On Moving Out

Peep under the bed
pull out the portmanteau
from under the coziness of bed,
and yourself out of the warmth of this house and your mum’s cosset and your dad’s bulwark

yourself to the gamut of new episodes
with a brand new populace,
and the briefcase to the new
Shoppers Stop college wear collection!

And there you go packing up things
from those uber important dry fruits
to subtle utilities like nail cutters.

And all this happening amidst
grandma’s jibe, ‘But you were getting admission in a Chandigarh college, why go so far!’
My mum reiterating”padhne jaa rahi ho, simple ban kar rehna hai“,
and papa’s word of caution ‘Delhiites are very clever, be careful!’

And is it a fair coincidence or what,
that suddenly newspapers are brimming
with tales of Delhi’s notoriety.

But then don’t worry!
This ‘kaala dhaaga‘, ‘durga kavach‘ and
chaandi ki chain‘ will shield you from all evil eyes, bad omens and vices!

Farewell advice pours in from every distant uncle and aunt,
Delhi relatives are made aware of my presence in big bad world of the city.
Mom has finally become a member of the ‘mothers whose daughters are out’ club
with Happy mausi and Neelam mausi already in the league.

And here,
Chachu hands over his metro card,
riding on which he had tried his luck in Delhi a decade ago.
Definitely, this metro card has seen the rise and collapse of dreams.

And not forgetting the rut of parents of the those who come next,
constantly feeding into their ears:
‘Bhavya didi jaise banna hai’
I can see the utter disdain they hold
towards me in their eyes!

Ah! Finally, I’ve lived upto the definition
of ‘Arorian di kudi‘!
What this definition comprises of,
is a story for another day!

Oh wait, did I pack the chilli spray?

Bhavya Arora is a final year student at Hansraj College, editor of the college magazine De Facto and the head of the board of the student-led strategy consulting society named Mark-It.

Featured image credit: Unsplash