After 7 years

I was really thrilled at the prospect of going to Delhi. I hadn’t visited my home town for 7 long years due to the constraints of time and work and it was finally in Dec’2005 that I got the chance. Delhi would have been extremely cold by this time and I didn’t have many woolen clothes with me. However, that was not going to stop me. When I reached the Old Delhi Railway station on 15^th December at 0530 hours, my joy knew no bounds. It was an unusual sense of gratification that I rarely witness.

After a little haggling with the autowallahs, I headed for my home which is in Noida. The morning weather was freaking freezing but I didn’t care even if I catch a cold. The excitement over-powered all. When I reached my home, the sight of each other glorified each other’s faces with an enormous amount of joy. There are no words to express when you see your family after 2 years (my parents were in Chennai earlier)

We chatted, laughed and shared our joys. Homely life is definitely one of best comforts. After that I took some rest and then we chatted again. It seemed as though there was so much to catch on and there were these never-ending talks and the food, ma-ma-mia!

Again, I have no words to describe that… All I can say is what Chandler Bing says in f.r.i.e.n.d.s (Oh… My… God!!)

After wards, we went out to see the newly constructed Akshardham Temple. It was really a marvel. The carving and the fine sculptor is best appreciated when seen personally. The architects had taken care of the minutest details possible, eg. The hair locks of a person, the fine embroidery and even the background lighting.

We visited a number of places in the coming days. There is a full-fledged market called ‘Atta Market’ having a number of malls. One of the biggest malls there was the Centrestage Mall. It was a very big building and the inside was very well kept. I visited my cousins, for the first time at the Pragati Maidan. There had been a remarkable change in them since I saw them last 7 years before. They were all small kids then, but now, I could talk to them as friends. It was a jolly good time, with all the laughing, sharing, enjoying each other’s company and catching up with the past and the recent present.

Every day at home was like a celebration. Next day, I met my childhood buddy, Karan. We talked, laughed, and shared long lost memories. It was really amazing to meet him after such a long time. There has been something really peculiar about us and that is, that we have never ever come to a consensus whenever we argue over a topic. We would keep on discussing on a topic for hours, but have never ever agreed with the other. Everywhere I went, there was so much catching-up to do and very little time! It seemed as though, I was playing a race against time.

Delhi had been completely different from Cochin. The kind of people, their life-style, the environment, the traffic, et al, everything was different. It finally felt nice, to come back to a city where people understand my language and I don’t have to converse with them in broken English or sign language. The other days went very casually… doing small chores for the household like fetching vegetables from the market, bank work, doing stuff here and there, etc. Delhi is not an easy city to live in and its hard life does make a person grow bolder.

The New Year party in the colony was also very nice. A huge stage had been put up with stalls of snacks and dinner by the side. At the centre was a dancing floor. The DJ made the music very groovy and we danced to our hearts content. Although, I didn’t know anyone there except my sis and her friend Lovely (Karan couldn’t come as he was busy ), but I didn’t let that spoil my evening. After hours of dancing and then witnessing a black out we refreshed and then took dinner. The weather was also chilly and the inside-hot and the outside-cold is something which I enjoy. Anyway, it was rather late and by 3 AM we retired for bed.

After a few days, I left for Dehradun to see my grandfather, my paternal uncle and aunt. Needless to say, the joy of seeing them after ages was thrilling. I had a great time there, and along with my cousin, Guddi Didi and sister-in-law, Hema Bhabhi, we chit-chatted and laughed our hearts out as though we were best friends forever. At the same time, I got emotionally welled up after looking at my senile grandfather. He had become really really old and age had signs all over his body. I also utilized this time, to visit all my relatives there.

Next day, I took a trip to Mussorie. The weather was excellent and very romantic .

I walked all by myself from one end of Mussorie (the Library Point) to the other (the Picture Palace), exploring the mall, the hilly terrain and the mountainous view. I also went to see a place called ‘Company Garden’ which was about 4 Kms from ‘Library Point’. I loved to walk and I must have walked some 12-14 Kms that day. The weather and the solitude was very relaxing

I wanted to spend the next few days at home, rather than going anywhere, in order to spend the max time I get with my mom and sis. Another thing was that, I had visited almost all my relatives once and going to Delhi from Noida meant a 3 hour bus ride. So, I just hung around Noida, sometimes, visiting the Atta Market or simply hanging around the 12-22 market (as it is called) next to my colony. Sometimes, we even went to Lajpat Nagar to do some shopping. Though I was totally unaware of the Delhi buses and the twisted Delhi routes, but thanks to my sis, I didn’t have any major problem.

As they say, that all good things do come to an end and so was this. My month-long holiday at Delhi was coming to an end, but not before I celebrated mom and dad’s marriage anniversary on 14^th Jan and also met Karan and his girl friend for one last time. The next day, I had my flight for Cochin at 0635 hrs.