Romance and the city

ye dilli hai mere yaa..aaaaaa..r

Bas Ishq Mohabbat Pya…a..a.r

– Prasoon Joshi, Delhi-6 (Indian Movie)

People in art have, time and again, associated love and romance with the city of Delhi. Although the etymology of the city’s name remains unclear, the unmissable  ‘dil’ (which means ‘heart ‘ in Hindi) in Dilli, which is how we locals call our city, has for a long time invited the sobriquet ‘Dilwaalon ki Dilli’. Which is to say that Delhites are people of heart. This might seem counter intutive for people who have heard that Delhi is the crime capital of India . Hmm……to me dilli has always been as unfriendly a place as I have ever been to…. but I think I am beginning to see where exactly romance fits into this over crowded dust ball of a city that Delhi is.

Look behind the seats in a bus, train, on phatphatiyas and the like. On walls in public places, sometimes beside posters of movies like Kunwari Jawaani, Jaane Bomb (rotfl), on trees and anywhere you can imagine, lovers here seem to have the same leaning to etch there love for each other as lovers anywhere else in the world. Even in the capital of a country where 95% of people have arranged marriages. What is more -Love greatly outshines the derogatory in the graffiti scene here. In Dilli, ‘LOVE’ is the four lettered word. Grroooovy!

But this isn’t about the buses and the trees after all. May be it isn’t about Dilli even as much as it is about me. :) Dilli today gave me something to think about a form of romance that hasn’t struck me yet as now. History in romance….

Purana Qila is a historical fort in Delhi dating back to the time of the Mughals. As part of my plans to do something worthwhile this weekend, I decided to pay Rs. 7 to get inside the beautiful fort today afternoon, although the temperature had crossed 40 degrees Celsius. As I walked in through the gates I saw-there on the grass, under on the trees, hidden inadequately behind the bushes, scores of couples huddled together under the sun.  My first reaction was “wtf” which was owing to the group of young boys whistling and teasing a particularly active pair.  haha and I started to exasperatedly wonder “What do these people find so romantic about the ruins of a fort?” And then I answered myself ;)

I can’t believe that I hadn’t ever in my (day)dreams thought about the attractiveness of a place where legendary historical people of possibly great personalities may have had their own romantic ummm experiences at. I mean a fort like Purana Qila is just perfect for any kind of a romantic time. There are  gardens and forests, hot sticky sun and shady groves, rooms with doors, rooms without doors, places you can’t be caught at and places you can be caught at, oh and the boating lake. And with all of them comes lots and lots of History. haha i dunno if people that go there have any historical interests in their mind but they definitely threw open the doors to a whole new exciting aspect of Delhi for me.

I am such a history nerd these days!

Love in Purana Qila