There was something about the chilly
air of approaching winter that always got me excited about North India. Delhi
in November lay blanketed among thick layers of mist and smog, all quiet and
serene when you gazed at it from an aeroplane window.
Contrary to all my previous visits to
the capital, this time it was different. I had an agenda to follow. Work was
needed to be done. 6 years of studies in the city had left me well tutored in
the local mannerism and customised my outlook of its inhabitants. I was all
ready to tackle anything that came my way. The ‘Dilliwaala’ in me, bash with
accented Haryanvi dialect was all bursting to come out. I had drawn mental
plans of doing crazy stuff, revisiting all those places that left me with
nostalgia and filling my starved stomach with oodles of joyous ‘masaledaar’
food. Nothing such happened. Delhi was different. Or had I changed?
The train journey to Delhi was
comfortable, other than the sometimes pesky Rajdhani waiters and the four hour
delay thanks to an engine derailment near Mathura. I called up my friends,
reached their apartment and was momentously left searching for words. Well,
living in confined quarters for 4 summers in this place can make a man teary
once he sees huge rooms that begged to sock-slid upon. (Mental sock-slide!)
Work at the school began and things started moving rather the way I imagined.
Little did I know that my foresight of the ‘things-to-be-done-in-Delhi’ list
was getting checked there and then.
Call me pretentious, but the city had a
charm of attracting even the worst of loathers. I mean, Mumbaikars are famous
for hating Delhi. The weather got too hot, they said, and the autos didn’t run
on the meter! I don’t mind at all. I was always good at bargaining and often
tried to lower the rates set by the auto-drivers. Delhi in its own way has
sweet hidden nectar that drew me towards it like a bee. The hustle of the
crowded metro platforms, the pleasure on getting a seat in the train, the foggy
winter mornings, the thundering monsoon skies, the spectacularly lit markets on
the eve of Diwali, the streets of New Delhi, the monuments, the food, the
people. The city managed to conjure its own beautiful love portion that kept me
glued each time I was here.
I realized that during the past few
years I always had the best of company, some amazing friends who made each day
as memorable as the last. Countless pictures filled not just photo albums on
Facebook but unlimited spaces in our hearts too. This time around the city
somehow grew out and reached me. I was given a chance to walk the streets, see
the city lights and share its joy all the more. We have countless reasons that
make our lives beautiful. Well I had just one, and that was more that I could
ever ask for. Sometimes all you needed was a donut, vintage blues on the
speakers and trees blooming with twinkling lights on a terrace.
Delhi could always remain a city to you
unless we have the perfect company. Or else you would want to return home the
very next day you arrived. But for the first time, I saw the city for what it
was - more than mere columns of concrete and criss-cross of unending tarred
roads. It gave me reason, just like every other time to want to come back. I
realized no matter how much I changed, the city would be constant. I had big
Delhi-plans, seems Delhi had planned otherwise.
