Business: Successful Patanjali FMCG Products (Part-3)

Patanjali Mixed Fruit Jam

Patanjali Tomato Ketchup 

Patanjali Sona Masoori Rice

Patanjali Kali Mirch Papad 

Patanjali Poha, Dalia, Pulses, and Cow Milk 

Earlier Related Posts:

Part-1

Part-2

Travelogue: Public Parks in Dwarka, New Delhi

Rahul Tiwary | Dwarka | Dec 2019

बच्चों की याद: बेबी, बुक-मार्क्स और छिपा खजाना

बेबी

एकदिन बेटी कुछ खोजती दिखी। घर में चारों ओर घूमकर पूछ रही थी - "मेरी बेईबी कहाँ है?" "बेबी" को वह "बेईबी" पुकारती जो सुनने में अजीब प्यारा सा लगता। बाद में पता चला कि वह अपने सारे टेडी-बेअर्स को "बेईबी" बोलती थी पर एक पीले रंग के सबसे छोटे टेडी-बेयर से उसे सबसे ज्यादा प्यार था और वह उसे "येल्लो वाला बेईबी" बोलती।

बुक-मार्क्स

एक समय मैं फ्लिपकार्ट से काफी पुस्तकें खरीदता था और हर किताब में एक सुंदर "बुक-मार्क" मिलता। बुकमार्क्स कई रंगों के होते और उनपर कोई चित्रकारी या कार्टून भी बना होता। इतने सारे बुक मार्क्स हो गए तो मैंने सोचा कि भविष्य में एक दिन मेरे बच्चे इनसे जरूर खेलेंगे और इसलिए मैंने उन्हें सँजोकर रखा था। उम्मीद बिलकुल सही निकली और मेरी बेटी ने सारे बुक मार्क्स ले लिए। अपने मूड के हिसाब से अलग-अलग दिन वह अलग-अलग रंग के बुक मार्क्स खोजती और रंगों के हिसाब से उन्हें एक साथ रखकर सजाती। फिर एक बुकमार्क को उसने अपने "बेबी" टेडी बेयर का "फोन" बना दिया - क्योंकि बुकमार्क फोन की तरह आयताकार था! अब जब वह अपने बेबी टेडी-बेयर को गोद लेती तो उस बुकमार्क वाले "फोन" को भी साथ रखती।

खजाना छिपाना

पत्नी एक खाली कार्टून में अपनी फेंकने योग्य पुरानी किताबें डाल रही थी, ताकि उसे एक साथ रद्दी वाले को बेचा जा सके। मेरे बेटे ने वह कार्टून देखा तो एक नया खेल निकाला - उसे अपने खिलौने जहाँ भी दीखते, वह उन्हें लेजाकर उस डब्बे में डाल देता। सिर्फ यूँ ही नहीं बल्कि उसे अंदर तक ऐसे पहुँचाता ताकि खिलौना बिलकुल दिखाई न दे सके। इससे एक समस्या आई कि कुछ समय बाद वह अपनी बहन के खिलौने भी डब्बे में छिपाने लगा और बेटी अगर लेने की कोशिश करती तो वह बल पूर्वक उसे रोकता। ४-५ दिनों के बाद उसे एक और गुप्त जगह मिली - टीवी टेबल के एकदम नीचे का ड्रावर। फिर वह अपनी कुछ चीजें उसमें भी छिपाने लगा। जैसे कि अपनी बहन से छीने हुए "बुक मार्क्स"! 

राहुल तिवारी

Memory of Kids: Cold War

After kids arrived, I started taking them to the society park and they loved it. As soon as they got off from the laps and their legs would touch the grass, they would start running. I decided to teach them to have closer look at nature. So, after we reached the park, I sat down and started touching the grass. Kids joined in and they started snatching the grass! And they made it a routine. Once in the park, they would spend the first couple minutes every day picking the grass! Those were the first few days at the place and our kids had not made friends yet. Then soon one day, our daughter had a company.

One day when we reached the park, we found another girl of the same age as that of my daughter. She had come with her mother. The little girl was unusually over-weight and her mother too was very over-weight. When my daughter saw her, she went to her with both arms open and extended – that was perhaps her way of greeting. But the other girl ignored her and did not respond. She did not even look at her! My daughter noticed that the other girl had not responded and then she moved on. We started playing usual games and kept to ourselves.

After a while the other little girl came to my daughter carrying a rubber ball, expecting some interaction. But this time, to my great surprise, my daughter just ignored her and moved aside. It happened once more after a few minutes – the girl came to my daughter and my daughter just ignored her and kept doing her stuff. It came as a shock to me. Was I witnessing a ‘Cold War’? Can little girls of 1.5 years of age execute such a ‘Cold War’?

After that, both girls played on their own. Whenever my daughter would reach near the other girl, she would behave as if the other girl was like some object, like a tree or an electricity pole. She just ignored her existence!

This was a new lesson for me. How often in our life we are offended by same person repeatedly just because we choose to be “friends” again? Sometimes people would offend us and if we say something in retaliation they would act as if we have offended them. “But I merely retaliated, while they had started it!”; “Come on, if anyone has right to get offended, it is me!” All logical arguments fell flat in front of such tough people. But my little girl showed me that day an alternative response. She stood up for herself and took revenge on the other girl for ignoring her by giving ignore to her in return. I wondered if girls are good in such psychological acts from such early age!

Rahul Tiwary

Memory of Kids: Hair Color

When the due date for my kids to be born was coming near, I started feeling excited. I also wanted to “prepare” myself for their arrival. And part of the preparation was that I wanted “look” nice to my kids when they first saw me. By now due to leisurely use of chemical hair colors, my hair had got as many greys as blacks. Although I was not coloring my hair those days, I decided that I wanted to look nice and young to my kids when they first saw me. So, I decided to color my hair!

The big day passed smoothly. When my kids came out of the operation theater, their eyes were closed. But they were to see me eventually, so I was not disappointed. I was not in a hurry. When they were back at home, they did see me. My son had got big expressive eyes, although a lot of time his eyes showed “anger”. “I was safe inside my mother’s; why did you people bring me out?”, was he thinking like that? When faced with sunlight he would squeeze his eyes. Those were winter days and sunlight is necessary for babies. Anyways, we did take some pictures with kids in arms. In one of the pictures I am holding my son in my arms; while my hair is black! No speck of grey. I was happy. And I was sure that my mission was accomplished. But little did I know that life would come full circle in a matter of 3 years.

Fast forward to early this year. I was to accompany my kids on a journey; and deep inside I was fearing that perhaps this was the last time. And to make it worse: I had not used my hair color!

A few days back from that day, I had got a hair-cut. My favorite way is to cut it very short. I feel light and fresh in small hair. When I returned to home from the barber’s shop, I sported a new very short hair with much of it in grey. Kids came to have “a look” at me. My son just observed me and did not say a thing. But my daughter? She noticed my hair and shouted, “Papa takle ho gaye!” (Father has gone bald!). I was taken aback. I told her defensively that I still had hair, just small hair. She did not seem to be convinced.

Back to the seemingly last journey. At the airport we took pictures. My wife is standing and smiling, kids have a toffee each in their mouths and are very happy. And there I am, trying to smile, in my grey hair. How could I be happy, at what was happening?

The grey hair kind of proves my mental unpreparedness for such an early parting. Had I known this would be so fast, I would have at least colored my hair. So that in the last picture together I would look better. So that my daughter won’t have to ridicule my hair, when she sees the picture. But life has to take full circles. What starts as black hair, ends up in white hair. In between it rests as grey hair. What starts in excitement may end up in disappointment. No matter how much you prepare to face life, it can always throw surprises on your way. And sometimes you are caught on camera with grey hair!

Rahul Tiwary

Memory of Kids: The Blue Slide

Children are very fond of “sliding”. They love this experience. Our kids were also fond of it. We had a slide in our society campus, but it was too tall and steep for our kids’ age. On the other hand, the slide in the neighboring park was of perfect height and inclination so our kids loved it. After having been to the park’s slide, when we took them to our society’s slide they would demand to be taken to the park’s slide. Our son would demand strongly, “Blue wala Slide!” “Blue wala Slide!”

And when we took them to the park, they would get down and start running to the “blue wala slide”. Our son would scale the ladder quickly and would quickly slide; as if he wanted to enjoy as many slides as possible before it was time to go back to home. In this “rush”, he soon realized an obstacle – other kids! Often some kids would sit at the edge of the slide and wait for minutes before taking the plunge, as if “pondering” whether to take the slide or not. So anxious to complete many slides, our son pushed a kid down the slide! And it worked! The kid was surprised but did not mind.

So, our son learnt this trick. He would rush to get over to the top and when he would find another kid there waiting and “pondering” over the slide; he would simply push the kid. Since it was not harming anyone, I decided to let him enjoy his “trick” but kept watching over other kids so that they were never hurt. And very soon, our son met his match!

Once a kid from a poor family was sliding. His clothes were rugged, and he was not clean. As usual, our son saw him at the edge sitting and simply pushed him down. Then our son took his slide and came down too. Little did he know that at the bottom of the slide, his “victim” was waiting for him.

As soon as our son stood up, the angry victim child who was of the same age, came up to him. He stretched his right hand and positioned to “slap” our son in an animated manner. He also made an angry and threatening face. Our son, who had never encountered anyone like this before, did not know how to react. He simply stood there, looking at this kid. He was neither scared (since he had never been slapped like this before and hence did not know the pain of a slap) nor threatened (since no one threatened him like this before). I immediately shouted and stopped the angry kid from doing anything. He brought his hand down and went away. We were relieved. I guessed our kid must have got a lesson that day. Not everyone will take the sporty pushing in the spirit of a sport… Not everyone has a sense of humor…  

Rahul Tiwary

Life: Blue Wala Bat

The other day I was at a barber’s shop. When I entered, a small kid of around 4-5 was getting his hair cut on one seat and his father was getting his on the next. The kid was very talkative, as kids usually are at this age. His father seemed to be not liking his talks, so whenever he asked him anything, he would give an annoyed answer and ask him to stop speaking. So very often the boy talked to himself. 

At one instance, he saw many mosquitos in the shop. So, he addressed the barber with something like this, “Uncle, you have many mosquitos here. Do you have a bat which kills mosquitos? If you don’t have, then I will give you my blue bat for some time and you can kill these mosquitos.” Neither the barber nor his father heard it, so no one replied. But I noticed the child-like innocence and also a noble idea in his offer. He actually wanted to help the barber, since the barber seemed to be helpless with mosquitos without a bat. It was a very touching gesture.

After a while when the father started getting his hair colored, the kid asked, “why are you getting your hair colored? Let it be like that.” His father was speechless at this.

- Rahul Tiwary 

Personal: The Office Boy and Tipping Point of our Friendship

Just a month into my new job and our office got shifted. At the new place we had a highly professional and smart housekeeping service. It caused some job cuts for old office boys and admin staff. They all were temporary hires and hence they did not really mind. They would shift to some other office. One of those office boys, or peons, was asked to be in the new office for a month, just as a backup till the infrastructure is stabilized. I being a new employee had not interacted with him much in the old office. But in the new office this changed.

Since he did not really have much work in the new office, he started hanging around the Billiards (game) room. He also started playing and learnt quickly. I also played regularly and hence now I was able to interact with him and got to know a bit about him. I noticed a few good qualities in him. First, he had a very friendly nature. He did not get annoyed or agitated at all and spoke politely no matter what. You can say that this was expected from him since he was an office boy. Still, it appeared to me that this was his nature and not just a behavior to display in office. He was also a very quick learner. Most of us were just learning to play but he proved himself to be the fastest learner. When I struggled, he would help me. He treated all of us with great respect. I also noticed that he used to feel a big awkward in the new super-luxurious office since he was the only office boy and appeared a bit out of place. But I used to talk to him and greeted him with a smile and a few words whenever we came across. If I was sitting on a chair and he would come to talk, I would ask him to sit down too. I noticed that he had become a bit more open and comfortable with me than he was with others. I think I treated him in a friendly manner. And then one fine day, something caught my attention.  

One day, perhaps during third week in this office, I saw him doing some housekeeping work in the office. And I felt offended. I ignored the feeling. After an hour or two, again I saw him moving some items from here to there in the office and I felt offended. For a moment I wondered why I was feeling offended. I noticed that the feeling was similar to the feeling one would get if one’s own family member or a close friend would be made to do some small work below one’s dignity. At that moment, I realized that he had truly become my “friend” and that’s why I was feeling offended!

I would have seen him doing small chores many times before and very regularly. But I never noticed; forget about feeling offended. But after playing billiards with him and interacting with him for a few weeks, I had developed a bond of friendship with him. And that very day was the “Tipping Point” of our friendship. That day onward whenever I saw him doing manual work, I would feel “hurt” a bit. Although on the surface I kept ignoring the feeling as if nothing happened.

In a week’s time, his last day in office arrived. A couple of days before the last day, I thought about giving him some money as a parting gift. But then it did not feel right. I had treated him like an equal all along and if I gave him money, I would display that I considered him lower than me. Therefore, I thought it was not a good idea. But then he was going away forever, and he was from a poor family. So I decided to go ahead with my initial plan. On the last day, near the end of they day, I got chance when both of us were playing billiards and I gave him 500 rupees asking him to buy for himself something with it since it was his last day in our office. He declined to take the note and kept saying that it was not needed. I said that I knew it was not needed and yet wanted him to buy anything for himself or his family with it. Then he took it and kept it in his pocket. It was a relief for me.

After 10 minutes he said, “Sir, I think despite this whole time I don’t know your name”. I was a new employee and there was no surprise that he would not know my name. I told him my name.

After a while when I was leaving for the day, he was just entering the office, perhaps to say final good bye to whoever still remained inside. He said good bye to me and we had a handshake. At this moment I saw a bit of moisture in his eyes. After all he must have got emotional while saying good bye to this office where he was working since long and where he must have made some good memories. Even temporary workers get attached to a workplace and its people – it is only human to do so. But I know that boys like him who come from a poor family seldom show emotion. Hence that hint of a moisture that glittered in his eyes got captured in my memory.

I asked him to come to the office some time in future just to see us all. As I left office for the day and the weekend follows, from coming Monday he won’t be around in the office. He won’t be in the billiards room displaying his new learnings. Perhaps at his new place of work he won’t get to play billiards and he would miss these days when he loved the game so much. Good bye, dear friend. Stay blessed always wherever you will be. May life be kind on you.

Rahul Tiwary

History: Is this the Right Time to Normalize Nathuram Godse?

Picture: Nathuram Godse  (1910-1949)

Member of Parliament Sadhvi Pragya Thakur has landed herself into a controversy by calling late Nathuram Godse a “patriot”. During a debate on Special Protection Group (SPG) amendment bill, a DMK member A. Raja quoted Nathuram Godse’s statement on why he had killed Mahatma Gandhi. At this point, Sadhvi Pragya interrupted and said, “you cannot give example of a patriot”. Even earlier this year when Kamal Hassan had called Nathuram Godse as “India’s first terrorist was a Hindu”, Sadhvi Pragya had protested it and called Godse a patriot. From the pattern we can see that she ends up speaking for Godse in “reaction” when she hears something against him.

While her complete opinion on Nathuram Godse may not be available, the very choice of the term “patriot” attributed to Nathuram Godse appeared to be so provocative to our politicians that they created an uproar and mainstream media followed them. Although Sadhvi Pragya Thakur has apologized, her party, the BJP, is in no mood to let her go. As a punishment, she has been dropped from a parliamentary panel and it is being said that she can be also sacked from other party positions or from the BJP itself. All these decisions point out to the fact that speaking about Nathuram Godse is a “taboo” in India. It is a taboo even in the 21^st century when we are regularly being taught to “speak out” on other taboo subjects like menstruation, our body, sexual offenses, or men’s mental wellbeing. It seems India is ready to be liberated on all other subjects barring Nathuram Godse. It should make us think if our position is rational at all.

The reason why Nathuram Godse became a taboo is very simple. Nathuram Godse is not only the name of a person but also an idea. The idea will get very clear if we follow the sequence of events.

After World War-II, the British were ready to leave India. They wanted to transfer the power to an establishment which could rule and take the country forward. Muhammed Ali Jinnah was demanding a separate nation for Muslims. The other Indian leaders had two choices: (1) Not agree to Jinnah and delay independence, or (2) Agree to Jinnah leading to partition and get “instant” independence. Despite the risk, Indian leaders decided to go for the second option. The idea of having Pakistan in two pieces – one in East and other in West part of India, and to move millions of people across borders was so illogical that today we can certainly question the wisdom of our leaders of those times. Since India was being divided because of demand from minority Muslims, the atmosphere was naturally too much communally charged. Communal riots followed the partition and up to about 2 million (20 Lakh) people died. Thousands of women were raped or abducted. It was an apocalypse.

While people were naturally angry at the wisdom of Indian leaders, and angrier at the Muslim community whose demand for separate nation caused this massacre, there was one man who decided to do something about it. He used his own independent thought and came to the conclusion that Congress Party leaders must be held accountable for making such a reckless, selfish and disastrous decision which led to Lakhs of people being massacred and disgraced. He decided that as the most powerful person in the Congress Party, Mahatma Gandhi should be held accountable for this. And he also decided on the quantum of punishment – it should be no less than a death punishment. Therefore, Nathuram Godse acted as lawyer, judge and police – all by himself - and gave death penalty to the person responsible for murder and humiliation of millions of Indians. Even if such a case was run in any international court, the punishment for death and disgrace of 2 million innocent people would definitely be a death penalty.

Now this “idea” that a common citizen can “judge” the powerful politicians and messiahs of the elite and can even carry out the punishment like Robin Hood was an idea that was so provocative to the government. If more people started doing that, there would be complete anarchy all around. Especially at that point of time in India’s history when the nation had just got freedom and was busy trying to stand on its feet and wounds from partition were yet to heal, our leaders decided to shut this whole topic down. It did not matter that Nathuram Godse had given his arguments in the court of law and tried to explain his rational position behind his act. The book based on his speech was banned. And Indian parliament banned the word “Godse” as unparliamentary. Soon after Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi, riots happened in Maharashtra against the caste/community Godse belonged to. Several people from his community changed their surnames to avoid being lynched for being a “Godse”. Godse and Nathuram Godse had become a complete taboo. No one wanted to talk about Nathuram Godse. No one was allowed to talk about him.

But if we look at the rationale behind making Godse a taboo; it appears to be more of a situational tactic. India was then a nascent nation whose priorities were communal harmony and self-reliance. Hence it sacrificed freedom of speech and a rational discourse by banning references to Nathuram Godse. With the passage of time there was no longer any clear threat from the idea of Nathuram Godse. In 1989, Pradip Dalvi’s Marathi play Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy told the story of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination from the perspective of Nathuram Godse. In year 2000, Kamal Hassan made a movie called “Hey Ram” about assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. In the year 2015, the word “Godse” was finally removed from the list of banned words in Indian parliament after a complaint by Shiv Sena MP from Nashik, Mr. Hemant Tukaram Godse who asked a very valid question about how could a “surname” be banned in Indian parliament! But somehow when Sadhvi Pragya Thakur calls Nathuram Godse a “patriot”, it sounds too provocative to be accepted. And there are reasons behind this.

I think the reason why Sadhvi Pragya Thakur is shunted after her comment in Parliament is that we can’t switch from a “taboo” to “appreciation” abruptly. Indian society has not been given a chance to discuss about Nathuram Godse yet. Indian artists, playwrights or movie makers have not been given enough chance to explore the psyche of Nathuram Godse. Because Godse has been banned from public discourse for so long, Indian public is not much aware about him or his ideas. Hence when someone like Sadhvi Pragya calls him a “patriot”, it is something which is difficult to be digested by politicians and people alike.

Therefore we must reflect if this is the right time to remove the taboo around Godse and to “normalize” him and his ideas. In this age of social media and free flows of ideas and thoughts, Indian public is mature enough to understand, accept, differentiate and disagree while maintaining the needed calm. Indian politicians and political parties should stop being so touchy about Nathuram Godse. Let movies, art and literature explore Godse and his ideas along with those of Mahatma Gandhi too. If we allow this, there will be less risk of misleading or false propaganda being passed for or against Nathuram Godse.

As a bottom line, I think it is high time we must remove the taboo around Godse for once and forever.

- Rahul Tiwary

Nature: Delhi as City of Birds

It seems Delhi is the city of birds. Everyday I come across flocks of birds at different places. Perhaps this time when the winter has started is special for birds because I am seeing lot of birds’ activities these days. Here are some of the pictures I took using my phone:

(Above) Found a man feeding Mynahs and Sparrows with Haldiram Namkeen

While people from all other major Indian cities keep complaining that in the name of birds they are now left with only pigeons who make their balconies dirty; Delhi is blessed in this regard. I have always found sparrows in many areas in Delhi/NCR. And I see Indian Mynahs in such large numbers in Delhi. 

(Above) Just see how these birds are flocking to eat (junk food).

It was a lovely scene. Apart from Mynahs and Sparrows I could also spot a few Crows. 

(Above) A beautiful Mynah and few little Sparrows

(Above) Birds sitting on light posts in Delhi

(Above) Birds sitting on a wall in Delhi

This last picture is so special. I came across these birds which are all Indian Mynahs, at a place where hundreds of these birds had gathered and were most probably discussing some matters. In a group of a few Mynahs several appeared like they were fighting or arguing. There was no apparent reason why hundreds of Mynahs had gathered at a single place. It looked like a “Panchayat”. Sometimes even Crows can be seen to gather at a place or on some tree and make lots of noise. 

Well, after all I am very happy to see these birds around me. Hope these birds keep Delhi as their home always. 

Rahul Tiwary

Photography: Human Traffic Vs Birds

Humans stuck on a “fly”over in traffic while Birds watching from a wall

© Rahul Tiwary | Delhi 

Philosophy: Women and Their Love for Anything ‘Money’

Women and their special affection to money is legendary. It is seen in their daily life (e.g. when women would ‘bargain’ at shops more than men do), in the many decisions that women make in their life (e.g. decision to choose their life partner) and it has been the subject of literature and popular fiction in all ages. As per the popular position, men love beauty (since they are seeking a mate who would bear their offspring; and beauty is often a reflection of heath) while women love money (since they are seeking protection and safety; which men with money can easily provide). This aspect can be seen to play most dominant role in relation to the matters of matrimony. 

It is widely believed that if a woman is given two choices, one of a very fine man with scarcity of money Vs an uninteresting man with lots of money, majority of women would choose the second choice rather than the first. The only women deviating from this trend would be teenage girls (who got no wisdom) or women who already got too much money themselves. 

So why are women so attracted to money? 

As per my theory, women loved money because they seldom had it. All through our history, inheritance laws did not allow women a share of family wealth; and they were not allowed to take up professions. And then the society was dominated by men. All these factors caused women to depend on men for money. Hence it made sense for a woman to choose a man who had more chance to liberally grant her money (was rich); than a man who would struggle at it.

All through the history, we see women trying to gain access to money. This is seen in the practice of women being greedy for gold, precious metals and jewelry. Since women historically did not have access to money in the form of currencies, they chose to hoard jewelry as a form of having access to money. This is also seen in the practice where mothers would love their sons more than their daughters; since sons would inherit the family money and hence after death of her husband the woman would have to depend on her son. So it made sense to pamper the sons a bit more (than daughters). 

Now some theories have been popularized by modern management gurus promoting women as better managers etc, mainly because since ages women have been managing their households. This concept of matriarch having keys of kitchen and dictating terms to daughters-in-law and other servants is true for resource management and task management points of view but not for money management. In agri-based societies, money in the form of cash was scarce. Men were providers of resources while women managed the resources inside the homes. This equipped women with better skills in things like resource or task management; but never money management. Women historically never had experience of managing money, forget about either investing it or profiting from it. This explains why from Warren Buffet to Jhunjhunwala – most big investors have been males. Because of this, in general women are bad at finance and investment since they never dealt in these areas before. And since women are bad in finance, they would want to choose men who are good in finance. And the more money one has, it is a sign of being better with money. 

But there is a silver lining. Now that women are taking up professions, doing jobs and earning money themselves, their priorities are bound to change. They no longer need to depend on men for having access to money and hence they would dare to choose men who are not necessarily rich but have other desirable qualities. 

- Rahul Tiwary

Travelogue: Azim Khan Tomb in Delhi

Azim Khan was a general of the Mughal Army. His tomb was commissioned in 17th century. It is built in the typical square shaped structure with a crowned dome coated with plaster and decorated with carvings.

Rahul Tiwary | November 2019

Travelogue: Mehrauli Archaeological Park in Delhi

Mehrauli Archaeological Park is a historical archaeological area spread over 200 acre in Mehrauli, Delhi, adjacent to Qutub Minar. It consists of over 100 historically significant monuments including the ruins of Lal Kot built by Tomar Rajputs in 1060 CE and architectural relics of subsequent period e.g. rule of Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Lodhi dynasty, Mughal Empire, and the British Raj.

Qutub Minar can be seen above while a Rose Garden was just planted (currently in November) and garden should be laden with roses in this winter

Pillar showing directions of prominent places to visit inside the park

Children playing Cricket inside the park (despite boards telling sports is not allowed inside the park; the whole park was full of kids playing Cricket in several grounds)

Nature’s beauty

A tomb (above)

Jamali Kamali Tomb and Mosque:

Kamali. "Jamali" was the alias given to Shaikh Fazlu'llah, also known as Shaikh Jamali Kamboh or Jalal Khan, a Sufi saint who lived during the pre-Mughal dynasty rule of the Lodi's, a period from the rule of Sikander Lodi to the Mughal Dynasty rule of Babur and Humayun. Kamali was an unknown person but associated with Jamali and his antecedents have not been established. Their names are tagged together as "Jamali Kamali" for the mosque as well as the tomb since they are buried adjacent to each other. The mosque and the tomb were constructed in 1528-1529, and Jamali was buried in the tomb after his death in 1535.

This gate above is made of single sheet of stone but is carved in a manner such that it gives a visual image of several gates appearing behind gates (but actually it is just a piece of art and there is no door in it)

Again a piece of art in stone 

Back side of Jamali Kamali Tomb (above)

A mosque where I found about 10 religious people offering namaj inside this building

Ruins 

Rajon ki Baoli / Gandhak Ki Baoli:

Rajon ki Baoli is a famous stepwell in Mehrauli Archaeological Park of Delhi. It was commissioned by Daulat Khan in 1506 CE, an administrator of the Lodi dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.

Mughal Era Tombs:

Some ruins:

Tomb of Quli Khan:

Quli Khan was a foster brother of the Akbar. Born to Maham Anga, the foster mother of the emperor Akbar, Quli Khan was a general in Akbar’s army.

Rahul Tiwary | November 2019