Krishnan and I came to Delhi as a bankrupt couple on Aug 17, 1997… 29 years back, and it became “home”. We thrived here, we rebuilt our lives, built our careers and found family amidst friends. Like Krishnan said in my dream today – What an adventure !
As I sit to write this post, I am seeing the pic from Shilaroo. Its one of the nicest photographs of the two of us –
We had hoped that we will leave this way..with our arms around each other, but the universe had other plans.
I came to Delhi for the first time in 1989 for the Faculty Development Program of NIIT. Had joined NIIT Vizag as a faculty and was sent for the training here. Loved the greenery and the Daryaganj book market. Some of us from that batch are still in touch – Sharmila and Jai Mohan. Sharmila was my room mate and we have remained friends since. Sharmila’s daughter calls me Mausi and that’s who I am for her !! We met Jai Mohan in 2016 when we were driving around Kerala. Ofcourse, I met my “guru” and corporate idol during the FDP – Venki Iyer. Do read – Venki – your score is 100/10.
Little did I know in Aug 1989 that a mere eight years later, Delhi would become home.
Rajinder received us at the New Delhi railway station and has been our lucky mascot ever since. For Rajinder and us, Aug 17th is the “Friendship Day”.
To quote my own blogpost from 2017 – Dilli Meri Jaan !
“This is the city that brought us back from the brink of disaster, this is the city that got me back in touch with my closest friend Geetu, this is the city that gave us our passports, this is the city that taught me how to drive a car, this is the city where I discovered the meaning of “chaat”, this is the city that made Krishnan sing Hindi songs, this is the city that made Krishnan into a swimmer, this is the city that put me on the front page of many newspapers, this is the city that re-kindled our love for cycling, this is the city that inspired us to setup ShikshaDaan, this is the city that makes me smile every time I touch down or drive into it…. with all its warts, with all its challenges, with its unbreathable polluted air, with all the dark heart rending social ills, “Dilli” has my heart in its grip.“
For the first five years we lived in Patparganj and then bought our home in the then budding millennium city Gurgaon in 2002. I just completed the process of the intensive SIR today coincidentally !
We came to Delhi with nothing and it gave us everything ….. I am once again in the darkest hour of my life and this city is my refuge because every corner of Delhi NCR has precious memories. The winter trips to Chandni Chowk, buying milk at a Mother Dairy booth in a milk can, the walks at Lodhi Gardens or Nehru Park, Going to Saravana Bhavan on the day it opened where a restaurant named Sona Rupa was previously, visiting Bangla Saheb Gurudwara at 4 am, taking friends and family to visit the historical monuments, driving in the fog.. arguing over the merits of “Delhi driving”, seeing how NH8, a four lane road became NH48, a six lane highway, witnessing the exponential growth of Gurgaon with tall towers where we cycled on dirt tracks in 2009 and 2010, children that we met as one year olds now working and sending us LinkedIn invites, Noida’s sector 18 market morphing into massive malls …. Yamuna Expressway and now the Delhi Mumbai Expressway.. oh, I can go on.
Thank you Delhi for being our home … We are happy vote in Haryana, even as we land at T1 or T2 or T3.
p.s – It’s 206 days since I last heard you laugh… and today your 7th month ritual was done at the Hanuman temple in Coimbatore. Why couldn’t you just hang around Krishnan ? So much more to see and explore.
❤️❤️❤️
Beautiful words