in India. Watch this space.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2010.
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