The Internet Personified: Du hast mich
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_lossy/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3c740032-7be8-4bf4-b7c0-11225313cd90_500x379.gif)
I spent all morning applying for a German visa because next month we are OFF! (Visa gods permitting.) The last time I went to Germany, I got an agent to do the standing in line and applying for me, but they've changed their rules around so now you need to go give your fingerprints and what not. It was a very long wait, and I learned a few things:
a) The most popular country is Switzerland, followed by Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy.
b) The least popular ones are Croatia and Norway.
c) Not a single Luxembourg applicant the entire time I was there.
d) June/July is peak honeymoon time and lots of women were there with full bridal bangles all the way up to their elbows.
e) The single traveler is very rare: I was the only one by myself.
f) The VFS centre in the mezzanine floor of a metro station was very well organised and HUGE. You went in and were sent to an alphabet: G for the Schengen, but also UK, some Asian countries and the US, I think.
Anyway, it was a very long day, and now we must wait at least a week before my holiday is properly official.
This week in culture: Oddbird week again! This time we went to watch a silent movie accompanied by Delhi jazz band Stiff Kittens. The movie was The Unknown with Lon Chaney, who was apparently very famous during that time. It was discovered in a movie lot with a bunch of other reels, which is why it's called The Unknown. Here's a spoiler-filled review, you can probably find the movie online somewhere. I'd only ever seen Charlie Chaplin silent films before so this horror/thriller one was quite a revelation.
This week in food and drink: (I've had a very quiet week, mostly reading, so the two nights we DID go out was just to revisit old favourites.)
Little Saigon again for dinner with friends where we basically ordered the entire menu. Some of the best food in Delhi, I can't speak to its authenticity since I've never been to Vietnam, but the summer rolls and the salad are so light and so amazing. I wish it served cocktails too, but for now I'm satisfied with the iced coffee which is super strong and comes with chunks of coffee-flavoured jelly thrown in.
Lavash by Saby after our Oddbird evening was also excellent. We got a bunch of starters, but since their cocktails are deadly and I had my visa appointment the next day, I just nursed a glass of wine. The terrace with the mist fan and low music is really nice.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_lossy/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda32c1ea-a197-4c87-a3ba-a7c2772d7b93_499x374.gif)
This week in books and reading: Maybe because my new book is out soon (THURSDAY!) I've been reading everything by Philippa Gregory back to back. I began this binge with her first trilogy called Wideacre, very sexy and disturbing and now have moved on to tales of royal women. Also I watched The White Princess over the course of two evenings, so I'm all up-to-date with 14th century British royalty politics.
This week in stuff I wrote: An essay on being this side of 30 for Arre. (Note: the headline is not mine.)
Monday evening reading list: A Delhi bar invited a band called Bhangi Jumping to play, and it resulted in a whole discussion about casteism in India. ** Alt News is attempting to take on India's fake news people. ** This YouTube star is really weird. ** Luxury luxury weddings. ** An interactive story on the death penalty in India. **
Have a great week!
xx
m
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_lossy/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F943e59c4-c96e-44ee-a5b9-96335e84e114_500x375.gif)
Where am I? The Internet Personified! A mostly weekly collection of things I did/thought/read/saw that week.
Who are you? Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, writer of internet words (and other things) author of five books (suppport me by buying a book!) and general city-potter-er.
Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Forward to your friends if you liked this and to the fellow mansplaining in the corner if you didn't.