Back in Delhi

I am a Delhi girl who is back in Delhi after five years in Bombay (never got around to calling Bombay, Mumbai but that is another story.) Delhi has always been my first love but Bombay grew on me and even now when I go there I am filled with a gooey sense of homecoming, which is wierd because the same thing happens when I land in Delhi. Big time identity crisis. As the jats would say, "Tu kaun se, kaun se tu?" But, I digress. This post is not about which city I love more, rather it's about the changes I see in Delhi now that I am back.

It's odd how the more things change, the more they remain the same. Delhi looks swanky, slick, well-kept, in its prime, but I am pleased to note, under the slick exterior its soul is still intact. Delhi is still very homey. The people, I notice with relief, are still relaxed and enjoy a gabfest as much as they did earlier. Yesterday I was in Dilli Haat taking some pictures when I spotted this potter with a very interesting face. Very craggy, old-as-the-mountains kind of visage. He was sitting there in the middle of his pots, wearing a white dhoti kurta and black jacket. I pointed the camera in his direction hoping to capture his ruggedness. The moment he noticed the camera, he jumped up and arranged himself artfully and rather coyly. So much for capturing his rugged look.

We started chatting, his wife also joined in and we had ourselves a pleasant blab. In the middle of all this, the two rung up sales, I took pictures but what struck me was the complete absence of suspicion in their eyes. And the fact that they went about their business so unhurriedly. The impatience, lets-get-to-the-point mien, which I encountered so often in Bombay (With valid reasons, of course. Being in a hurry is a fact of life in Bombay. I was always bone-tired in Bombay usually because of the soul-numbing travel and I doubt I could have borne a relaxed chinwag in that state.)

One of the first things I did when I was back, was to go to CP where I had worked for nearly three years of my life and was familiar with every cranny. I went to the panwallah, opposite Gillu florist, who I used to shop with some ten years ago. He recognised me instantly and chatted with me as though I had just met him the day before. I just stood there and gaped at him. Then I rounded on my husband--a true Bombay-phile who has only now begun to appreciate Delhi (interject bitchy laugh)--and said with true-dilli flourish, "THIS is Delhi. See, see!!"

This sense of inter-connectedness, I truly feel only in Delhi. Of course, there are times, when the general I-know-you-let-me-tell-you-the-story-of-my-life bonhomie gets on my nerves. For instance, there is my doodhwalla who cannot for the life of him understand why I do not pick up the milk when he rings the bell in the morning. So, he turns up every other day and gives me a lecture in shudh hindi on the laziness of young people and the abnormal food chain I encourage, when I dont pick up the milk and the cat does. The only reason I listen to him is because I am fascinated with his Hindi! Its a pure pleasure to listen to Hindi (for that matter any language) that has not been bastardised.

But see, that is the thing about Delhi. It's so lively and there is so much colour here. The city is not coy and ladylike and for that I am very thankful. It may get on my nerves but Delhi never bores me. It has too much character for that.

Labels: culture

posted by Jivitha @ 10:29 PM

1 Comments:

At November 22, 2006 11:56:00 PM PST, Romola said…

Delhi ke girls to subtle nahin hote (Pyar ke side-effects) and thank god for that!!