ho tujhse milna puraani dilli mein
chhodh ae nishaani dilli mein.
-kajra re
When you leave, please forget the diary at home. When you leave, make sure you leave everything that belongs to you, at home so when you return, you see the old you for a girl that needed love from you not the bashing you gifted her for not being better.
Puraani dilli had a story in every corner, in those windows from where Amrita would watch Imroz, in the flaxen doors of the havelis shah jahan had built for momtaz, in the shops of bangles where a lover would stop every monday evening to buy new pairs for his love, in the jalebi stores where baba would linger a moment longer to bring us hot jalebis. If you come from puraani dilli, you already know a lot about love.
When in Chicago, there is nothing like puraani delhi. You would see a broken heart lying naked on the side of the road and no one would tend to it. The open skies are suffocating here, the birds in dilli fly longer despite the higher pollution levels. The skyscrapers kills thousands of birds here. The only thing good about chicago was the record stores that I visited twice in the five days that I had been here.
We were gradually settling in the apartment, a handful of clothes were still on the floor and the sofas were yet displaced, neither of us had the time to fix those. So, I came early to finally assemble our house into a nice-looking home. Saad and I had distributed our chores.
He would bring grocery and cook dinner while I would make breakfast for us. I would clean the house and he would do the laundry.
The bell ringed a little earlier than everyday.
"Hi" I said reinforcing my best smile on my face but I had dirt on my dress from all the cleaning.
"Did you clean this all alone? You didn't have to."
"I did it now, you can go and cook." He obediently got up and slid his shirt down his arms as I stood there watching. He moved to the washroom and I averted my eyes. If he kept being shirtless around me, I would lose myself.
I had also freshened up by the time he made sandwiches for us. I put on a crop-top and trousers in contrast to the baggy t-shirts I wore these days. I wanted to look good in order to not be intimidated by him.
He was decorating the sandwiches with garlic sauce when I entered. Despite all the love he put in the food, I asked, "Do you poison my plate? I feel a little odd in my stomach."
"Where do you eat lunch at?"
"Herfy, beside university."
"I'll take you to the restaurant I eat at. It's small and an old lady is the chef so the food is homely. All this day that I missed home, he managed to bring a solution to it. He looked up from his plate and passed me a warm smile. This is who I had a crush on!
Saad was sitting in the balcony; I made us some sweet coffee. Handing it to him, I sat beside on the little mattress. "Do you miss home?" He looked down for a long second and then at me,
"I do, it's only been five days. Did you talk to your family?"
"I did, they said home was nothing like it without me."
"I miss Catherine." The horror, I went through flashed transparent in my eyes.
"Catherine, who?!" He laughed, "My cat, relax."
As soon as I calmed down, I realized I had let myself be jealous without any cover. He did not drag it though, it was as if it was awkward for him too. I felt bad for him.
The cool breeze of Chicago brushed past us as we sat in the balcony in silence and in harmony.
