My City Had A Heart
By Taarini Saharan Monday, Jul 19, 2021
I have albums full of photgraphs,
from when i was a child.
They’re all neatly stored away
because my memories should not be tampered with.
But when the JCBs arrived at Rajpath,
I felt my childhood fall apart.
Those jamun trees stood for more
than you and I could see.
They were ice cream hawkers,
and candy floss.
They were Republic Day parades
and Sunday morning picnics.
They were the first thing that came in sight
when I entered Delhi,
while driving back boarding school.
Those Jamun trees were what told me
that i was finally home.
The ground is excavated now,
there’s nothing left to see
and there’s nowhere left to run.
Posters run from end to end
screaming,
“No photography allowed”,
in big, bold, red letters
and i wonder how the tables turned
because my city had a heart,
until they took it
and they tore it apart.
