Mixed flavours of the year

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">MALLS BOOMING</span><br /><br />The mall mania continued unabated throughout 2004 in the NCR. With four malls in Gurgaon, two in Noida and three in Ghaziabad, people thronged them on every occasion — be it Diwali, Christmas. Or otherwise.<br /><br />As if this was not enough, another flurry of malls is expected to come up in the NCR by the end of 2005.With the "entertainment package" they have to offer, all under one roof, this is one mania that has caught on really big with the city''s denizens. It is estimated that only about 30% of the visitors at malls are actually shoppers. The rest are there for the movies, window shopping, and yes — the air conditioning.<br /><br />On festivals, the malls can undoubtedly compete with a mela what with the carnival-like atmosphere and no elbow room for the visitors.<br /><br />What also drives people towards them is the lack of an alternative means of entertainment. While Delhiites have their Dilli Haat or Habitat World to fall back on, people from the suburbs don''t have too many other options. So they just head mallwards. <br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">DELHI AIN''T READING NOMORE</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">A man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them — Mark Twain</span><br /><br />But intel activities, by and large, are on decline in the city. Let alone reading the readable and stimulating stuff, Delhi it would appear, has simply stopped reading. The point in case is that there are very few public libraries and book stores.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">Remember visiting the local "library" and hanging around for a dog-eared copy of your favourite Sherlock Holmes? Or treasuring cardboard tokens issued the Delhi Public Library? Not much of that happens any more.<br /><br />Books and the reading habit have not been able to survive the onslaught of, first, television and, now, the Internet. Apart from the annual book fair, Delhi does not see much happening in that front either. Though thousands flock the fair, few are book-lovers.<br /><br />Publishers also complain that "most only come to see the books, few to buy". The message is loud and clear — books are still something people want to see and flip through, not buy.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">CAFE COOL</span><br /><br />Coffee houses have been claimed by the city''s youth as a space of their own. From the elitist literary coffee culture of Dryden and Pope in 18th century London, to the haunts of dedicated journos in the India of 1960s and 70s, the cuppa has had a long and varied history around the world.<br /><br />The Capital provides a ‘chill out zone'' to its youth that insists on ‘value addition'' to simply sipping cola or a cup of tea. The airconditioning, music, scrabble and message boards full of wisecracks, all add up to an atmosphere that is probably a familiar, yet upscale version of the college canteen.<br /><br />The Indian flavour of conviviality and group activity has also left its imprint on the coffee culture and the accent has definitely shifted from the western concept of coffee pubs where an individual could stop for a quick, quiet cup of coffee.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal">Coffee bars are certainly with it, and despite exuding a certain pretensious ambience, can be a useful place to catch up with a friend or conduct a spot of business in during a busy day.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">MORE DRAMA, LESS ACTION</span><br /><br />The Prithvi theatre festival came, went — and was lapped up. For those seven days, you could spot the who''s who of the city at the festival which showcased plays by theatre personalities of the stature of Habib Tanvir and Zohra Sehgal.<br /><br />For those of us lesser mortals who wanted to catch iconic plays like Ponga Pandit and Agra Bazar, 3 Sakina Manzil, getting a ticket to the Destination of the week was a bit much to ask for.<br /><br />So who made it? The la-di-dah, the sugarcoated socialists, the quintessential jhola-khadi-kajal brigade. A culturally rich event like that, became, like most things in this city — a place "to be seen''''.<br /><br />Theatre — along with Music, Art, Reading, has become one of the dying arts of the city. Theatre enthusiasts there are. Are they enough of them to bring theatre alive in the city? We think not.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">STAPLE DIET, MORE OF THE SAME</span><br /><br />Delhi is often credited with being the most food-friendly city in the country. Thai, Italian, Chinese, Lebanese — you name it, they have it. Indian food too, is served here, but take your pick between south Indian or Mughlai cuisine. Come to think of it, that''s the problem. There is nothing more to Indian cuisine in the city save Mughlai food, the ubiquitious chola baturas, dal makhnis and sambar-dosas.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section4"><div class="Normal">Call it a s fallout of globalisation if you will, but the culture of serving diverse Indian cuisine, from various parts of the country, has died in Delhi. Not that it ever started. Where are the Kashmiri kahwas, mouth-watering thupkas and those authentic dal bati churmas?<br /><br />What''s needed is a shot in the arm. Denizens are sure to lap it up, only if they serve authentic Indian delicacies too.<br /><br />(<span style="" font-weight:="" bold="" font-style:="" italic="">Payal Saxena, Tulika Agnihotri, Divya Bhushan, Shreya Ray and Pankhoori Sinha</span>)</div> </div>