Things That Bang

Returning home is always bit of a strange experience. Somethings remain the same and some different. After a prolonged hiatus from Delhi thanks to my marriage I found myself lost not only in the city I was born in but also lost within the house I lived in all my life.

The Delhi roads that I knew like the back of my hand are maze like for me due to the numerous flyovers and underpasses. I find myself totally at sea and asking my family and friends touristy questions- Where are we? What road is this? Jeez, I am lost in my own backyard.

The new malls are breathtaking in size and very trendy. I have yet to visit the malls since no one has the time on weekdays to go out with me. Lack of time is again a typical Delhi-ite Syndrome. On weekends everyone parties whereas on weekdays even a phone call seems like a herculean effort for most.

But the neighborhood is the same old. Some new faces can be seen, new monstrous houses have come up but the Aunties have been warm in their welcome. Lengthy lectures on 'keeping the weight down or else the husband will look else where' have been forth coming from most overweight if not obese Aunties, the Samosas and Jalebies from Kane Ki Dukan, the Cholla Bhaturas from Nathus and Burgers and Pizza from Nirulas have been offered by the same people who admonish me on health and weight. Typical Punjabi love- expect the person to be trim and yet eat like a King-Tusi saer karo na ji (You should walk) is the patent remedy for all Punjabis.

My love for Delhi and its people is unabated. Someone being shot, raped, molested or robbed in broad daylight are news items that greet me early in the morning along with skimpily clad babes in the back pages. The pleasure of hating Times Of India and grumbling to my mother that she should subscribe to Hindustan Times instead is a tradition that has fallen on deaf ears since my college years and more so now that I am just a visitor .

At night I am again reminded to lock my bedroom door before sleeping for security reasons, in case of being out late in the night before leaving the pub or nightclub I have to call my mom like a college goer. Delhi-ites continue to feel unsafe on roads at nights. My friends still carry pocket knives and even Khukaries in their cars as precaution but not guns due to their anti gun inclinations. Some things haven't changed at all.

But the things that have changed are switches or the entire switchboards at home which have left me wondering time and again - that was the fan's switch now it switches on the dresser light! What's happening here? Its these little things that remind me that I am a stranger in my own home.

People have moved on with their lives, aged and some like the city have changed - some have evolved and some are same as always.

My trip back home has been a mixed bag of goodies- I feel at home and yet the feeling of being lost in my own city, not being part of people's lives makes me feel overwhelmed and a bit estranged.