Dehlavi

  When I open my cupboard, I do see a few books that I didn't return back to my college library (and I certainly don't intend to return them, either) , but there is a lot more there that reminds me of Delhi. In my cupboard. As I dig deeper and deeper, I come across the mundane and the everyday. The little bits and pieces of insignificant things. But mind you, these small artefacts are heavy with the burden of memory. They smell of Delhi, and when I touch them, they take me back to my days in Delhi. In the first place, there are cafe coupons from my college cafe (ofcourse it isn't a canteen!) Anyone who have ever used these would know how invaluable these are. You may not always get a free cafe meal, or even a brownie. A cup of coffee, and some choco sticks with that, too! It will make a perfect evening's meal. Some of these cafe coupons are very old and outdated. I initially found them in my residence room, lying at a corner. I was too elated, but they had already exp...

  The road to Triveni is not one I would have normally taken. But there was some magic in that moment, in that month, and in my company. It was then that I was really walking into uncharted territories, and boating through previously "untasted" waters. But I had two lovely friends, who made it all the more enjoyable. Probably the most memorable afternoon, last September.  Why do I demarcate and designate this one afternoon as separate from every other warm and sunny (read, even scorching hot) afternoons that I have spent walking alone in the Central Secretariat? Every other time, It is a personal delight for me to get down the metro, come out of the wrong gate, gaze for a while or two at the roadside dargah , and then taking a walk to my second home at Delhi, the National Museum (you never knew I am so weird, right?) These are things I have never shared with many people. But this afternoon was different. I had two dear friends; we had taken a cab (sometimes, spoilt brats...