THE TALE OF TWO CITIES

Like every another day of school, we got an assignment. The subject was English. Deadline next day. You see, it wasn't just any assignment. It was an assignment which changed my outlook and prevented me from being a hypocrite..
The topic was- the city of my dreams.
We had to either create an imaginary city of redefine the existing one. My imagination sucked so i chose the latter.
My city choice was Mumbai. Obvious.
Mumbai was where i was born and brought up.
Mumbai gave me hope. Desires . Passion.
It had everything.
I was a true mumbaikar. I looked up to everything mumbai.
I was the girl who woul spend her every thursday evenings, watching sunset at chaupati..
And eating icegolas..shopping in inorbit mall..and the rains.. Oh my..what rains. So beautiful. So heavenly.
I loved the huge buildings the city had. It was like having my own new york.you can say, mumbai was my love.
But as i turned 12.. My dad was transferred to this mediocre city Nagpur.
In literal sense, i detested nagpur. Like bella, it had became my personal hell on earth. No chaupati.no dreams. Normal people and their normal lives. Eat, sleep, work.
A TOTAL OPPOSITE. I was so immature that i blamed my dad. Cried. Shouted. All of no use. I hated nagpurians. I got admitted in a not-so-big school here.
I admit, teachers were amazing. But i refused to make any friends here. I hated nagpurians, remember?
So i became rude. I became one such kid that parents would rarely want.
But one day in school, a girl came and asked,"do you hate us?" i was taken aback, still out of cold modesty, i replied,"not you all, just the city" she then asked, "does it matter?" ofcourse, i thought. When i didnt answer, she continued,"dont worry, we'll be your friends.." i smiled reflexly."i am sithi, i was transferred herer from kolkata a year ago and he's sunnysunny.. He wanted to be your friend since the first day you entered the class" she said and giggled. Sunny elbowed her. OH WHATEVER, I THOUGHT. Months passed,i kinda liked them both now. However i still did not treat them as friends.(hated nagpurians..:P) i am seriously one heck of an annoying kid. My birthday came. They both took me to the futala lake( most romantic place in nagpur)
Sithi and sunny brought icegolas for us all. I smiled. We ate. We talked. We laughed.
And to tell you... I really enjoyed. Futala may not be chaupati but it was heavenly too..
.
.
.
Suddenly the phone rang, breaking my thoughts. It was sithi, she asked, "hey assignment complete hui kya?"
I replied" nahi yaar. Tu kiske bare me mei likh rahi hai? Kolkata?"
"nope, nagpur.and you must be writing about mumbai na?"
"ofcourse" i replied and hung up.
I began writing. I wrote about mumbai, it building, chaupati..rains..etc..etc..
After writing 3 pages, i closed the notebook.
After ten minutes, i opened it again, and tore those 3 pages.i began again. This time about NAGPUR.
Chaupati or futala. Inorbit mall or empress mall. 10 story or 2 story. Why am i bothered? After it cannot define the city of my dreams.
Shallow people rely on those factors.
Love for the city relies on the love for the people living in it.
I hated nagpur and nagpurians. But as i started loving the two special nagpurians of my life, i began loving nagpur too.
Raindrops are like pearls here too.
But the so-called lime-lights had blinded me before and now that i finally saw the reality.. I couldnt resist falling in love with the nagpur.
The ice gola felt tastier in futala rather than in chaupati. Maybe because in futala, they were there.
Yes, THEY.
THEY matter not the city..
After penning all my feelings on the paper i felt satisfied.
Next day, i submitted my assignment and went to sithi and hugged her.
I answered her ques that she asked me on the very first day we met..
I murmured,"IT DOESN'T MATTER, not anymore.."