There's just something about this time of the year in Delhi. There's a flavour in the nip in the air and a blanket of winter memories from the years gone by that weaves itself around all bonfire flames.
I clearly remember my first winter in North Campus in Delhi. The college festivals,the competitions, the jugaad for passes,the late night coffees at Barista in K-NAGS and the chai by the roadside :) There was always someone who hadn't eaten enough dinner and if the maggi magic wouldn't do the trick we happily walked to the carts selling boiled eggs or to the overnight tea stall whose TG was primarily hungry folks like us :) Our other nocturnal counterparts comprised a mix of students from all colleges with conversations and topics that beat even the number of colleges in DU and that is quite a few. These were the unofficial DU debates which neither had a prize nor a judge but the participation was overwhelming. The only interruptions were shouts from someone who had either too much sugar in their roadside coffee or none at all.
There was so much that perplexed us right from who would pay the bill today and to who had paid it yesterday, to the grouses we bore our paying guest landlords, to the angst of broken hearts and hearts that were brimming with unproffessed love, to classroom talk to discussing which college would have been a better option in terms of hotter crowd ;)
There was this self selection criteria which had catapulted people into groups - the hostellers, the day scholars and the DU special bus buddies (how sweet!!!).
No matter how empty the pockets they were always full, no matter how much the pressure there was always time to 'chill maro' and no matter when you studied or if you did at all...it all worked out :) Right from the farewell parties for senior batches to the fuccha parties for the first year's we just looked forward to an excuse to pose for photographs. There were these long practice sessions before any fest. with tempers and hopes both running high, the fights , the patch ups, the canteen hopping...life was so simple or maybe we were :)
We have come a long way but the cold winters we shared together will forever be warmed by the cherished memories of those times.
Dedicated to all at DU esp. my friends.
Sanchita Johri
