My first visit to the India Gate (Finally!)

I've lived within a 30 km radius of the India Gate all my life but it was only recently that I finally got to see it. Now, open up your imagination and come on this journey with me!


It all started when one of my office friends visited me in Gurgaon. Oh! And he had a scooty (trust me, that scooty is the star of this story). So, we sat and talked and soon, realized that the weather was nice outside, so we thought of going on a quick 5-minute scooty ride. We met after dinner, so had no intention of eating something. Now, we started and the cold air felt good on our faces, so we decided to extend this quick ride. I'm not sure what we were thinking at that moment but we decided to go and touch the Delhi airport and come back. This was about 30 minutes away from my place - felt doable and here starts the adventure. While on the highway, we started seeing some signboards with directions to the India Gate on them. We ignored it for a while but within the next 5 minutes, I was like " Just think about how funny it would be if we visited India Gate right now and that too on a scooty" (Ohh and we're having this conversation at midnight). And he's like, "That actually sounds cool! We'll be making history. Let's do it!" The next thing I know is that we've put in the location on the GPS and we're on the Golden Quadrilateral, on our way to the India Gate.


That wasn't the craziest part of this story though. Hold on tight! We're getting there. We were seeing these signboards every 3-4 minutes on our way mentioning the directions to India Gate. Those who know me might've guessed that my next move was to switch off the GPS. Now, we're just following those signboards. As a challenge, our goal now was to reach the India Gate without switching the GPS on (yes, this stupid decision was all me). I think this was the day when I traveled most of Delhi. We went around Connaught Place and also crossed Gurudwara Bangla Sahib on our way. The roads were empty and the weather was good. It felt really peaceful with a hint of adrenaline rush.


It was all fun in the beginning but after an hour, we suddenly realized that we haven't seen another signboard for India Gate in a while. Are we lost? Maybe... The challenge is still on though and giving up after coming so far just didn't seem right. The next best move was to ask someone. We asked someone on a bike and they gave us a weird look (mostly because they seemed to be navigating through Delhi like any normal person - with the help of the GPS). Then we found a cab driver who asked us to keep moving on the Ashoka road and we'll reach. We went on for like 15 minutes. Then, we found an ice cream seller who sent us somewhere else (yes, we were lost). Now, after another 10 minutes, we were on the verge of giving up but wanted to give one more person a shot. Now, this guy told us that we were just 500m away from it (what a relief!). He said, "Just put on the GPS!" to which I had to reply, "It isn't working." Yes, he was laughing like crazy, so we had to rush away from him. 


We were finally able to see ice cream sellers. Looked like our cue (because apparently, people go especially to eat ice cream in front of the India Gate)! The only thing was that it was 1:30 am now and India Gate's lights were off. We couldn't see it. Felt disappointed but my friend noticed my face and said, "Lights or not but today you're seeing the India Gate." We went round the park and there it was! Even with no lights on, there was a glow. There was a rush of patriotism and it felt so peaceful. With all the sad things going on in our lives, we sometimes forget to be grateful for those things that give us hope. At that moment, the India Gate represented hope for me - hope for a better life and gratitude for the one that I have. This was a very new feeling. Even though for a split second but I felt as if I had the answer to every possible problem. 


So, maybe those people don't come to the India Gate for eating ice cream but for that ray of hope and a nudge to their self-confidence that it provides. Ah and the blogger in me wants to say that it is a must-visit in Delhi.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All kinds of romances

I have exams for my third module starting next week, so I thought, why not gear up, before I head up for all the "module end" parties this week, I should look into what the syllabus looks like. I got up and got my notebook and pens ready. I wanted things to be smooth, so I decided to find the coolest-looking pen in my stationery drawer. And there was a sudden realization that so far in my life, I've had the privilege to experience all kinds of romances possible, and that made me wonder if I don't romanticize my life enough (and the answer is that I don't). To walk you through these different categories, I've had a school romance where you look for each other in the corridors just to blush on their first appearance, a coaching romance where getting a ride home is the most romantic thing you can think of, a college romance where you wait for each other's schedules to match to go out on a coffee date, an office romance where you wait the whole day just to spe...
Read more

Women in their traditional gender roles

 Today, I suddenly got the urge to bake something I haven't baked before and I thought of baking an orange almond tea cake. As an update, it's in the oven while I write this blog. As soon as I placed that cake tin in the oven, a sense of satisfaction and peace dawned upon me and it made me appreciate my love for baking again. This made me wonder how some people misinterpret feminism as "women leaving traditional gender roles and adopting more male-dominated roles." The only issue with that is that these "feminists" start looking down upon the women who actually enjoy activities like cooking and crocheting and women who choose to be caregivers, nurses, and homemakers.  We, as a society, need to understand that feminism stands for equal opportunity in all areas. The choice, however, should always be dependent on each individual. If a girl chooses to be a chef, it should not end up raising the eyes of the "feminists" since it is her choice. Additional...
Read more

Mood swings (a poem)

I had this one in my drafts for the last 4 years. I think I was hoping to make it a little more extended one day, but life is too short to not publish your childhood poems (yes, 4 years back feels like childhood now). So, here goes... Sometimes I can be so grumpy. Instead of being happy. Mood swings at the worst. So, I may have an outburst. The reason could be my periods. Or a ton of stress. Give me a surprise. And I might apologize. I might get excited. And may even seem ecstatic. Okay, this kid was clearly going through mood swings, maybe because of a fight with her boyfriend, without realizing that mood swings are not that rare in her future.
Read more