This letter would have ideally been written on a giant maple leaf from Mohabbatein, being ‘the last leaf’ from a third year student to the University of Delhi (DU).
Dear DU
These letters were an emotion I was feeling while I was burning the midnight oil during my Class XII board examinations. When I first visited Delhi after the first cut-off list was announced, I was fascinated by the tall standing of your (University of Delhi) colleges and the charm you exuberated on my parents. For me, Delhi was only about you and honestly, I did not care much about the city in the beginning. I immediately fell in love with you when I realised that there are more food joints in North Campus than the number of colleges. Your warmth was expressed to me right from when I realised that one Identity Card of my college will allow my entry in as many colleges as I want, sometimes with tiffs with the security guards. Your candour about politics, your emancipated campus lawns, your roads of liberation, were all a part of the magic. You resonate with the buzz of the city, and the Delhi Metro enjoys a significant portion of its commuters because of you. Your charisma shares the credit of giving an amazing source of employment to all the brokers and owners of flats and Paying Guest Accommodations’ (PG’s).
There were rough times with attendance issues, homesickness, mental breakdowns, internal examination pressures, 8.30 a.m. lectures and low SGPA. But you retained your aura whenever I freely debated in your classrooms, performed on the stage of the auditorium, used the ‘Delhi University’ Snapchat filter, and ate the best and cheapest ‘samosa’ with ‘chai’. The e-rickshaws that ever so proudly zoom on the roads of your campus and I share a special bond. They seem to be more familiar to the roads of the campus that any other vehicle. You showered your affection on me in the fest season but the election season’s traffic jam and litter took a toll on both of us. At all times, you were always beautiful, caring, and welcoming. You have witnessed my tears and heard my giggles; you have nodded to all the whispers wherein I have thanked God for allowing me to spend three of the most splendid years of my life with you.
While I have entered the last leg of my relationship with you, I do not wish to break away and frankly, Delhi is still about you, and ‘DU’ still equates to an emotion for me, even after the three years. The way I get to show you off in front of my relatives in my hometown has made me grow fonder of your existence.
I have to bid adieu to you now, but I want to tell you that whenever in future, I hear the term “Vishwavidyalaya”, my heart will beat and flutter a little more in your name. The spirit of ‘Vishwavidyalaya’ will always ignite my soul, and your name will never be forgotten.
From
A graduating student.
Feature Image Credits: DU Beat.
Oorja Tapan