I grew up here, I live here and while it's not the best place to live but Delhi is my home. There are days when I wish I could emigrate to a better place but I know that no matter where I reside, I can't remove the memories of this city and would end up longing for it sooner than later. Growing up, I once made a promise to myself that once I start earning I will move away from Delhi and I kept my promise by moving to Mumbai. For a few years I moved across India through various cities, and while I loved all those cities, especially Kolkatta will always have a special place in my heart, eventually my work brought me back to Delhi.

I love this place and yet I love to hate this place. The city is chaotic, the people are rude and generally self-conceited, the public transport is crowded and unreliable (except for Metro) but I have slowly started accepting it for all its faults and now, I guess, in love with it for those flaws as much for its beauty. Delhi is beautiful at times. I love the festivals when people go out of the way to include others in their celebrations. I love the early morning stroll through the park where you get to see old people performing exercise and yoga and listen to them indulging in thoughtful and passionate discussion. I love to see the enthusiastic parents sacrificing their early morning leisure, frantically pacing their way to make sure their children reach school on time and then in the evening going to receive them from school at the end of the day. I love to watch the little girl enthusiastically narrating her whole day in school to her receptive father while walking back home. I love to see the people crowding the street-food vendor, chiding him to serve them fast, while the vendor serves all of them with a simple and constant smile.

In short I love this city, warts and all. I will leave it some day, perhaps, but I can't remove it from my heart.