As i read through Rachit's 'picturesque' memories of Arunachal Pradesh, my own childhood memories in dirty delhi slowly started 'polluting' my head. I have lived in delhi since i was born. Family 'recreational' trips to other places were rare and limited to hill stations. They were more of an 'escape', 'air breather', 'relief' etc for me than the 'recreation'. I remember staying awake the entire nght, in anticipation of the journey. And then cursing myself for thoroughly enjoying the part where we wave goodbye to our house. Such was my desire to leave delhi. There are times when i really wish that dad hadn't left the army and i had been born n brought up in some place as open and beautiful as AP. My memories of the long distant childhood are sparse and foggy. The pollution levels have finally clogged my brain.
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As i walk down, sorry drive down through the various traffic sgnals and traffic jams in my head, to an age when i was 4, i recall a roadside chai walla on the other side of my nursery school wall. The aroma of fresh chai mingling with the characteristic smell of kerosene from the choolah, togethor blending with the smell of a wet wall, gave me a sense of excitement and adventure, a strange connection to nature. I stood there wondering what lies far far beyond the wall. And since then the wall, the chai & the choolah stand for an emotion in my life. Thats what i like to call 'standardisation'.
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My school, the (in)famous dps rkp, was around 2 hrs from my place. I recall the everyday 4 hr journey, for a period of 13years, to and from the school. I remember the school parking lot congested with buses on the banks of a dirty naala. The exhaust of the buses combined with the irritating chit-chatter of the school crowd and the added taste of a mother dairy ice lolly gave me a characterstic splitting head-ache. This happened regularly, and hence i made myself believe that i have migraine. We consulted a neurologist and everything was fine.
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I am 'supposed' to like delhi because i have my home there. Because it has a metro and a Lamborgini Gallardo on display. I am supposed to like Delhi because i have been born and brought up there. Because there is a Dominoes, Pizza hut, Barrista and a hundred other joints like that.
But trust me, i hate crowds. And i still dream of an isolated n open place like pilani.
Am i living my dream right now?
All time favourites
- October Sky
- It's Not About the Bike
- Inheritance trilogy
- Lord of the Rings
- Kane & Abel
- Doctors by Eric Segal
4 comments:
You sure are living the dream, Rohan.
Having stayed in small towns or the better part of my early childhood..Delhi to me was a wonder..the boat rides and evenings at India Gate..Delhi Haat..Lodhi Gardens..kababs at Khan market..they remain etched in my memory..I personally wouldnt mind living it over again
Delhi,i personally love it.The red silk cottons doting the ring rd have set the sky ablaze with their majestic huge red flowers. with bated breath i watch the flowers change their hue to pale orange & signal the arrival of holi.i wonder how the tree knows it is time for a change of season?Year after year these trees bloom announcing the onset of summer.Wow!such beautiful timing where else will you see except in our saadi dili.I am loving it
@Sunita-You would see that in lots of other places..your perception of Delhi is bluntly put..very narrow
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