Of tasting fear and freedom in Delhi

Delhi, with its pollution and crime rate, is any parent’s worst nightmare. When I went there to pursue my graduation, and my parents sent me there with a bagful of warnings. But Delhi, despite its ginormous amount of scary monkeys and other much scarier things, gave me freedom.

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After spending 18 years of my life in Panchkula’s serenity, moving to Delhi’s hustle-bustle was a cultural shock. Every time I stepped out of my PG, my parents’ warnings would ring clear in my mind – loudest of all — ‘Don’t stay out after the dark.’

Delhi doesn’t sleep even at night – it remains alive with blinding lights and lively, though sometime loud, conversations. The shouts from the building next door when I would try to sleep; or the noise of engines waking me up in the middle of the night – everything would annoy me in the beginning. But over time these ‘irritants’ transformed into charming quirks of the city.

In the beginning, my fear of something going wrong would compel me to return to my room much earlier than everyone else. Sometimes, I would just stay in. However, if there is anything the city has taught me in these two years, it is to push past my fears. Now, the night air feels comforting on my skin as I travel back to my PG late in the evenings. Freedom was scary at first, but Delhi has taught me to embrace my independence.

Ridhima Sharma, Panchkula