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It’s not just the brownie; prices of all the items vary. Espresso Italiano starts at Rs 38 at Connaught Place while at Khan Market it is Rs 70, almost double the price. At Green Park Barista the Espresso Italiano is for Rs43. “I am addicted to drinking coffee. We usually go to Barista at CP every weekend. So I am quite familiar with the prices. But I was astonished to see that same items were available at higher prices in Khan market Barista outlet,” recalls Namrata Roy, a sales executive with VLCC(Vandana Luthra Curls and Curves).

Kumar Saurabh, Marketing Manager of Barista Coffee house, Northern Delhi says that the price variation is due to the fact that all Barista outlets have been divided into three categories. “The first is the Espresso Bar, generally for students and first jobbers, like one at Safdarjung Enclave. Next Is Espresso Bar Plus meant for target customers like professionals, management students, for example the ones in Connaught place and Vasant Vihar. The third is Barista Crème in South Ex and Khan Market for businessmen where people have corporate deals.” But why the price variation? “The price variation is of only of 4%-5% .At Barista Creme we use special coffee beans and all items ordered are prepared in front of the customer only. In other outlets the sandwiches and other eatables are pre-packed. There is a difference of quality.” On being asked why isn’t there any mention of the quality difference and categories in the menu or different outlet names, he says “We will look into the matter. We take this as a feedback,”

And it’s just not the Barista. McDonalds take away counter at Shivaji Stadium, Connaught Place sells a fountain Coke for Rs 9. On condition of anonymity the employee at the counter said that the quantity that is sold at this price is half of the quantity sold at the standard price inside McDonalds.

For a Delhi based lawyer Dr Manjula Batra this is an unfair trade practice. “Price variation between the outlets is a complete discrimination. It is a market driven policy and cheating the consumers. Even if it is a legal practice, the onus of informing people about this difference lies with the company.” Many agree to the fact that a reputed company should always inform the customers. According to Sharon Arora, an MBA student , “I often have a cup of coffee at these joints. I was never aware of this change in prices according to the area. They should inform. We expect such a sense of responsibility from a brand”

But for some price hardly matters. For Sourav Mandal, a law student, such coffee joints are the “it” places. “Where else do you get coffees like these? The crowd is good. So is the food. Many foreigners prefer to go to such places. Youngsters also like the ambience. We can play the guitar, play scrabble and chill out. Many choose to go to such places for their dates.” Truly said, “ a lot can happen over a cup of coffee”. However, this coffee comes for a good price depending upon the location.

By Kinga Dema and Neha Sethi
Photo:Babu

You think someone wearing a full-sleeved shirt in this humid weather is bonkers? It might not be the latest fad but it is certainly a preventive measure. It is what the doctors are advising if you want to stay away from dengue. Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and other concerned agencies claim that preventive measures have been taken to fight dengue. But since the outbreak of dengue fever since this June, the cases are still increasing.

V K Monga, Chairman, Health Committee, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) says, “Till yesterday, 208 cases have been reported from Delhi for the year 2008.” He said the total number of cases reported last year was 548. He also added that the total number of cases is expected to be more than those of last year.

“The increase in the number of cases can be attributed to early monsoon and increase in the volume of monsoons this year. There is more humidity and also the temperature has not been very high this year,” he said.

While the agencies are busy bracing the outbreak with various measures, there seems to be a blockade on the way with the workers for the Domestic Breeding Catchers (DBC) going on strike.

This is being cited as another reason for a surge in dengue cases, points out Monga. “This problem will be solved shortly. They are demanding a regular government job, which is not possible. They are hired on a contractual basis. They are taking advantage of the situation because they know that this is the peak season for them.”
Monga claims that the MCD is ready to deal with the dengue cases. “I have visited one or two hospitals and seen the provisions. The supply of platelets and medicines is enough. There will not be any problem.”

Dr R N Singh, Chief Medical Officer, Malaria, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) claims that special beds have been earmarked for dengue patients in hospitals like AIIMS, Safdarjung, RML, Lady Harding and other hospitals which come under NDMC supervision.
So how harmful is dengue for you? Dengue is a viral disease which is transmitted to humans by the bite of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. The severe form of dengue is called dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). It can lead to a more critical stage called the dengue shock syndrome. It could result in death if not managed in time.

Dr Prena Chhetri, a resident doctor at Indraprasthra Apollo Hospital, says, “Unlike the nocturnal malaria-transmitting mosquito, the dengue mosquito bites during the day and breeds in clean water.” It also bites several times at a stretch without rest, which means ‘a single mosquito carrying the dengue virus could infect more people in a shorter time’.

But the good news is that Dr Chhetri says it is not difficult to keep yourself safe. “The safest option is to wear full-sleeved clothes and make sure that no stagnant water is there near your surroundings. The dengue scare is bigger than the actual diseases every year so don’t be paranoid, just take precautions.”
So this season, do your best to be free from the grip of dengue!

Women today are capable of doing everything, then why not auto driving? Meet Sunita Chaudhary, the first women auto driver in Delhi, who loves her profession and wants to be an auto driver in her next life also. Aqsa Anjum traced some important aspect of her life...

By Kinley Tshering

Photo:Babu

Twenty year old, scruffy looking Nikhil, his hair tied into a pony tail scurries with plates of shawarma at the Al-bake restaurant at the Community Center in New Friends Colony. Speaking fluent Hindi as he takes the orders, at a glance, he looks like any other waiter. A closer look however confirms that he is not an Indian.

Leaving back his ailing father at home, Nikhil immigrated from Nepal in search of employment in 2006. Having landed a job at the restaurant, he has been working as a waiter since then.

Nikhil is not the only Nepali working at the restaurant. There are more than 12 others from across rural Nepal who work at the restaurant. There are still many other Nepalis who work in the various restaurants and eateries at the Community Center.

“We employ those boys who are good at work. I pay them salaries according to their work. The more skilled they are, more they are paid,” says Sonu Aggarwal, owner of Brijwasi restaurant. “For those who are not skilled, we train them with a minimal salary. When they become skilled, we increase their salaries.”

Most of these Nepali waiters have one thing in common to say: that they came to Delhi for want of employment opportunities back at home. And most of them come from poor backgrounds and have little or no education at all. The grim scenario at home has pushed these young men to look for greener pastures beyond the boundaries.

Dev Raj, 18, from Solokhombo village in Nepal, traveled to Delhi 15 months back looking for a job and a livelihood. Today he works at the Brijwasi restaurant at the community center. He earns a salary of Rs 2,200 a month. The restaurant he works at also employs about 20 other Nepalis.

The porous border shared by India and Nepal, lax immigration rules and a lack of VISA regime between the two countries also makes things easier for them.

Kamal Thapa, another waiter at the Al-bake, says that they just pack their bags, board a train and travel to Delhi. “That is as easy as that,” he adds.

Once in Delhi, through acquaintances, relatives and friends, they hunt for work. To curtail their expenses, most of the Nepali workers put up together in the same house. “We eat from the restaurant and share our rents. This way we are able to save some money from our meager salary,” Dev Raj says.

Nepalis are not just working for others. There are quite a few of them who run their own small businesses as well. And that is exactly what Sher Singh Lama, 30, from Dhaling village in Nepal, has been doing for the past 8 years.

“I used to work as a domestic help for more than 6 years. My employer had promised to send me to London to work for one of their cousin’s house but he did not keep his promise,” he narrates. “After that I started this momo business with two of my friends.” He earns a daily profit of about Rs1, 500-2,000 a day.

Lama lives at Lajpat Nagar along with more than 50 other Nepalis in a building, fully occupied by them. All of them are into momo business and go as far as Khan Market and Nehru place, to sell momos.

Be it working as waiters or selling momos on the streets, the Nepali immigrants have a reason to be glad. “It is better to be here, working and earning rather than being at home jobless,” says Kamal Thapa.

Eklavya Kumar of the Megh Pyne Abhiyan discuss flood situation in Bihar at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

As the Government officials and agencies discuss the flood situation in Bihar, experts and organizations working in flood affected north Bihar area blame the Government’s flood control policies for the state’s nightmare. Dipu Shaw reports…

Dr. Dinesh Mishra, fellow at People’s Science Institute (PSI) recently released his book on floods in Bihar titled “Trapped Between the Devil and the Deep waters”. The “devil” of course refers to the corrupt Government officials who “gain from the almost regular Bihar floods”.

This time the Kosi River nicknamed as the “sorrow of Bihar” has devastated the state as never before. More than two million people in 14 districts of Bihar have been affected by the Kosi floods. The central government has sanctioned Rs 1000 crore for rescue and relief operations declaring it a national calamity. The National Disaster Management Authority has also been pressed into action in the state. It was reported by the Government that most of the marooned persons have been rescued and shifted to safer locations. Reports from the flood ravaged area, however, point to the contrary.

Kavindra Kumar Pandey of the Megh Pyne Abhiyan, which works with the flood-affected in north Bihar, was recently in the flood ravaged area. He contends “There is rampant looting and molestation by anti social groups. The relief camps and food material is also insufficient”.

Even the flood management policy of the government has received some serious criticism.

“It is a totally man made flood”, says Himanshu Thakar, Delhi coordinator of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People. “The Kosi has breached for the eighth time, no doubt that the floods could have been avoided”.

Dr N.C. Saxena, former Secretary of the Planning Commission of India is critical of the Government, both at the center as well as in the state of Bihar. He points out how there is no provision of a third party monitoring of the state expenditure. “When World Banks provide money, teams from Washington can come to monitor and survey the expenditure and its use, but for the government’s money, no one can know where it goes”, he says. “It is not the lack of funds that is affecting relief operations in Bihar. It is its improper application.”

Experts observe that it does not pay to tamper with the flow of a river that carries a heavy sediment load. And River Kosi carries a lot of silt with it. Dr. Mishra gives the example of the Hwang Ho River which has 18 embankments on it. “After breaching for the ninth time, the river did not return to its original course. Then, they built embankments on the new course”, he mentions. “When a heavily silt laden river is embanked, the sediment gets trapped within the embankments lifting the bed level and necessitating the raising of the embankments. There is a practical limit to which the embankments can be raised and maintained.”

The PSI fellow who is considered an expert on Bihar floods also suspects many more deaths in the Kosi floods than officially reported. “The dead bodies must be covered under the heavy silt and many would be carried away by the river. No one will come to know about them as the bodies will not be found”, he says.

Dr. Mishra recommends a combined effort to tame floods in Bihar. “The layman who lives on the riverbed, the engineer who works with contours and maps in his office and the politician who takes decision need to come together to save Bihar from the devastation”, he suggests.

Anna-Kaisa Heikkinen is the outgoing Second Secretary of Finnish Embassy at New Delhi। After spending four years in India, Anna-Kaisa is shifting to Moscow for a new assignment. She speaks to Kunal Majumder about her experience in India.

चाइल्ड केयर सेंटर एक ऐसा केन्द्र है जहाँ पर मानसिक रूप से विकलांग बच्चो को पढाया जाता हैं और उन्हें ट्रेनिंग भी दी जाते हैं। इस सेंटर की स्पेशल एज्युकेटर ,नसीम फातिम का कहना है की इन बच्चो के साथ बहुत ही प्यार से पेश आना होता है और इन पर दुसरे बच्चो से ज्यादा ध्यान देना पड़ता हैं।
इस सेंटर में इन बच्चो को मानसिक विकार से लड़ने के साथ साथ व्यापारिक ट्रेनिंग भी दी जाती हैं। यहाँ पर उन्हें मोमबत्ती बनाना , ग्रीटिंग बनाना,और लिफाफे बनाना सिखाया जाता हैं। इन बच्चो में अलग -अलग विकलांगता हैं परन्तु इस सेंटर में इन सभी का उनकी विकलांगता से ध्यान हटाकर उनकी योग्यता पर ज्यादा ध्यान दिलाया जाता हैं। इन बच्चो के लिए यहाँ पर मनोचित्सिक को भी बुलाया जाता हैं।

खेल-खेल में ध्यान लगना : मोटी की माला बनती हुई छात्रा ।

नन्हा चित्रकार : चित्र में रंग भरता छात्र ।

पढ़ने का खास तरीका : गिनती सीखता छात्र ।

देशभक्ति : तिरंगे को निहारती आँखे।

-जयश्री

By
Kunal Majumdar

Do you know that Finns make almost a dozen of types of berry pies? Blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, cloudberry, strawberry...the list goes on. Berry picking is a national hobby in Finland. It’s even there in the law. All Finnish citizens have a right to pick berries and mushrooms in all forest lands irrespective of the ownership! It is not just the pies. They love their fresh berries with whipped cream and berry fillings in their sweet buns.

Finnish food is all about taste and aroma. It has a distinct flavour of the northern nature combined with pure natural raw ingredients. One would find an influence of both the east and the west. Rye bread, quark, sour cream, blins (similar to crepe), buckwheat and Finnish beetroot salad (rosolli) have an eastern origin while salted fish, meat balls and sweet bread come from the west. Just like its foreign policy, Finnish food is pragmatic and practical.


The early summer brings perch (type of fish), new potatoes and rhubarb. August is the time for mushrooms, crayfish, roasted wild duck and fresh vegetables and roots. In the autumn the hunters go after game and it is the time for reindeer round up.

Typical daily meals consist of meat balls, minced meat in sauce, meat loaf, macaroni casserole, steaks, and broiler in various forms. Rye bread and potato are a must have in the Finnish diet.

Finland is a coffee drinking nation. They drink coffee with breakfast, after lunch and dinner, during break and meetings. Finns just need an excuse to have their cup of coffee. The only other beverage that could give a competition to coffee is beer. Though there are a wide variety of alcoholic beverages available in Finland, it has traditionally been a beer-drinking country. Beer is often drunk at mealtimes and at saunas. Berries are also used for producing alcohol-containing beverages. Popular raw ingredients are currants (type of berry), strawberries, raspberries and cloudberries. They say the most popular word in Finland is kipis (cheers in Finnish).


Plenty for the five senses: Finnish food table


Golden taste: Arctic Char (fish) dish


Berry berry everywhere: Sorbet with berry sauce


Yummiest piece of fish: Smoked salmon

Kitis (cheers in Finnish): Strawberry juice

हर साल होने वाला डीयू इलेक्शन, स्ट्रीट चिल्ड्रेन के लिए वरदान साबित होता है । इन्हे देखकर आप चोकिये मत ये किसी का प्रचार नही कर रहे हैं, इन्हे किसी की हार जीत से कोई मतलब नही , यह तो इनकी ज़िन्दगी का हिस्सा है । दिन भर पम्फ्लेट्स इकट्ठा करके , शाम को इन्हे बेच कर ये २००-३०० रु०तक कमाते है । इसमे भी ये अपने लिए खुशी के पल ढूढ़ ही लेते हैं। इन आंखों में सपने और भी है ।

दोस्तों के साथ फुर्सत के पल

पहले पेट पूजा फिर काम दूजा

काम के साथ आराम जरुरी है

गार्गी निम्

By Marie Naudascher
Here is a radio feature about the Delhi based rock band, Half Step Down.
Interviews with Shiv Lumba the pianist and Karan Dutta the guitarist and backing vocals.