Delhi, My Love....

I am leaving Delhi for IIM Lucknow in just about eight days i.e. on 20th June. Just four more days of office for me. Though I was born in a village called Kallidaikurichi in Tirunelveli in southern Tamil Nadu, I have spent all my life here. My schooling and my engineering were in this historic city. For my job, I wanted to move out of the city so that I can meet up new people and learn new language and culture, but as luck would have it, I got the job in Greater Noida itself.

So, I wanted to move out for the last two years but now that I am actually moving, I feel a bit uneasy. Leaving this city is emotionally more difficult that what I imagined it would be. I would be missing my family, friends and above all my daily dosage of “Gol Guppa and other chats”. Traveling in DTC buses seems pleasurable and this sweltering heat bearable.
Though I am just going to a near by city that I can reach in six hours and one which is similar to mine in terms of climate and culture, I still feel the pain. I am thinking about the people who have to leave their motherland and go to some strange place permanently. How difficult it would be for them.

Now I understand why NRIs are more attached to this country than the average resident Indian. Now I understand why they say “Janani Janmabhoomischa Swargat api gariyasi”. I always supported Nasser Hussain when he complained about British supporting Asian cricket teams in England. Now I am a bit skeptical. You just can’t cut away the roots.

If planned emigration by choice is tough, what about the forceful displacement of millions of people in war torn areas. These people are forced to cut their roots and move to a strange place on account of the ego of a single man, an emperor or a political leader. What emotional turmoil do they go through? When I talked to a Kashmiri pundit, I see a glint in his eyes as he talks about his ancestral home. Now I understand the affection for Pakistan amongst the elder Punjabis. Imagine the plight of Hindus and Muslims at the time of partition as they moved to a strange land. Imagine the dwellers of the “City of Peace” (Jerusalem) during those chaotic years of late 1940s. Imagine the situation of people of Africa who have civil wars as the only constant thing in their life.

These thoughts further enhance my love for ahimsa. Why can’t the world be a happy place where there is no conflict, hunger or poverty? My Lord! When will you answer my prayers of “Loka Samasta sukhino bhavantu, Sarve janaha sukhino bhavantu”?

PS: This should qualify as my most random post. I started with something and I ended up this way.