CHAPTER III

Anjana often found herself running endlessly. Running in order to reach the classroom so that she doesn’t get late, running after the bus, running after the professors. Making friends posed another problem as she never had any back home but now she felt lonely and so wanted to talk to people. At times she would stand in front of the mirror alone and talk to herself. Slowly and slowly she got used to all the running around and the pace. She learnt how to make friends and spend time with them. She was thankful that now she had a few people she could speak to. But in her heart she longed to go back. She missed the river, the mandir, the sunrise and everything that she grew up watching. She was not really herself in that vast ocean of people in that big city and often at night she tried to listen to the silences but the city never slept.

During her many trips to the local market near her college with her new friends she often saw many youngsters sitting in groups at restaurants, standing on pavement, chatting, enjoying, having a good time and she wondered what made them so happy. She didn’t understand that sometimes being with people and the togetherness became the source of happiness. She didn’t know that so many of those students like her had left their birth place in search of better education and better life. Of course she didn’t understand that because for her there was no better life than the life she had back home.
She often found herself struggling to match the madness that the city had. Traveling in the city buses she often found herself being shoved and pushed by fellow passengers who were always in a hurry to either go in the front or at the rear of the bus. And the language which the bus conductors used was too unparliamentary for her. She just made her peace with the fact that maybe Delhi is a place where people are too impatient to be polite.

One year of madness passed and she was overjoyed that holidays were finally here and now she could go home. This became her routine year after year. After a long year of drudgery and monotony she looked forward to going home every year after her exams in April. And like a rhythm she began to enjoy it. She got used to running around and rude impolite conversations, to the vastness of the city, to the distances that it had, to the street side food, to her cramped hostel room and the long bathroom queues and the early morning rush, to the noise of at least ten different alarms from ten different rooms at six in the morning in the hall way.

Time went by real fast and before she could realize college was over and it was time to go home. She was busy packing her things during her last few days in her room and mentally ticking off items that she had packed. On her very last day she met all her hostel mates and bid them goodbye promising to keep in touch. In the end she went to meet one of her professors whom she had grown really fond of, she touched her feet and her professor said “Anjana I could see a lot of myself in you. I was just like you when I first came to this city. I hated it in the beginning but once I was back home after graduation I missed it. That’s when I found out I was in love with this place. This place taught me to open my eyes to the new world, fly high and yet be grounded and to love my home town more. It gave me the freedom to be what I wanted to be and chart out my own path. I hope you get what you wanted in life. And if you ever want anything in future don’t hesitate to contact me. All the best” and with that she left for her class. After she was gone Anjana stood there thinking for a long time about how she really felt about being away from home. But seeing her father and mother approaching her all her doubts vanished. She rushed forward to hug them and told them she couldn’t wait to get home...