Once Delhi Lets You In

Once Delhi Lets You In

By,

Jigyasa Chaturvedi

TY, B.Sc. Economics (Batch of 2023-2027)

Source: Image provided by author

If Delhi were a woman, she’d be the kind that is fierce, intense and bold on the exterior. She would make you go through numerous challenges and hurdles at first, making you experience something new everyday. She’d make your life so fast, you’d end up wondering how you would catch up with it. But at night, when nothing would seem familiar, you’d get into your bed with a bittersweet feeling of how you’ve survived her torment. You wake up the next morning, take a sip of your hot coffee on your balcony, while taking in the cold and hazy air that Delhi wraps you in during December. You realise how soft, warm and comforting she is on the inside. She’ll fill up your life with her chaos, but the one that makes you want more. Filled with ages of stories and anecdotes, she wraps all of them around herself like a dupatta. She wears her history like a perfume, faint, but present. She stands tall and elegant looking over everyone who lives in her shadow. And once she lets you in, she never lets you go.

Delhi didn’t just surround my childhood, she shaped it. 

I came to Delhi when I was just eight. After listening to the countless stories of how unnerving Delhi and its people can be, I was afraid of what my life would look like. But like I said, she grows on you, as she did on me. Over the ten years I have lived in Delhi, I came across numerous situations- some scary, but some equally beautiful. Delhi tested my patience a lot, she taught me how to navigate more than just roads. You’ll find yourself in the most unimaginable situations and moments, and somehow, you’ll grow up in ways you never expected. In the end, Delhi would shape you into someone bolder, fiercer, and more sure of herself; just like how her people are, and just like how she is. 

My days would start with the sounds of street vendors, the news on the televisions, school buses, and the smell of parathas being cooked somewhere. I would rush while getting ready and once I sat on my school bus, I would look around at how green all the trees looked in the morning. There was some kind of freshness in the air. After school, we’d go out to have icecreams and chhole kulchhe from the same stalls we weren’t supposed to eat from, but always did. 

In the evenings I’d go to my kathak classes in GK 2, which had the most gorgeous houses I had ever seen. Strolling through the neighbourhood, looking at the stunning architecture made me even more fascinated with the city. Delhi would introduce you to all sorts of houses, new and old. You would look at them and wonder about the story behind all of them. From Chandani Chowk to Chittaranjan Park, you’d be captivated by how every house held a story in its chipped railings, huge windows and the unkept bougainvillea trees in front of it. 

Speaking of architecture, an eight year old Jigyasa’s heart was set on the heart of Delhi – Connaught Place. The tall white pillars, colonial arches, neon boards; a place where you’d find people from all parts of the city. It was always alive with the busy crowd, very talented street performers and the countless pigeons that hovered around. 

In the evening you’d see old couples get out of theatres watching classical dance performances and theatre, gushing about how beautiful the performances were. It fills your heart with euphoria and you fall in love with the city.

That’s how Delhi became home to me. With the way she includes people from everywhere, she blends its history to its present, she makes you fall in love with your life, she makes herself a home to you. A home I didn’t realise I’d miss so deeply until I had to leave it after ten years.

I never realised that I would miss Delhi so much, especially the small things about her. The familiar lanes, the evening walks, the chaos, and most importantly, the street food. As I went on to visit different cities, I realised that I have always carried a part of her in me. Be it the lessons she’s taught about always being careful, or how it is always important to be kind to strangers, I have always kept a part of her in my heart. 

I had been missing her so much that I had practically manifested getting my summer internship in Delhi this year, just so that I could live there once more. And thankfully, it came to be. I got to live there with my best friend. It was her first time in Delhi and I took it on me to make her explore every part of Delhi and make her fall in love with the city just the way I did. 

Together, we wandered through Delhi like wide-eyed tourists and old lovers at once. In Hauz Khas, she paused to admire the ivy curling over ancient stone walls. In Sarojini, we laughed as we bargained for earrings we didn’t need. At Majnu ka Tila, we sat with steaming bowls of ramen while fairy lights tangled themselves into the night sky. But it was Chandni Chowk that stole her heart — she kept humming “tujhse milna purani Dilli mein,” as if the song had finally found its setting. We also went to watch a classical dance performance where we saw old couples dressed up in simple cottons and exquisite jewellery, sitting there in awe and admiring the dancer; while the little girl in me sat in awe watching the whole scene. It made me nostalgic and reminded me once again as to why I love the city so much.

Source: Image provided by author

Living in Delhi again during my internship, the mornings greeted me with the same vendors’ calls and parathas in the air; but this time, they didn’t just remind me of childhood. They became my alarm clock, my comfort before hectic days, the rhythm that kept me grounded in a city that demanded I keep up. She brings a sort of energy inside you, the one you’d feel nowhere else. You wake up everyday, excited for what the day has to bring to you. Contrary to popular opinion, you would find the sweetest people in Delhi, who are always ready to help you. The chaos you feel once you land up in the city, is the energy you leave with. She will still give you challenges, harder and newer, everyday. But she will make sure that you grow through all of them.

As I left her this time to return to Pune, I was filled with a bittersweet feeling—sad about everything I was leaving behind, yet grateful for the new person she had shaped me into. While I was sitting at the airport, she made me think about how she is the kind of woman that refuses to break, and how she turns you into the same person. She’d turn you into this fearless person who has come through every obstacle she’s given to them. She pushed me to keep in pace with her chaos, and reminded me of the strength it takes to belong to a city like her. And yet, beneath all those moments of intensity, she has given me my moments of warmth- the kind that will stay long after you leave. 

Once I boarded my flight, I knew this wasn’t a goodbye; because once Delhi lets you in, she doesn’t let you leave.