Delhi, in the December chill

Where destinations, dreams, hopes, angst, pain, wonder meet...

Reached Sarai Rohilla station by around 5:40pm

Unexpectedly, the usually punctual Umer couldn’t make it to the station on time. The frozen atmosphere, the assortment of crowd in search of their destinations, the wafting aroma of pakoras in the still, cold air gave me a feeling of uneasiness. With the quite heavy luggage, I moved a little towards the bridge on the second platform. The tedium of the whole day and the shivering cold made me forget the fact that I was moving at snail’s pace on the main path, where luggage carts were being pulled at a great speed. After astounding curses from a cart puller, I moved to the sides and rested myself and my luggage on an unsteady seater (the two seats are attached to a common back rest, that the slightest commotion on one side throws all its drowsy occupants into a jerk, thus inviting glances from the platform onlookers!).

The hungry crowd

To beat the cold and of course the time, I ordered tea and bourborn biscuits from the nearby stall.  Sipping the tea and listening to Shantanu Moitra's dil ki jo baatein hain... I waded off the time. After about fifteen minutes, I could see the man whom I was waiting for, walking towards me. By then I had finished my cup of tea and listened to a few melodies. He was apologetic for his late coming, but who can blame the Delhi traffic?

Pedalling the morning fog

We got into an auto and moved towards our destination amidst the huge traffic, smoke and the December fog. I called up Amma, Sarita and Rakesh (who dropped me at Mahendergarh station) to update them on my arrival at Delhi.

For some strange reason, I have always felt uneasy with this capital city. Though I can’t pin point the exact reason, it is partially the unpleasant experience I had had on a crowded metro years back, during a family trip.

But as some sensible person has said, you have to face and overcome situations that give you a fright and, running away from it isn’t a solution to anything. I abide by this principle and right now I am, in fact, living it! Yes, I garnered enough courage to come all the way to Haryana from my comfort zone. And the interesting knowledge about the Delhi crowd had amused me, thanks to Devpriya who shared it with me.  It is the people from all parts of the country and the world that make up the Delhi crowd and nobody can be singled out as ‘originally’ from or ‘rooted’ in Delhi. Delhi becomes home to those who cross into its territories. Once you fix a work there, rent a room and walk through Delhi, you become its inhabitant. With that knowledge, which I was previously negligent about, I too walked as a Delhiite.

   The colourful hubbub of the Delhi streets refuses to fade,
 no matter what the season is

Coming back to the story, I reached the room, located on the third floor of a reasonably congested building, tucked aside a narrow lane dotted by vegetable and fruit vendors, restaurants, barber shops, small textile shops, grocery shops and many more...

After settling my luggage in the room, I laid down on the cosy mattress for a while, unburdening and shedding the chill.


 For dinner, Umer took me to a restaurant whose sheer name ( Malabar) transported me to Kerala for the next half an hour or so. The presence of the Malayalam splattering foodies and mountains of ‘Malabar special chicken biriyani’ on small, white plates made me feel a little bit at home.

Straight from the kettle,  hot!

 A tasty cup of tea from the roadside was a much needed respite in the cold. It left me warm and refreshed. We headed back after buying some oranges from a nearby vendor.

After flipping through a few pages of the newly borrowed book on ‘Indegenity’, I prepared to go to sleep. As it always happens ( whenever I am in a new place), holy somnus refused to cradle me to sleep and I dozed on and off through the night. The worst feeling engulfed me when I heard movements near the door. Thanks to my incredible imagination, I suffered from frighteningly surreal and unrealistically dangerous hallucinations.

In the morning, Umer gave a fairy tale explanation to my horrific nightmarish thoughts- that it was the presence of some crazy cat. How silly the whole thing sounds now! 

This morning took me to a very vibrant campus- Jamia Millia Islamia. It reminded me so much of my own ex-campus at Hyderabad (the very word ‘ex’ makes my heart ache! Because that’s a campus that looms large on nostalgia and nature with its memorable peacocks and lakes that leave you enthralled!).

Jamia Millia Islamia

The  cricketer from Kashmir.

 Established in 1989, The Jamia Millia Islamia University Ground is a cricket ground in Delhi, with one of the best playing surfaces of Delhi.

After exploring some quarters of the magnificently huge campus, I drifted into a peaceful nap. It  left me refreshed enough to plunge me into blog writing.