New Delhi, December 2008
I dont really like reading travelogues particularly. When they come in the textbooks, I generally do not like them. But I hope this travelogue, written in my style should impress you.
So it starts with 3rd December 2008 : I reached there and advanced towards the formalities. Getting my ID and etc. Then I jumped on my bed and started reading a novel which I supposed was to finish in a day or so. We had to sleep in a dormitory with other people like in a hostel. In evening I took a walk with Imad and Ravi, who were to become my very good friends. But I, the most unsocial fellow on the planet, was still too shy to make friends.
4th December 2008: The first working day at the camp. I still had no friends. Life was very lonely and I had only me and that novel. The first day started with a meeting with the National Bal Bhawan (NBB) Director who made us play some games for us to accelerate our friendmaking abilities. In a short while our writing session started. We were made to introduce ourselves and after the intro, we had to write. For session 1 I had to biograph Shival as the school notice board. For S2 i have to compose a story for a given climax. Nothing happened in the evening either.
5th December 2008: Second working day at the camp was rocking. I had started to make friends and the evening followed when I played Truth or Dare with my friends from South India. The game became ironical when the language of instruction drifted from English to Tamil. And then I couldn’t make either head or tail out of it.
6th December 2008: Third day at the camp was more than rocking as this day was preplanned as the day for the campfire. But the working day was hectic. They hung us from 9 AM to 9 PM. After the working session, we also had a talk with some famous writer. So the patient participants waited. The campfire was in the evening. And it didn’t have a fire at all initially. Some lame comedians were trying to make us laugh but they didn’t succeed too. However I joined others just to shout and make fun of them. Finally they gave up and the stage of the Mekhla Jha Auditorium in the NBB turned into a dance floor. First boys jumped, then girls followed. But lame dancers like me and some others were still seated. Finally the song changed to ‘In The End’ from Linkin Park and I couldn’t resist it. I danced after four years that night.
7th December 2008: Today was more or less like the other days except my camera was fully charged. Today I did some serious photography and caught all the memories I could in jpg format. The canteens, the hostels, the lawns and the NBB people. Truly, these photos are meant to be cherished. Today we also got a bigger break as yesterday we didn’t got any breaks. For all practical purposes, the Creative Writing sessions were over.
8th December 2008: The first thing in the morning was our PsychoTest or The Passi Psychological Examination. It was quite silly but still constituted 20% of our marks. And then came the painful three letter word – bye. The day was seasoned with goodbyes. First was goodbye, Delhi-ites! Then Goodbye Central Indians! Then Goodbye South! Goodbye North East!
9th December 2008: If any one was left to say goodbye then it was them today. We laughed, cried, fought, shook hands and smiled. Our camp was officially over today. I had to catch my train at 5.30 PM but since the NBB was already haunted by loneliness, I left early for shopping to Connaught Place and then officially, Goodbye NEW DELHI!
Hmmm, it does not end there.
Everyday: I miss Delhi.
