I am going to Delhi!’ It was a huge step, something which I
had never dreamt about ! My dreams were not about going to Delhi or meeting
high profile people but when the news came, I started dreaming about it. And
then they came true!
It was like a bomb blast in my neighborhood! There were so
many curious (and negative) people around me when the news came; “You have been
selected to go to Delhi. You have to leave tomorrow”. Kya mazak hai, aap aise
kaise ja sakti hai? (No kidding, How can you do that?) Kuch gadbad hui hai kya,
aise itni jaldi kyu bulaya gya hai? (Why have they called in such a hurry, Is
there any problem?)
Hearing them all, I started having some negative thoughts as
well. ‘Had I done something wrong? How did they select me?’ With these questions
in my mind, gathering whatever money I kept for emergency, I started for my
journey to Patna. My husband had accompanied me thinking, we could spent some
more amount and travel to Delhi together; after all how could I travel alone to
Delhi? It was too scary and Delhi seemed far away! When we came to know I had
to travel without my husband, his face changed color. I was hesitant too but I
did make up my mind! And it was amazing! Had my husband known from the start
that I would have to go to Delhi on my own, he would have never brought me even
to Patna!
As we entered the airport, the lady police were so amused to
see us go in-perhaps we seemed out of place. “You are going to see them on TV
tomorrow”, they stared at us as our madams beamed. Once in the airplane, I
tried my seat belt myself; I could actually do it. I felt so confident an in
control of myself. We then got a pack of biscuits in a nice looking dabba
(container) and a juice can on the plane; I saved one biscuit for my son from
the pack. I would tell him I got something for him ‘from air’! I settled in the
window seat; it was amazing to watch the place take off, leaving the lights
below and finally landing in Delhi. The lights in Delhi made me feel like we
were celebrating a festival! Delhi seemed something out of my world; hundreds
of highways with fast rushing cars and tall buildings touching the sky. It was
a completely different experience from my daily life as a health worker and an
ASHA. I felt free, curious to explore a new world and breathing in every detail
of the places we visited. The most amazing thing happened at Qutub Minar where
a white lady came rushing to hug me; she seemed happier to see me than I was to
see her! I even got clicked with her! I would have lost a lifetime opportunity
if I had got scared to travel alone that day! I am glad I believed in myself!
Daisy Kumari
Khagaria district
No comments:
Post a Comment