People in Delhi converge to India Gate. It’s like this.
We went to India Gate after dinner. It was almost 10 in the night. Many others thought like us…so we had plenty company. Obviously no tourists here. All pakka dilliwallas. They like to say ‘dill-wallas’. (grand hearted)
A family of six adults and two kids came by. One of the kids had a balloon and the other had a bewildered look. A woman, perhaps his mother, strode up to the balloon man and said,
‘What? I just bought them. My son had hardly played with it. And it broke’.
Balloons don’t come with lifetime warranty do they? We looked on at the scene with interest.
‘What to do? …. mem’ .. she cut him short…
‘How could you give him a balloon that burst?’
The woman screamed some more and walk off in a huff.
We smiled in relief
Dilliwalle or dill wale?
Don’t know what to do? Let’s drive to India Gate.
Visiting for the first time? Let’s go to India Gate.
Family outing? India Gate.
Couple wants a quiet stroll? India Gate.
Tourist? India Gate.
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| India Gate |
- Ice-creams, sprouts with masala, steaming tea from kettles, bead chains and post cards were all on sale.
- Soap bubbles poured into the spaces around us as the man blew bubbles vigourously trying to attract kids and their generous dads.
- A glowing blue ball shot into the sky and gracefully descended on a parachute. A young man caught it and threw it back into the sky. He had a powerful throw…this man.
- Paper birds bobbed in slender metal cages no bigger than a woman’s fist.
- A balloon seller chanted ‘Balloon … Lelo … Balloon’. He held a dozen full blown round balloons. His hungry face was hardly visible behind the bouncy lot.
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| balloon seller at India Gate |
‘Look what you did. I paid good money for the balloons. And the balloon broke’.
‘Madam’ said the man helplessly, ‘balloons do burst’.‘What? I just bought them. My son had hardly played with it. And it broke’.
Balloons don’t come with lifetime warranty do they? We looked on at the scene with interest.
‘What to do? …. mem’ .. she cut him short…
‘How could you give him a balloon that burst?’
The woman screamed some more and walk off in a huff.
The balloon man looked at his bhai (the balloon-man’s friend or brother). The bhai nodded, and called to the little boy and said
‘Lelo beta, ...Take little one, take this balloon’. And he walked over to the boy holding out to him a large orange balloon.
The woman was not done.
‘He had a blue one’, she said. ‘Give me a blue one’.
We looked on in total disbelief.
The balloon man took the trouble. He separated a blue one from the large bunch carefully and handed it over to the woman. The exchange happened in two swift moves.
The family walked on…
The woman came back to the balloon man …
Thumped a twenty rupee note into his hand… said gruffly, ‘keep the change’… And walked away!
We smiled in relief
The balloon man silently put the note into his pocket and said
'Balloon…Lelo…Balloon'. It was just another day for him!Dilliwalle or dill wale?
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