SINGLE IN THE CITY

[Text by D.B.]

[The views expressed here belong to the writer and are not supposed to match with the reader’s. There are no clicks; you’ll get to know why]

“The best feeling comes when you realize that you are perfectly happy without the things once you thought you needed the most…!”

It’s good to be back!

I am back for what could be termed as the ‘last’ summer vacations of my career. But the starting line doesn’t refer to this ‘being back’; it’s about the short break that I took since I posted my last blog. The last two weeks have been pleasant and gratifying. The sudden shift from the ‘campus in nature’s lap’ (quite literally) to the crowded ‘heart of nation’ was quite a bit shuddery this time. The city seemed to be in some sort of rush. The fast-driven traffic, over-crowded metros, streets, buses, even restaurants, scorching summer heat and particularly phone-calls, messages and FB, all blew my mind! Well, I might sound a bit exaggerated but I actually couldn’t handle the hustle of meri apni Dilli..  

Last time when I was in the city, I was working and thus was quite well occupied. Reason for this time’s fidgety feeling could possibly be the ‘unemployment’. I had no work to do, no tasks to complete, no submissions to be made, no assignments to be submitted and opposite to all this, sitting ‘idle’ is not my cup of tea. Moreover, being ‘single’, worked as the catalyst to the chemical locha going in my mind. People who call themselves ‘single’, but actually are only 50% of it, can be considered occupied (not using the word ‘employed’ here). After all love in itself is sort of a job. You either have it or you don’t. Texting her/him morning and night messages, enquiring for their well being thrice a day, logged in to FB waiting for them to come online so you could chat for a while, ‘poking’ them or even sending emails awaiting their replies, all these things can easily keep a ‘50% single’ person busy. Now mentioning all these things doesn’t make me a 50% single. I am a proud 100% Single who tried all the above mentioned tricks but couldn’t get the ‘job’, thus unemployed.

                                      “Gham-e-ishq gar na hota… Gham-e-rozgaar hota..!”

                                                                                                                                  Mirza Ghalib

So, despite of getting agitated of the ‘gham-e-rozgaar’, I decided to take a break. I decided to run into a sort of ‘solitary confinement’. A small vacation from the so called ‘virtual-society’, from internet, from cell-phone, from messaging, etc. Well, I had nothing on stake. ‘My temporary absence would not make any difference to the society, for god sake’, with that thought in my mind, I laid back taking a sigh of relief. As mentioned earlier, how could a person with immense urge to ‘move out’, stay at home, doing nothing. This resulted in me, roaming around like mad, observing people. Wait; did I mention that I also included my camera in the ‘virtual-society’? Yeah, well, that’s right. I quit photography also for these two weeks. I just wanted to observe things and find pleasure in them. The course ended up with n number of experiences, few were a delight to eyes and others were delight for the inner-self. By the end of it, I am ready with my own version of 5 things to do if you are Single in the City.

Open up your eyes

There is a lot going around the city. If you read newspapers daily then you must have got my hint. Events like Plays, Dramas, Movie screenings, Exhibitions, Cultural celebrations, Shows, all this is happening around you. You just need to be at the right place at the right time. Newspapers are flooded with such advertisements and notices; pick the ones with Entry Free (remember, I am writing for ‘Singles' in the city) and zip into the place and experience what you missed till date.

(Hint: Check out DT’s WHAT’S HOT and HT City’s My City section)

The City is walking, where are you?

There are plenty of ‘Walks’ going in the city like The Delhi Heritage Walk, Heritage walks by INTACH, Photography Walks, etc. (Believe me, they have not paid me to promote them) The walks are organized on weekly basis to generate awareness amongst the citizens about the Heritage of our City and that is the whole sole reason why I am promoting them. Step out and learn what you never knew about those old ‘stone-walls’. They charge 50 bucks to some 300 and guide you through the selected site. It’s the best way to interact with people and take initiatives on heritage grounds.

The History lies where it was..

How many of you have visited the National Museum in resent past? Or National Science Museum? Or National Museum of Natural history? We all get that ‘Ewww..’ look when we hear these names, right? I know, they are old, we used to go there through school trips, they are boring, and such we have plenty of reasons to sit back at home but visiting our own Museums. Well, those who are interested can check out the list on Delhi Govt.’s website or Google them up!

(USP : Entry to most of them is nominal and have discounts for students. The History shown is awesome)

Phone – a – Friend

You might have noticed whenever we want to spend some time alone we decide to sit in the park, we sit where there are people around. That’s human attitude, we find ourselves comfortable where there is some ‘activity’ going on. Call up a friend you are most comfortable with and explore the famous food joints, cafés, eateries, and even road side food stalls. Check out what they offer and rate them in ‘Highway On My Plate’ style! Believe me, it is pure fun and you won’t end up empty-stomach!

(Warning : Call up a ‘Friend’, NOT your past/present love interest, I am not talking about ‘date’)

    

Hit the Library

This is what I did in the last three days of my small vacation. An old library, hundreds of books around, all covered in layers of dust, old fan with ‘chee chee’ sound, pin-drop (mind it, pin drop) silence, morning 10 to evening 7, no hustle of the city, no afternoon heat, total filmy setting, just you, your book and its content. What a Life! (After reading this some would say, ‘Get a Life!’) But that feeling of reading and continuous reading hooked me up. For three days I had a smile on my face. It reminded me of an old story from 12^th standard, The Bet. Like the person in the story, I was in confinement, but happy. Book Now!

So that’s how my break ended. I am refreshed. “Happiness is real only when shared”, and thus I have so much to share that, I guess, next few blogs would be based on my experiences from this short-vacation only. Bear with me! If you have any suggestions, ideas and new places to roam around, please comment below on the blog or on our FB page(https://www.facebook.com/PanwadiTales). I am always looking forward to such vacations.

The Idea for the vacation originally inspired by the movie Eat Pray Love, based on memoir by American author Elizabeth Gilbert. It forced me to take a break from life! :)