For My Wildflower

So she dreams and then falls asleep,

smoothening the jagged edges of reality.

And after a dark, sulking period

when the night lovingly melts into the arms of the sun

A wildflower is born out of nowhere.

Why you NO hangout with me in Hauz Khas.?

I

It is the place where things in contradiction come together to have a fleeting love affair. It is easily the most posh 'village' you could ever find. People smoke. People smoke up. People cuddle. People chat up. People jog on the beaten tracks, trying to beat their last record. People saunter holding hands pushing every second to its maximum duration.

II

Hauz Khas Fort: It is the unofficial hub of numerous band practices and countless love stories every few steps. Quietly embracing Sufi, Rock or even Indie-pop together; the old, humble Hauz Khas Fort practically lives as many dreams as each of the members in those bands, all of those couples.

Trying to find the right note with them. Trying to have their love, their music etched onto the partly ruined walls here.

A cat just has nine lives to live.

III

“But why do I always have to go along with someone or to meet someone? What’s wrong with wanting to go hangout by yourself?” complained Little Wench.

“Why do you always have to ask questions that have no answers?” fretted her mother.

As she passes the barricade, an impish grin fights its way to her lips as Little Wench tries rather hard to suppress it. This is not the first time she’s coming here, after all. She’s been here on a date. She’s covered an interview here.  She’s bunked office to just be here. She’s worked here. Heck, she’s even had a life-is-finished day here. So today, deciding to spend some time with Hauz Khas, herself and a rustic copy of The Journals of Sylvia Plath on a last minute whim doesn’t sound fancy at all. And yet, she’s excited.

“Walking is too much madam. You so thin! Give me only Rs. 40 and I will take you to Hauz Khas village in a jiffy.”

IV

I see this dog having claimed what’s possibly the best spot in the entire fort/lake area. It’s a beautiful pedestal just beyond the iron-rod boundary set for ‘common’ people. It’s an olive-sized spot facing the warm sunshine, balmy lake and a sharp edge on a substantial height.

And the dog is there. His indifference is appealing to the point of becoming a masochist. Just for that instant when you gaze at him, waiting to be ignored. People amusingly walk past him; photographers try to find their ‘the shot’ in him. And he overlooks them all. Like a dude!

V

“Excuse me?”

“Yes?”

“What is best to visit/do in hauz khas?” *pause* “I am a tourist, you see.”

“Ermm. You really wanna know?”

“Yeah, of course!”

"Well, I suppose I could tell you a couple of things; like how Elma’s Bakery, one of the most popular eateries is to be savoured for its interiors and crockery, not the menu. Or how despite the quality food, the best thing about Naivedyam still remains the free rasam drink ritual as soon as you settle down."

"Or how not many people like to visit/maintain the sanctity of the beautiful-in-ruins Hauz Khas Fort accommodating the entire lake; but are more than willing to pay overpriced rates for usual menu at a restaurant having a section ‘facing the lake’. Or rather, a tiny part of it."

"I could also show you that it’s easy to spot a self-contained, happy junkie and a tight-holding-by-the-waist, happy couple in the same blink of the eye. How the dogs here know more than they show. How food here is some of the most soul-fulfilling activities (yes, it’s more of an activity here). But I would rather tell you to go ahead and find out for yourself."

For one main reason why you keep coming back to Hauz is because it offers a unique piece of its own to you. And to each of its visitors.

A new concept cafe to try while on your way back from Hauz Khas Village!

Their feedback wall! :-)

VI

You wouldn’t even notice that construction worker until you look too closely. A highly ordinary, reedy body rhythming with the circular motion he was making on the wall using his heavily tanned left hand, while balancing on the conspicuously wobbly stool. He’s humming a folk tune as he pastes the freshly prepared pastel coloured cement solution his wife is holding standing next to him.

Adjusting her ghunghat every now and then while holding the stool in between every time it shakes a little. Next to her, stands their child, hardly 3 years of age. Holding her pallu, the kid stands there while watching bunch of kids play in the heap of sand and cement couple of steps away. He has a bandage tied on his forehead, with blood stains on one side.

How did the child get hurt? Is this a frequent occurrence whilst at the site? Do they pay the wife too for spending half her day working with him or is that a complimentary service for the contractor? Does the family live here as well? If they do, is this a safe environment for the child? But then, can they afford to even think about it?

The wall is not even half done as yet.

Did I say inner-peace, people?

Do I love her? Of course, I love her! Sylvia Plath- And her concept(s) of inner peace!

I am looking for the right word for my present state of my mind as I write this but on an impromptu notice, ‘Kung-fu Panda 2’ comes to my mind. Watched it last weekend. Again. (Not that I like it that much, I prefer the first one. Any given day!) And the central theme of the movie comes into my head in continuation to what I was mulling over. Inner peace. So what is this inner peace that they talk about? Emphasize so much upon? And do people really place that much of importance upon it in their chaotic-superbusy- daily routine?

I do a lot for my inner peace. Subconsciously. But I do. I think it’s more because inner peace somehow comes as a concluding reminder after every time when despite a very ‘normal’ day, you feel that missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle that completes your heart. The last time when in a party full of your friends and happening people, you still felt zoned out for no reason…or sometimes in the middle of a weekday, wonder if you still love your work the same or it’s just become a means-to-end thing for you, perhaps… Or the time when a happy, in-love couple makes you (re)think if your forever-out-of-the-complex single theory actually works fine!

So what do you do? I try a variety of things, some outright trivial and few deep and intricate. One of my most-frequent (and probably a favourite), is to take up a long walk and talk to myself out in the open when no one can possibly hear you or figure out that you’re self-talking. So last night, in a fit of desperation to seek ‘inner peace’ again, I took up a walk back to the tree-house and indulged in it.

Afterwards, while getting idiotically happy about having that extra money that I incidentally saved from auto by walking, tumbled upon a street-side stall of nariyal-pani and spent the saved money to sip nariyal-pani while sitting next to the vendor on the footpath. Now nariyal pani is not only a reminder of healthy diet but also one of my all-time-mood-lifters. And sitting there on the footpath, watching cars pass by, gleaming lights of traffic with the shining board of my tree house calling- I realized every issue looked trivial as long as I chose to walk on my own pace and do things as they made sense to mee. They don’t have to be high on the (society)law-abiding terms, but they have to be up there on your own belief system. And peace begins to find its way to you.

And so reveling in this theory, I smiled as I saw a birdy couple sincerely collecting the twigs together to make their new nest, reached my tree-house, had some magic potion, roamed around late windy night in nothing but what I could call a beachsuit; and talked some more to myself before I cozied up to sleep in my new-found temporary inner peace.

     

             - The Little Wench