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“Indian Express – Express Newsline ” Considered to be the Best English Daily News Paper With Millions of
readers worldwide. Date: 2nd June 2010″
“HINDUSTAN TIMES (HT CITY) INDIA’S LEADING DAILY NEWSPAPER WITH SALES OF MULTI MILLION COPIES THROUGHOUT INDIA AND WORLD”
Namya Sinha, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, February 10, 2010
First Published: 18:07 IST(9/2/2010)
Last Updated: 01:42 IST(10/2/2010)
Delhi may otherwise be popular as the city of ‘show-offs’, but it seems to be lagging way behind Mumbai when it comes to expressing love in style. Companies renting out helicopters and luxury limousines reveal that while they are getting heavy bookings from guys in Mumbai for Valentine’s Day, their Delhi business for the day is rather thanda.
“We have special offers for couples to hire choppers for Valentine’s Day. In Mumbai, we already have 15 bookings for the day but there’s not even a single request from Delhi so far,” says Sudip Sharma, director of FlyJettech, which operates in both Delhi and Mumbai. “We already have 14 bookings compared to two last year, but none from Delhi,” says Ameya Gore, from Airnetz Aviation, a chartered helicopter firm.
The trend remains the same when it comes to hiring luxury limousines for V-Day dates. “While Mumbai has a trend of booking limousines, Delhi has no takers”, says Rohit Saxena of Exciting Lives, a website that offers V-Day options, like customised cakes and luxury limos. “All our stretch limos in Mumbai are booked for February 14, while in Delhi only three slots are booked. Also, there are a lot more queries about hiring luxury cars in Mumbai,” adds Saxena.
While Mumbai has kicked off a month long ‘festival of love’ organised by a jewellery brand, in the run up to Valentine’s Day, where young men are splurging on expensive gifting options, it’s the high cost of such services that deters Delhiites from going for them. “So far, we do not have a single booking for choppers on Valentine’s Day because people think the cost (see box) is too high,” says Anil Kakkar of Delhi-based Excel Aviation Services.
“If I spend so much and the helicopter doesn’t take off because of the fog, it’ll be such a waste,” jokes Damyant, a BPO employee. Some Delhi girls, however, envy the luck of their Mumbai sisters. “Why don’t such things happen in Delhi. Only with cards and chocolates for us!,” says Mallika Sinha, a teacher .”