My pal Sridevi tells me my blog is “safe.” And I must grudgingly admit, she’s right. I already know what she’s talking about — a stream of “Tintin in India” posts about life in this “developing” country. Sure, I haven’t stooped to the level of mentioning “all those cows” in the streets. But I have done my share of “poverty pieces,” and I keep dwelling on the disparities that I see.
But despite triggering Sridevi’s comment, I eventually begin to see New Delhi first and foremost as a metropolitan city with all the corresponding hustle and bustle. And it is from this “local” perspective that I was absentmindedly gazing out my zooming autorickshaw late one night.
Perhaps I was returning home from a bar. Maybe it was a late dinner with friends. I can’t remember. But I do remember that Aurobindo Marg (street) was transformed. The normal commuter traffic and construction was replaced with quiet calm. The multi-lane major artery stood empty in the wee hours of the morning.
And as my autorickshaw driver zoomed me home, I saw something big. Very big. A huge elephant. And a man on top. Going north. On Aurobindo Marg. Past the gas station. Past the refrigerator store. Past the subway expansion project.
Apparently, if you are going to march an elephant down a major New Delhi boulevard, you better do it after last call.
