The city and the 'time pass' theory

New Delhi, the capital of India, a metro city with infinite cultures and traditions.  But I think that Delhi has a culture of its own. It’s a blend and mixture of various Indian cultures and western, still so unique. There are many things about this city and its people that leaves me wondering, specially the ‘time pass’ theory.    

  The story really began when a small town girl entered the city of New Delhi to become a journalist. For Samira Roy every thing was about planning. She was all set to do her masters in journalism from the best known collage in the city and also had a job in hand at the Hindustan times. As most of the small town girls in India, Samira was also raised with the similar ethics and rules, which were not to be broken in any conditions.  But in the city of infinite possibilities she caught the eye of the city’s typically eligible bachelor. Sahil Kapoor was 25, a well mannered and respected software engineer who made about 70 thousand per month.  They met one evening in typical Delhi Faison at a common friend’s birthday party. It was love at first sight. For about a month they hanged out together, went to romantic dates and shared their little secrets. It felt like the whole city was magically reduced to two people- Sahil and Samira. The cupid was on the roll and the reality was taking its last breath. All of her plans and dreams were flushed down the gutter as she no more cared about herself; instead it was all about his happiness and success.

  But one morning she woke up to find her sweet pie was leaving the city and moving to Bangalore for a new and better job. It was devastating for her, but it felt worse when he didn’t call and left the city without her concern. Later that week she found out that he changed his cell number without informing her.

 “I should have never fallen into this mess. He never called, bastered” She tolled me one day over coffee. “I don’t understand in my town when people look for houses together and talk to your parents it means something.” Then I realized.  No one’s told her about the end of love in New Delhi. Welcome to the city of un-innocence. No one has breakfast at tiffanies and no one has affairs to remember. Instead, they have breakfast at 12 and affairs they try to forget as quickly as possible. “I quit my job, I am not seeing any of my friends anymore and on the top of everything I have barely spoken a word to my parents, all because of that son-of-bitch” she continued with her forbidden love story. And then I wondered how the hell do we get into this mess?  

 There are thousands of young women in the city from different towns and cultures and we all agree they are great. They work, they travel, they spends hundreds over a pantaloons t-shirt. But they are alone and betrayed. It’s like the riddle of this age, why are there so many great innocent girls in the city and no great guy?

May be it’s their own fault, may be innocence and love is a synonym to foolishness in this city. Or not even the city is to be blamed, when you have such a fast life, who the hell has time to stand still with one single person. You pass your time and move along, that’s the real ‘time pass’ theory of the city. No muss, no fuss.

   About a month later after the Sahil Kapoor’s chapter, I saw Samira with another guy at the same coffee shop were she had eaten up my mind about how she was never going to fall for any delhite again. And then I realized that the ‘Instine theory of relativity’ would have to be amended to include a set of rules in order to explain the peculiar effects of infatuation. When I was about to leave the coffee shop on her account, I heard her call me. “Hi, how have you been? Are you fine?” she shouted from her table and ran towards me. Before I could answer her she said something that blew my mind. “You see that man over their, he is a investment banker and earns much more than Sahil .” it was as if someone has just put a drop of melted hot iron in my ears.  But somehow I maintained my temper and asked if she loved him. And guess what, she said “oh! No, he is just a time pass”.

  You see, this is the magic of the city. Once you are in Delhi you are nothing but another delhitic robot that runs with no rules.  But it only applies to those who choose to be one of them. If you choose the other road and hold on to the values you came with, then it’s a whole new world. Tough but full of contentment.