It Was Real

After school ended and just about the entire community flew off for summer break, we enjoyed some quiet time on and around campus and the opportunity to say goodbye to some important people and places around Delhi. During that time, I was taken aback by the overall beauty of the city and once again saw the charming side of its chaos and constant crush of humanity.

Our grocery store in Yashwant Market. Amazing how many products were packed into this tiny shop.

Last stroll around Sarojini Market.....

Raghu's vegetable stall, part of our Sunday routine...

Haroon, the barber:

Mr. Bagga, the tailor:

Suresh, the dhobi:

Scene outside campus gate - cricket in the street and wall around the Vivekanand community:

The beloved banyan tree by the elementary school playground.....

Last breakfast at the Imperial Hotel. We actually had two final breakfasts there....

Coincidence? In the middle school Hall of Peace: India, US, and Argentina flags, all in a row....

Final flips in the swimming pool:

 

"This was a real, truly live place. And I remember that some of it wasn't very nice....but most of it was beautiful."

- Dorothy in the final scene of The Wizard of Oz

On the morning of June 1st, the four of us made the twenty minute journey to the Delhi airport with our one-way tickets to Boston. Even though we had thoroughly celebrated the end of the school year said our many goodbyes, boarding the plane brought upon a buzzing panic that had not been anticipated. A whir of images flew through my mind, in a cartoonish swirl of air circling around a heavy book that was resisting closure. Our India story was complete.

Stepping onto the airplane marked the end of a dream and I kept thinking to myself, first almost questioning my memory and then ultimately as an emphatic and out-load proclamation: "It was real!"