Dilli

I had always ridden pillion on my dad's scooter, rode an auto-rickshaw with my mother or caught the school bus. But that afternoon it was going to be a challenge for me. I had to take a public bus to get back from school. I confess I was scared. I knew the way back home, but I didn't know which bus stop to get down on. Was it before the flyover or was it after the flyover. Finally I walked the last 2 kilometers back. But that bus ride gave me the confidence to explore the city I will love.

I started driving to college alternate days. So every alternate day I could bunk college. Every alternate day, I could do every Delhi boy loves to do. Turn on the speakers on full blast and listen to the only good tape you have. Every alternate day I could weave past traffic and feel like stud. Every alternate day I could be hunting for a place to park my car in front of the college. But the every alternate day I took the bus, it used to be slightly different. I could to talk one of my friends. I could narrate my love life to someone. I could weave my dreams of my future career with someone. I could also take the wrong bus, just to chat. I started to find those Oasis which one would want to visit just to have a long conversation with that loved one before she had to go back. The peaceful gardens of Humayun tomb, the elegant rubbles of Tughlakabad, the night-time ice cream at India Gate.

There used to be a time in Delhi when I would wait in the winter fog for my bus. But I haven't had the chance to walk in the fog for quite some time now. My favorite winter sport used to be lying in the sun, cracking peanuts and falling asleep in the 4 pm sun. I would love to see a traffic jam from the top of my roof during Diwali. The taillights of the cars and the decoration lights used to look good together. I used to plan my plot and weaponry for Holi, to defeat the girl gang. I used to love to cycle at 5 am to the playground where we would play till 7 am in the summer vacations. I used to love driving the smooth roads in the afternoon heat, without air conditioning because I keep my elbow on the window.

There was a time when pop corn was not reserved for the movies, it came with the clanging noise on cart. So did sugarcane cubes. Roads were simpler. There was just a green light and then a red light. That's all. And now we have an underpass, a road over it, a flyover over that and another flyover over that, and yes the metro line above that. Things are getting swanky and complicated. But Delhi needs it, because people have been coming to Delhi. And that's what Delhi is, a place where people have been coming to. First the Hindu Kings, then the Mughals, then some invaders, then Mughals again, then British. Then Punjabis, then Bengalis, then Kashmiris, Bihari, UPites....

The problem of Delhi is that it is a city of no-one and the advantage of Delhi is that it is a city of no-one. Perfect for the capital of concept called India - distinct, undefinable and yet unified. Here no one asks me where I come from. People take time explaining you the way. The summers are blazing hot and winters are tattering cold, people are harsh on the tongue and loud in their expense. But the every morning is pleasant, birds still chirp around, parents still hold the hands of the kids when they drop they off to school, people still have time to go to their relatives on Diwali, Eid, Holi and every other occasion.

Delhi is in a constant state of flux, ever since it was founded. The city has been building itself from centuries, it is always under construction. Like a maniac it keeps experimenting with itself, trying to be something new always. Stay away from it for 2 months, and you will notice a change. A traffic signal you waited at to change the radio channel , would have disappeared. The milk booth you went to put coins into would have turned into a mall. But there is something it still preserves - all it's history. It has layers and layers of history. A city which still preserves all of it and which is visible from the streets and not hidden behind buildings. It also preserves your history - the park you played in, the shop you went to buy gifts in, the school you went to, the street you loved to walk to.

I cannot explain you more about Delhi, just as you can't explain why you love someone.