Delhi Revisited

Some places are always too special and close to your heart. The places with which you can associate yourself, where you have spent the most memorable times of your life. For me such a place is in the city of Delhi. Being a graduate from Delhi University I spent around three years of life in the lively city of Delhi and developed a deep attachment with it. The area I am talking about is the North Campus area. This is one place which is always sprawling with a huge student crowds, attracting young students from all over India and abroad.

Visits to Delhi are frequent but a visit to Kamla Nagar was not possible during my previous visits due to time constraints. Now, I am sure whatever I will share today will make anyone who studied in any of the North Campus colleges nostalgic. It was last Tuesday that I went to Delhi to attend a friend's marriage and had arranged for a stay in Model Town. During my student days at SRCC I used to live in Kamla Nagar. Now, Kamla Nagar as most of the people reading this post will know is the most happening area of North Campus. Spread over a large area the market have throngs of youngsters visiting it during all times of the day. The day scholar students usually come during the morning and afternoon time & the hostelers as well as students living on rent in flats and as PGs rush to Kamla Nagar during the evenings.

And living at the center of the main market was definitely something to be proud of during student days obviously because you had the option of jumping out of your bed and reach the market almost instantaneously. I think the status of living in Kamla Nagar was more than the status of studying in one of the best colleges of the country.

To continue about my visit to North Campus, the excitement was at its high because I was coming here after a long time. Taking an auto from Model town (surprisingly they go by Meter now) I directly headed towards the Bunglow Road, the most happening road in Kamla Nagar. On the way I crossed my Alma mater and silently prayed and thanked it for making me what I am. One can never forget the contribution that these institutions make in shaping your personality.

McDonalds Kamla Nagar
The auto driver dropped me near McDonalds and instantly I was back in July 2008. My first day in Delhi and we PG mates who just met went to the market to get familiarized with the surroundings and ended up having snacks at the same McDonalds. Almost everything was same in the market, the same showrooms plus some new ones. Famous eateries like Caventers, Momo Point, KFC, McDonalds were still intact. But I was not looking for any of these. I headed directly to my favourite, Chacha Chole Bhature. Whoever has tasted Chacha's Chole Bhature will swear to god that nothing better than this thing has been ever made in this world. It had the same taste and environment even after three years since I got the chance to eat them again after such a long time. While eating I was lost in my college day remembering my daily pilgrimage to Chacha's shop from my PG to satisfy my taste buds. The feeling of getting to eat this delicious dish after standing in line for 15-20 minutes in blazing sun is one of its kind.

Chacha Chole Bhature, Kamla Nagar

Once Chacha was done it was time to roam around and to my surprise the big roundabout in the heart of the market has been converted into a mall cum multi-level parking complex which houses Starbucks Coffee outlet. I imagined what would be the effect on Barista, CCD and Costa Coffee of Starbucks arrival in Kamla Nagar as this brand has really caught the youngster frenzy.

It was the same old market with the same shop and store. Little has changed in Kamla Nagar over the past three years. What was missing was the student crowd due to holiday season. Fresh admissions are yet to take place so the market was obviously dull but to someone who spent the best years of his life in this beautiful area North Campus and Kamla Nagar never disappoint. Eager to come back to this beautiful place!!

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