Sunday, December 11, 2011

Happy budday dilli: shine on you crazy diamond!

Oh yes dilli completes 100 years(loud cheers) and mind you it managed the feat before sachin. For the uninitiated please read up dilli’s history here and stop abusing it by calling deh-li , delly, del-hi (not applicable for south delli chaps)

Let me clarify here that I am nat fram Delhi in fact its been only a year and 7 days that I ve lived in this city (I landed on 5th Dec 2010) and it is a love affair ever since.

I have lived in various parts of the country before this (major part being south India) but the warmth this city has, the faces, and the people is just amazing. Since my dad has a transferrable govt job, we never stayed in 1 city for long and I kept changing schools. So every time some1 asks me where I am from, I get really confused. But this city made me feel belonged, wanted. It welcomed me with open arms. I feel like I ve been living here for ages within days. No one asked me if I lived in this city or not or why I could not speak Punjabi or where am I from or why have I come to their place and took their jobs or all that crap.

There is a saying in dilli ‘yahan ka koi nahin nahin hai jee, bas log aate gaye aur dilli ke ho ke reh gaye’(no one is actually from Delhi, people kept coming and never went back) and that is what gives delhi its unique flavor. The shops in janpath, the ice cream at India gate, parathe at parathe wali gali and moolchand, the kamla nagar troll on rickshaw, the red fort, the metro ride, walk at Connaught place and the people. Guess mr lutyens saw it before anyone in India could see it. This city has history written all over it. Invaders, attackers, kingdoms, empires came and got mixed with dilli. I did not expect such a warm welcome. Name the cuisine and its here (with a dilli twist of course). Want to see how things co-exist , have a walk in purani dilli(chandani chowk, nayi sadak, chawri bazaar) on an afternoon, and you will know what I am talking about. Contrary to popular belief, you have not had the typical dilli flavor if you haven’t been to purani dilli. And this city turns absolutely amazing in winters. Want to feel proud about the democracy in the country, go and stand near the parliament or take a walk in Mughal gardens in the month of February. Or go for a troll in the lutyen’s area of delhi to marvel at the fusion of Mughal and victorian architecture

But somewhere in the process of calling it del-hi , deh-li, dally or what not, we robbed dilli of its dil. It got the tag of being the crime capital of india because of all the hideous things ppl do to each other. My question: is dilli responsible for people killing each other? I remember a sarcastic comment somewhere about it which said

“blaming Delhi for the crime rate is like blaming Mumbai for the bad films Bollywood makes” I am not defending the acts, I am just saying it’s the people and not dilli.

But all said and done, if you haven’t seen dilli, you are missing something. Come see it once. It’s beautiful! and maybe you ll fall in love too.

Have you had an experience in dilli? do share

note: the author lives in gurgaon(haryana) and its a SHITHOLE

\m/oO\m/

15 comments:

  1. Hey...loved this entry...seriously, delhi is awesome. With just a year's (and 7 days of course) experience, it seems u have seen a lot of delhi already. Yes, our Delhi is the dilwalon ka shaher. Nice entry :)
    Even I have had a two dentres regarding Delhi's 100 years in the last 3-4 days at my blog at http://antarik.blogspot.com Do check them out if you are free :)
    Good luck :)

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  2. yes, i have experienced Dilli though on 2 very very brief visits. i loved the place like i mentioned in one of my posts too. one day, will explore it fully. hopefully. :)

    here's another post i read. you might want to read:
    http://antarik.blogspot.com/2011/12/from-dilliwalas-to-delhiites-journey-of.html

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  3. Very rightly said- y blame delhi for crime, its people who do the bad things. But Don't you think, its people who make a place and its people who define the atmosphere of a place.. Pardon me if I broke someone's heart. When I experienced Delhi first(that was in 2005), I was surely willing to be a Delhite(or however u spell it), but with so much of diversity experienced in India, I started hating it - on the basis of the crime that happens to common people - people walking on street, people travelling on buses.....etc.. Crime cannot be compensated with tasty cuisines and shiny infrastructure..
    Its a pity for all Indians to be ashamed of its own capitol, but choices are limited.

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  4. The land of love, food, sardi and FRAAAANDSHIP turns 100! :)
    A great post...u included every aspect of it!

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  5. Such passion for a place?! :) I dream of travelling, maybe Delhi can be my first pitstop?:)

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  6. You make me want to visit Delhi!! My extended family stays there but i haven' ever visited Dilli.After having read your post..I tops my must visit places!! In awe of your passion!! :-)

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  7. @antarik ... thanks for reading. yes i read your posts too, and happy budday
    @sujatha...yes i remember reading those posts. of course the city is to be cherished :) i read the guy's post
    @prabhat .. well every city has it's share of douche bag people. i seriously want to meet 2-3 of them so i can punch them
    @red handed ...yussss, i forgAAT to mention the FRAAANDSHIP part.lol
    @peevee come down, i ll be your free for hire guide :D
    @anupama...thanks!
    @upasana...come down and see it once :) u ll like it here

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  8. Thank you for the wishes n i am glad u liked the post :)

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  9. I visited Delhi more than 10 years ago before I got married on many occasions. My visits were official, and as a single girl brought up in Delhi, the experience wasn't so good. I hated the auto drivers. I hated the ogling public who would make a single woman uncomfortable. I recently visited Delhi, this time with family, and I just loved it. The city, the people, the food, the metro, the company. I would love to go back, this time for Old Delhi. So, I guess it is the context which changed my experience :).

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  10. That was a wonderful tribute from a recent migrant to the city. I love Mumbai for many things and also since I lived there for sometime during my school, after college and then again after marriage, but Delhi appeals to me in a different way. Like you too, i have been shifting cities and houses ever since I was a kid and till date inspiring me to write at least three different posts on the experiences!

    Loved meeting you at the Indiblogger meet.:)

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  11. Hmmm...
    Yep This city is goooood..!!! :)
    Every place reveals a story...
    :)
    Being born and brought up in Dil-li.. makes me feel proud.... after reading ur post.!

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  12. @sm same to you ji
    @rachna... well come in feb because then you get to gorge on food AND take a walk without having to worry about weather
    @zephyr ... hehehehehe the feeling is mutual :)
    @shailey.. blog padhne ka shukriya

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  13. I feel like coming to Delhi too after reading your post.

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