Of Cities And Memories

When I was at IIT this weekend for Proto, I felt very strange how little I remember of it. I struggled to remember how to reach balcony of Seminar hall! I was there for 4 full years. I walked those 7 storeyed stairs hundreds of times. I sat in classrooms for hours. I have roamed around those corridors literally every day. I should have known every corner of it. But I didn't.

When I walked past my hostel, I remembered almost everything. I could picture every nook and corner of the hostel. Those corridors we've debated in. Those balconies we've played cricket in. The doors of those very rooms we've banged on. The NC-6 room I stayed in. I remember everything.

Maybe I remember more about the hostel because I spent more time there? We started bunking classes from second year, and were literally in hostel in final year. That reflects in our grades as well!

After college, I moved to Bangalore. Been 6 years now. With time, memories of Delhi faded away pretty soon.

I've lived in Delhi most of my life. I was born and brought up here. 6 years of childhood, 12 years of school, and then 4 years of college. And still, I hardly remember anything about Delhi. I still remember my days at our first Trilogy office in Bangalore. That's a solid 6 years ago.

Why is it like that? Why don't I remember more about Delhi? Why are my memories limited to IIT hostel only?

Maybe the memories are not related to the amount of time we spent. I believe they are more related to the "happy time" you spent. The more happy you are at a particular place, the more you remember of it.

I was never happy to attend classes at IIT. They were so routine. I almost hated "insti". I was much more happy to stay at hostel. And it's not about learning vs having fun. Of course we had fun in hostel. But I believe that the best education I got from IIT was from hostel, not the classes. All the people around you were so smart that you learned a lot every single minute. It's the way in which you learned that made the difference. While talking to people in corridors. Over mess table. Discussions at 4 in morning. There was no pressure of learning. No grades to be scored. No quizzes. Plain fun.

I can say the same about Bangalore when I moved here. Delhi was like "insti". Bangalore more like hostel. I loved just being in Bangalore. I still do. I feel Bangalore is *my* city. The moment the plane lands at Bangalore, I feel I've arrived at home. I never got that feeling in Delhi.

What city suits you is highly individualistic. For my parents, it's probably Delhi. At the end of the day, you should be where your heart is. Mine is in Bangalore. You should choose to live in a city where you enjoy, where people makes you feel happy.

I'll quote a dialogue by Boman Irani from Bluffmaster. This I think is the best dialogue I've ever seen in a movie (after Tum kya Jano pyar kya hota hai by Ajay Devgan in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam).

Roy, tumhe apni zindagi mein aise kitne khoobsurat din yaad hain....first job, pehla shoot, pehli salary, jab tumne ladki ko pehli baar chuua....pehli baar chuma, jab pehli baar tumhara dil dhadka...Aise kitne din yaad hain, 15, 20, 25 din, 30? Bas 30....30 special days...30 saal ki zindagi, aur tumhe sirf 30 din yaad hain?

Watch the entire scene on YouTube -