Mad Dogs, Englishmen and Yours Truly

(May 1) It must have been the hottest day of the year today. I needed to go to Nilkhet (from the Baridhara area). Since it was a holiday, I expected roads to be clear and decided to bicycle, starting out at 11am.

Unfortunately I chose the "ugly way" to get there - by way of Tejgaon Industrial Area. It was so hot that the ice cold water in my water bottle turned lukewarm in ten minutes. Heck, it was so hot that the green arrow of the traffic signal started looking like a lime popsicle to my bleary eyes.

Anyways, I got there safely and got my work done. BTW, Nilkhet is an adventure in itself. This place, home of 3 or 4 used bookstores thirty years ago (I bought one volume of Britannica here in 1974) is now a sprawling book empire of hundreds of small shops. They do everything - sell used books, copy books, bind books, make covers, cut paper, glue stuff together, sell stationery - to do with books.

On the way back, I decided to take the scenic route - turning right after going a ways past Asad Gate, along Zia Udyan, behind Parliament.

I stopped twice to refill my drinking water. The worst moments were when I was stuck in traffic exposed to direct sunlight (and in Industrial area, behind a belching bus.) I was ok when moving, because of the breeze I felt during bicycling. Here are some pictures.

Krishnachuras at full bloom.



The lake looked refreshing.



A brilliant move by the boy: cool down in the water!



Modern-day Visti-wallah (water-seller - remember the Humayun story?)