Delhiwale: Silence in the chaos

Watch the city whizz past as you lie on the grassy slope under the AIIMS flyover. The view is priceless and the experience is liberating.

Who could have imagined the quietest place in Delhi is snuggled in the heart of noise?

Lounging in the garden under the AIIMS flyover. (Mayank Austen Soofi / HT Photo)

All around us is chaos — bikes, autos, cars and buses are speeding on the flyover. But we are lying sprawled on a grassy slope with the latest Zadie Smith. A plane is flying in the deep blue evening sky; it is looking like a bird. We can see real birds, too.

Such are the lazy thrills of lounging in the garden under the AIIMS flyover — the one that is notorious for its ‘giant sperms’. But those metallic installations planted by a steel company in the name of public art fail to interfere with our delight of being here.

The serenity is beyond belief. The roar of the traffic sounds like sea waves crashing gently on the beach. Looking at the few people who, like us, are lying on the grass is part of the pleasure. Each person seems so small and insignificant against the backdrop of this hyperactive metropolis. Yet, each of them is also looking so much at peace, so far from the trials of everyday world, as if free of all bonds.