Three days have passed after Eid. The holy month of Ramadan is over. The atmosphere in Batla House in New Delhi is very different. Not just different form Ramadan but also from normal days. Batla house is home to a lot of students and people from nearby states, especially UP and Bihar, who visit their hometowns for celebrating Eid. I know people who visit their hometowns only once a year with whole family. And that time of year is now.
Even I am back so early first time. Like others, even I preferred to join college on the first Monday after Eid. But now I work and holidays in Corporate world are very limited. So, I had to return early this time.
The silence in Batla House and Zakir Nagar is really strange. The streets here are known to be crowded whole year. Even on chilly winter nights one can find people around. Today, I wanted to have my favourite Al-Umar's 'Dal Makhni' for dinner. But to my surprise Al-Umar(the restaurant) was closed. I couldn't find any other good restaurant open. So, had to manage with Famous's "Qeema". But to my delight "Aggarwal Sweets" was open. I went there and fed myself few pieces of 'Qalaqand'.
Its hard to imagine Batla House free of traffic chaos in evening. I really miss:
- Bikers who perform stunts in the middle of traffic jam.
- Aunties, who shop whole year with complete family.
- Bearded uncles running for namaz.
- Aroma of frying chicken.
- Fights between car-walas and rickshaw-walas.
- Beggars, who occupy both sides of road and leave no room to walk.
- Students, carrying bags full of books on their shoulders and dreams in their eyes.
