Dear Metro,
Stepping into LSR wasn’t easy and neither was boarding you every day knowing how much I would have to walk. Changing blue line to pink line to violet line, the journey seemed endless and cruel in the beginning. But I can’t recall when I got used to it. I think I am fond of the city now and it’s mostly because of you.
I remember the first time it rained after I moved to Delhi. A beautiful morning and I was on the pink line running late for the 8:45 lecture. I felt homesick for the first time. My Instagram says it was 80 weeks ago but it feels like yesterday.
Seeing a mother telling stories and playing with her daughter on the long pink line route, I remember wishing my mom could be right next to me. After a tiring day, maybe all you need is your mom asking whether you had your lunch.
Watching Gurudwaras pass with Kun Faya Kun playing on my earphones is a feeling I have been yearning for months now. Running from Moolchand to the back gate with the clock ticking 8:43 and the smell of parathas is still fresh in my memory.
Even to this day, I remember myself returning from college after that first day and standing on Lajpat Nagar station trying to figure out my way home. I was struggling to find the pink footsteps or any board, just left to recall the route I was told to follow. I had forgotten every bit of it and I was just another girl lost in Dilli’s hustle-bustle. Losing recently recharged metro cards, boarding endless wrong trains and asking dozens of strangers the way to becoming one of them in the crowd. Haven’t you seen me learn and grow so much?
I remember being that shy new girl in the city asking for help. But I never realized when I turned into that same stranger who helped others find their way along your routes. You have seen me at my worst and my best. In that chaotic city, you felt like a constant, like someone watching me track my way through college, dreams, friendships, and anxieties.
Now I can’t wait to be back in the city, ready to catch another metro to get a seat, perhaps with more Coke studio songs this time. Everything has changed but we will always stay the same. You moving slowly only on days when I am late, making me run to reach the 8:45 class. But till then, I will let my mind play:
“Agla station Moolchand hai, darwaze bayi taraf khulenge, kripiya darwazo se hatker khade hon.”
(Translation : The next station is Moolchand. The doors will open on the left, kindly stand with a distance to the doors.)
Your truly,
Devanshi
