From The Bard's Pen

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet,
to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me—
nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.

- Hamlet

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Delhi 5

The onslaught of the title track of Delhi 6 on FM stations made me think about my part of the city.. It is known for its market, the crowded lanes and the hustle and bustle.. for me its home.. The lanes are familiar, the landmarks.. well I have seen them change shape and color over a period of time..Delhi 5 is a place where the refugee families, especially Punjabi families, were allotted land for homes after the partition. My grandfather brought his family from a village in Sargoda, Pakistan to New Delhi. My aunt laid the bricks of our homes with her bare hands.. that is the history seeped in this area. I often walk through the narrow galis just to have a look at the homes with arched doors reminiscent of an era gone by.. you can see history here not just in architecture but in the walls themselves.. The tiny balconies and jharokhas, the latticed windows, and the posts made for sitting outside are something you don't get anywhere else.. and there are actual wells on the chaurahas that have been covered up.. people say someone committed suicide by jumping in the well and since then the local people covered it up.. I have had the chance to sing national anthem and watch the unfurling of the flag at one of these chaurahas on and independence day. It was a feeling that cannot be described in words..
In a comparative old locality like ours the special ingredient is the people you are surrounded with.. your neighbours.. you know everything that goes on in their homes and I guess your life is no big secret either.. So we refrain from lighting the lohri in the front of an old woman's house whose husband passed away on the same day many years ago.. and we celebrate festivals together by making rangolis on the doors of not just our own home but everyone else's too.. if there is a wedding in someone's family.. the neighbours help you like its their celebration and in the case of a death... they stand by your side and give you strength.. On sundays when the kids have an off.. the street is teeming with tricycles and kiddos playing on the one slide that we have.. yes we have a slide in our street.. lucky we!! And aunties sitting in the winter sun..knitting or talking.. gossiping actually.. but its a feeling of being surrounded with love.. and safety.. the feeling of coming home at the end of the day.. that is what Delhi 5 is to me..:)

3 comments:

  1. Ya i can completely relate to it specially d kinda interst neighbours take in our lives... AS if !! U knw wt i mean...afterall i have stayed at delhi 5.. it was my home once...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can totally identify with the post ... this clinging and mingling is sometimes too much ... but when u are miles away from home; it kinda is an assurance - there are people !! Yes ... Delhi Rocks !!

    ReplyDelete