Be it Valentine’s Day mush or birthday of your loved once, lovers would want to enjoy each other’s company far from the madding crowd, or at least not in direct vision of prying eyes. So where are the romantic places in Delhi? Read on…

Jumbo Point: This Hot spot near the domestic airport used to be a favourite with lovers, but its popularity dipped after frequent security checks. Now that things have slowed down, you can see couples enjoying the flights land/take off or simply gaze at the runway lights. Beware of the cops though, who may give you a hard time.

IIT Market: Official name: SDA market. On first glance you would probably dism-iss this market as a place fit for IIT-ians taking a break, but move a little beyond the Rainbow Pastry shop, after 7 p.m. and find people taking time off to ‘compare notes!’

The Parking lots of Wave, DT Cinemas: Watching romantic movies together is out. GenNow prefers to snuggle up during cartoon shows (as most of the hall remains empty) or move over to the parking lots for some serious discussion, well!

The Stretch near Sahara restaurant and Pluto’s: After you’ve had your meal or share of partying, this stretch offers the right environment for a leisurely stroll with your mate. Minimal traffic, no loud noise or fear of uncles and auntyjis snooping.

Parthasarthy Rocks, JNU: This is the place for eternal romantics, at least as far as JNU students are concerned. Of late the place has come under the eyes of the authorities, but see if that scares you from the lush green surroundings. But you want to avoid being labelled, a walk on the Ring Road in JNU campus, should be just fine.

Greater Kailash, N-Block Market: It’s a nice, placid market after the rush hour. Unlike its more talked about neighbour (M-block market) this one is quiet, has very few onlookers and gives you enough space to get cosy with your beloved.

Pragati Maidan: Whatever may be the theme for the exhibitions that are held around the year in Pragati Maidan, you will always see lots of couples in the vicinity, obviously, not because they are interested in the carpet expo or the handicrafts of India bit. A film at Shakuntalam could also be a good choice. Or else there’s enough greenery around to rest your eyes. Just remember not to offend sensibilities though!

The Supper Factory/ Café Red Bricks, East of Kailash: Only couple entry, isn’t that good news by itself. Take a walk into the restaurant early afternoon and you would find loads of these just-in-college couples enjoying the mushy sounds of music and snuggling close, too close at times for comfort. Dim lights also help things a lot. This place is perfect and pocket-friendly for GenNow who also find the atmosphere congenial for a little love talk. Coming to the other joint, the smokers’ zone of the café is thronged by young lovers, who can safely chit-chat behind the light tinted glasses of the cubicles. To make things even greater is the music selection .

The Pyramids, Asiad Village: Unofficially called, this place is about a few steps and some electric stations all around. But let that not scare you. As the steps are reportedly occupied by couples who usually believe in minding their own business and letting the others around them breathe and love too.

Dilli Haat: If you are thinking of loving in public places, Dilli Haat is definitely one of the most preferred places. Take a stroll around the stretch between the Bengal and the Naga Pavilion early afternoon and see youngsters getting high on planet love. And the Naga stall has some amazing music playing, so have a swell time.

Steps near Priya Cinema: The Basant Lok Complex and Priya Cinema have for long been regarded as the best places for twosomes. After a movie or a meal, you could head towards the steps behind Priya or fountain (that never functions) near the Nirula’s.

Lovers’ Lane, Vasant Kunj: If we tell you the exact whereabouts, there will be a crowd there. So just go on straight to the main Vasant Kunj road, down a first few blocks and find the latest and the most recent addition to the Delhi love nests. (Hint: There are a few school buildings near the lovers’ lane.).

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Mumbai is the commercial Capital of India. The island city of Mumbai is situated off the west coast of India, south of the tropic of Cancer. Because of a wide bay between the city and the mainland, Mumbai has been a natural harbour and trading centre. Many large business houses have their corporate offices in this city. Mumbai is also the prime centre for the film industry.

The city was called Bombay for much of the last four hundred years and the name is often said to come from the Portuguese phrase “bom baia” meaning good bay. The original name Mumbai is attributed to the local goddess Mumbadevi. The name of the city was changed to Mumbai by an act of the parliament in 1997.
History
The city of Bombay originally consisted of seven islands, namely Colaba, Mazagaon, Old Woman’s Island, Wadala, Mahim, Parel, and Matunga-Sion. The history of this group of islands located on the west coast of India goes way back to the stone ages. Stone age implements have been found at several sites in these islands. The coastal regions, and presumably the islands were the home of the Koli fisher folk in the distant past.

In third century BC, these islands were part of the Magadhan empire under Emperor Ashoka. After his death, the islands changed hands from one king to another for two thousand years. They belonged to the Silhara dynasty till the middle of the 13th century. The oldest structures in the archipelago, the caves at Elephanta, and part of the Walkeshwar temple complex, probably date from this time. Modern sources identify a 13th century Raja Bhimdev who had his capital in Mahikawati, present-day Mahim, and Prabhadevi. Presumably the first merchants and agriculturists settled in Mumbai at this time. In 1343 the island of Salsette, and eventually the whole archipelago, went to the Sultan of Gujarat. The mosque in Mahim is the only nostalgia from this period.

In 1508 Francis Almeida and his men sailed into the harbour of these islands, which they called Bom Baia (the Good Bay). Bahadur Shah of Gujarat was forced to cede the main islands to the Portuguese in 1534. The Portuguese built forts and a few chapels for the converted fishermen. The St. Andrew’s church in Bandra dates from this period. In 1662 Mumbai came in pocession of Charles II as part of the dowry of his wife Catherine of Braganza. In 1668 Charles leased Mumbai to the East India Company at an annual rental of ten Pounds Sterling.

The British decided to develop these islands into a city and a centre of commerce. They have started factories in many places and many commercial treaties were signed with local rulers. In the four hundred years since then, the city has grown by a series of land reclamations, which now link the original islands into one mass. The British lured skilled workers and traders to move to this British holding. The opportunities for business attracted many Gujarati communities. The population of Bombay was estimated to have risen from 10,000 in 1661 to 60,000 in 1675.

Through the 18th century British power and influence grew at the expense of the local rulers. The shipbuilding industry was shifted to Bombay from Surat. Artisans from Gujarat like goldsmiths, ironsmiths and weavers moved to the islands. Following the 1817 British victory over the Marathas, the British embarked upon reclamations and large scale engineering works in Bombay. The vellard at Breach Candy (1784) and the construction of the Mahim Causeway (1845) are the milestones of this period in which the seven islands were merged into one landmass. In 1853, a 35km long railway was built between Thana and Bombay, the first in India. Four years later, in 1854, the first cotton mill was founded in Bombay.

Following the first war of Independence in 1857, Bombay was reverted to the British crown. With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, exports, especially cotton, from Bombay became a major part of the colonial economy. The construction of Imperial Bombay continued well into the 20th century. Some of the landmarks from this period are the Gateway of India, the General Post Office, the Town Hall (now the Asiatic Library) and the Prince of Wales Museum.

The freedom movement reached a high pitch and with many campaigns in the following years, the end of the British imperial rule in India was foretold by the Quit India declaration on August 8, 1942. India became a free country on August 15, 1947. Bombay became the capital of State of Bombay. When State of Bombay was renamed Maharastra, Mumbai retained its position.

Mumbai is best to visit from October to March when the climate is pleasant. Throughout the year the maximum temparature is almost steady(29oC ~ 33oC). The minimum temparature will be between 16oC and 26oC. The Monsoons are during June - Sept. Mumbai has one international terminal and one domestic terminal to handle the air traffic. 40 percent of the air traffic to India is handled by Mumbai airport.

Relevent travel guidance can be obtained from Government of India Tourist office at 123, Maharshi Karve Road, Opposite Church gate Railway Station or from MTDC Head Office, 9th floor, Express towers, Nariman Point. MTDC tourist information counters are located at international and domestic airports, railway stations and bus terminals. Most of the star hotels also provide tourist information for their inmates.

Agra, once the capital of the Mughal Empire during the 16th and early 18th centuries, is one and a half hours by express train from New Delhi. Tourists from all over the world visit Agra not to see the ruins of the red sandstone fortress built by the Mughal emperors but to make a pilgrimage to Taj Mahal, India’s most famous architectural wonder, in a land where magnificent temples and edificies abound to remind visitors about the rich civilization of a country that is slowly but surely lifting itself into an industrialized society.

The postcard picture of Taj Mahal does not adequately convey the legend, the poetry and the romance that shroud what Rabindranath Tagore calls “a teardrop on the cheek of time”. Taj Mahal means “Crown Palace” and is in fact the most well preserved and architecturally beautiful tomb in the world. It is best described by the English poet, Sir Edwin Arnold, as “Not a piece of architecture, as other buildings are, but the proud passions of an emperor’s love wrought in living stones.” It is a celebration of woman built in marble and that’s the way to appreciate it.

Taj Mahal stands on the bank of River Yamuna, which otherwise serves as a wide moat defending the Great Red Fort of Agra, the center of the Mughal emperors until they moved their capital to Delhi in 1637. It was built by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan in 1631 in memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Muslim Persian princess. She died while accompanying her husband in Burhanpur in a campaign to crush a rebellion after giving birth to their 14th child. The death so crushed the emperor that all his hair and beard were said to have grown snow white in a few months.

When Mumtaz Mahal was still alive, she extracted four promises from the emperor: first, that he build the Taj; second, that he should marry again; third, that he be kind to their children; and fourth, that he visit the tomb on her death anniversary. He kept the first and second promises. Construction began in 1631 and was completed in 22 years. Twenty thousand people were deployed to work on it. The material was brought in from all over India and central Asia and it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport it to the site. It was designed by the Iranian architect Ustad Isa and it is best appreciated when the architecture and its adornments are linked to the passion that inspired it. It is a “symbol of eternal love”.

The Taj rises on a high red sandstone base topped by a huge white marble terrace on which rests the famous dome flanked by four tapering minarets. Within the dome lies the jewel-inlaid cenotaph of the queen. So exquisite is the workmanship that the Taj has been described as “having been designed by giants and finished by jewellers”. The only asymmetrical object in the Taj is the casket of the emperor which was built beside the queen’s as an afterthought. The emperor was deposed by his son and imprisoned in the Great Red Fort for eight years but was buried in the Taj. During his imprisonment, he had a view of the Taj.

As a tribute to a beautiful woman and as a monument for enduring love, the Taj reveals its subtleties when one visits it without being in a hurry. The rectangular base of Taj is in itself symbolic of the different sides from which to view a beautiful woman. The main gate is like a veil to a woman’s face which should be lifted delicately, gently and without haste on the wedding night. In indian tradition the veil is lifted gently to reveal the beauty of the bride. As one stands inside the main gate of Taj, his eyes are directed to an arch which frames the Taj.

The dome is made of white marble, but the tomb is set against the plain across the river and it is this background that works its magic of colours that, through their reflection, change the view of the Taj. The colours change at different hours of the day and during different seasons. Like a jewel, the Taj sparkles in moonlight when the semi-precious stones inlaid into the white marble on the main mausoleum catch the glow of the moon. The Taj is pinkish in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden when the moon shines. These changes, they say, depict the different moods of woman.

Different people have different views of the Taj but it would be enough to say that the Taj has a life of its own that leaps out of marble, provided you understand that it is a monument of love. As an architectural masterpiece, nothing could be added or substracted from it.