I don't think I can say I am from Delhi but as long as I can remember I have always loved Delhi. It was a place I longed to visit during my winter holidays. MY sister was obsessed with the idea of going to Delhi, so much so a few days before we were to leave for Delhi, she would start saying, "The house smells like Delhi. Oh I love it sister, I am so happy." Though I never experienced such extreme feeling but yes I would also eagerly await our yearly visits to Delhi. Our parents used to leave for their winter business in Delhi in October or beginning of November. We would then stay with our grandparents for our schools would close only in December.
I loved everything about Delhi - from its dusty roads to its traffic, the street food, Appu Ghar (I am really sad it is going to be closed soon), the zoo. I loved being in Delhi; I loved being a part of this mad place. Since our parents would be busy, our help (we fondly called him Pradeep bhaiya) would take my sister and me to Jama Masjid area. Somehow at that time I was never apprehensive to going there, probably because I was just a kid. If I were to go there today, I think twice. Not that there is anything wrong with the place but just that I feel out of place whenever I visit Old Delhi. But when I was small, it was my area and the people mine. The fruit chats and the biryani in the mosque premises - oh how I miss those days. One more incident I clearly remember (my friends say it is gross but I don't think so), I was once in the Jama Masjid area when I saw chickens being slaughtered. And it strikes me now that it was a jhatka shop if I am not mistaken. Strange.
And now I am in Delhi, living Delhi, breathing Delhi, day in and day out after a long gap of close to seven years. The innocence of childhood is lost now but that doesn't stop me from loving this place. There are many things about the city that I absolutely hate but it has given me many more reasons to love it too.
I hate the Blueline buses whenever I am forced to take them but I love the fact that the Metro has made life so easy (I am just waiting for it to start functioning in my part of the city). I love going to Central Park in Connaught Place and reading a book there, feeling completely at home. I love it when I go visit a PVR with my friends, I love shopping in Delhi, I love living in Delhi. I love the buzz this city has, the feeling that life never stops here. Though it may not be as cosmopolitan as Mumbai, but Delhi has its own attitude.
And the best thing I like about Delhi is that it gave me the love of my life – loads and loads of books ;)