Nawalgarh Diaries!!!

Having been born and brought up in Delhi, I never thought that I will get a chance to experience living in a village. After completing my graduation, I was confused about what I wanted to do next. Glad that I did not opt for an MBA or CA, but ended up being a part of an organisation which introduced me to this place called Nawalgarh. Talking about the small town situated in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan state. Yes, even I had not heard about Jhunjhunu until I got placed there. Coming from a metro and working in a village was an incredible experience. It was as if my whole life had flipped. A lot of things changed. Some really beautiful changes like sleeping under the stars, breathing fresh air, sipping tea on roadside stall, and nonetheless squat toilet. But it did not take much time to adjust with village life because of its simplicity.

After working there for 16 long months and enjoying every aspect of living as a villager, the journey ended before time and I came back to my birth place. Not after very long, I visited the place again. After travelling all night, I reached there at 5.00 in the morning. The mildly cold breeze took away all the tiredness of the journey in a moment. I picked my bag up and started walking. It was a strong feeling of home coming. I did not feel the same when I came to Delhi after 16 months that I had when I went back to Nawalgarh after 16 days. There is no comparison between massive, intimidating flyovers and the small village roads. Even the roads, the streets, made me feel connected. The most amazing attribute of a small town is that you get to know each and every nook and corner of the place. The one and only movie theatre, where I saw some really good movies with only my friends present in the entire hall. Never mind the torn and broken seats, tobacco spit and poor sound quality; the place still managed to score more points than any luxurious multiplex of Delhi. None of those facilities can surpass the comfort of sitting in that hall. Not to forget the most exciting part of village life; sitting at a tea stall, chatting, eating samosa and obviously sipping tea. CCD, Barista and Starbucks; they all are amazing, but sipping tea during sunset complimented by the slow village life, where everything shuts down after 8, is just out of the world. As I mentioned, how even the streets or roads extend a feeling of belongingness; there is no doubt about how the innocent and simple people make you feel. It seems, even the nature resides there in its pure form, unlike cities, where even the sunlight, the rain, early morning breeze also appear fabricated.

If you want to know the true meaning of hospitality, you should definitely visit an Indian village. Their face exhibits, how true and honest their hospitality and love is. I will definitely miss having tea and ‘chhachh’ forcibly, whenever we were invited to someone’s place. This place has given me so much that I will never be able to pay it back. Innumerable memories, beautiful relations, and huge amount of love and affection have been showered on me. Before this episode, if someone asked me about my native village, I would say I don’t have one. But now, I will very elatedly say that I have a native village; my second home, and that is Nawalgarh. I might get many chances to visit multiple other villages but the amount of affection that I have annexed for this place will always be on the top.

A heartfelt gratitude for all those people who introduced me to this place, who walked beside me in this journey and all those people I met in Nawalgarh. I am overwhelmed. J