Ye Dilli Hai Mere Yaar
The one question I have been repeatedly asked in the past 15 months that I have lived in Delhi is how I like it. I have struggled to answer it satisfactorily, even to myself. My answers have ranged from a wishy-washy “ Oh you know, you can’t hate it, you can’t love it ” to a “ I’ve only been here through the pandemic so I really can’t say ”. But I think the truthful answer lies somewhere in-between. My view on a city is largely shaped by my personal experiences and less dependant on objective measures of livability offered on paper. And so, while I know that Delhi is barely livable thanks to its pollution, weather and lack of safety for women, these didn’t really tell me, or anyone how I actually felt about the city. I have had little or no connection to Delhi until I moved here. My father grew up here, and I had visited once in 2011 with him. He took me to his school, his college, where he had lived, etc. It was a scorching April and it was my first time in the city. I spent most of ...