Ye Dilli Hai Mere Yaar

Delhi is the symbol of old India and new . . . even the stones here whisper to our ears of the ages of long ago and the air we breathe is full of the dust and fragrances of the past, as also of the fresh and piercing winds of the present.
Jawaharlal Nehru
Delhi as an immortal city because for the more than a thousand years of its continuous existence, this city has witnessed changes as no other part in the world but has stayed put and moved ahead with survival and development. Delhi, the capital of India, a city which was destroyed seven times but rose from its ashes like a phoenix and emerged stronger every time. Delhi was known to the medieval rulers of the country as Dehli (which is a slightly wrongly pronunciated version of the word Dehliz which means threshold). True to the meaning of the word, it has symbolically as well as otherwise, always been the threshold for all invaders dreaming to rule the country. Prithviraj Chauhan was the last Hindu ruler of the city and that was over a thousand years back. Once the country was taken over by centuries of domination by various Muslim dynasties, the city's culture and architecture took their style and imprints and Dehli became Dilli (similar in sound to Dil which means heart). Dilli was affectionately called to be the Dil (heart) of India due to its location and importance. If we compare India to a human being then Delhi actually is located at a place which would be the heart in a human body. Dilli is even more an appropriate name for the city due to the hospitality its citizens offer and no wonder the phrase “Dilli Dilwalon Ki” aptly captures the spirit of the people. British took over the rule of the country from the Mughals and briefly tried to shift the capital to Kolkata (thinking that it would be easier to rule from the city which was the headquarters of East India Company) but had to soon shift back to Delhi as they realized the strategic importance of the city which was even more central in the days of... [continues]

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