My Pug Marks

Image Courtesy: Delhi! ‘garche hain mulq-e-dakhan mein in dinon qadr-e-sukhan kaun jaaye Zauq par dilli ki galiyaan chod kar’ - Mir Zauq These famous lines by Mir Zauq, a contemporary of Mirza Ghalib defines the quintessential nature of the city we call Delhi. Roughly translated to English, in these lines Mir Zauq is saying that although the seat of power and all the worldly comforts have shifted to the Deccan region of India but still, who can even think of leaving the by-lanes of Delhi? A true dilliwala can understand what it means. Delhi is the capital of India. Like every capital city should be – it has been painted in the colors of modernity and is a suitable representation of the growth that India has witnessed. However, unlike many cities, or cities which even weren’t cities then, Delhi has been painted in colors representing grandeur and layers and layers of them, one over the other. Delhi itself represents history. It has assimilated everyone. Mughals, Khiljis, an...

Weird things happen to me when exams are round the corner. For a starter, when everyone is frantically reading notes which they got photo copied a day before the exam, I am doing things that I actually want to do - like writing. To avoid getting back to the books sooner, these 'other' things are done at a slow pace with full concentration to prevent words like - ' Study now at least?' from ringing from the deepest of the dark corners of the mind. Invariably, it means that these 'other' things are done well, or so I presume :) As of now, at 1917 hours on the 16 th day of the 11 th month in 2008 th year of our Lord, I am missing Delhi. Ummm , I mean NCR - though I would call it Delhi [looks more chic]. I stay in Gurgaon [a small town turned city due to IT boom and proximity to the capital]. As months of cold are taking hold, I cannot but remember those days when I was in Sixth standard. Waking up at 5:30 am [wouldn't ever imagine myself doing that now] an...