Reminiscing Delhi

The first day I came to Delhi, I was thrilled by the greenery and the beautiful wintry weather that just about managed to cool the tropical angst of a typical Goan guy. Was lucky to be accommodated in a simple but quaint old guesthouse in Jor Bagh on Lodhi Road, just a few metres walk from Delhi's quintessential Mughalai "Lodhi Garden". This part of the city was such a blessing to be in as I later realised; it was peaceful, relatively secure and cleaner than most parts of Delhi.

Initially I was quite apprehensive of what Delhi will be like. Having lived in Mumbai and Chennai before, I was sure I would manage to survive for at least a while... But little did I know that I would go on to stay here for such a long time as ~4 years!

Before I knew it, I got involved with my job responsibilities, I joined a music school for piano lessons, and slowly found my way around things in Delhi (housing, church, social life, etc.). In spite of doing this, I wasn't really happy in Delhi. I gradually began to feel more and more uncomfortble with the situation. Let's not get this wrong; I was indeed having a great time, meeting amazing people and making some great friends. But there was something about the general DNA of Delhi that didn't augur too well for me. Consider, a super-delicious meal that suddenly went bad on taking the last bite of the cottage cheese (paneeeeeeeer!!!!); we now even have a movie on it - Delhi belly. Or the way the autorickshaw driver, in spite of a treacherous ride, insults you for asking for the remaining 5 rupees he owed you. Or the way the car drivers in the this city talk to you through their horns! Or the summer heat - one could cook in such heat!!!

So I convinced myself that Delhi would be a "in-between", a stopover, a "via", a someplace somewhere something in my life.... I had to quickly move on from here. And every year it was the same story - "this is my last year in Delhi!!!!" After three years of talking like that to myself, i realised how miserably I had failed at leaving this place. It somehow now began to feel like "second home" (yuck!). How could that be possible??? Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgh.

And now, far far away from Delhi, as I remember those days bygone.... days of laughter, days of frustration, days of heartbreaks, days of good fun and friendship,... I see the faces of hundreds of people who made that experience worthwhile. They are the ones because of whom it felt like "second home". Those people are my friends, my colleagues, my bosses, my flatmates, my landlords, my paper delivery guy, my trash picker, my neighbours, my church-folk, my music teachers, the shop-owners, the restauranteurs, the raddhiwala,the house-helps,....... all faces. A gazillion faces; faces that made me smile :)

I'd come back again for you Delhi.... coz "I hate you, like I love you....." :* >.< <3