Have fun and don’t be naughty Varun

They say that the generations change in every thirty years. Its true. But what about the cultural change? It is much faster and ahs changed the lifestyle and life.

This is about this nineteen-year-old young man that moved from a small Punjab town to neighbouring Delhi for postgraduate studies. In small towns of Punjab in mid 1970s, the girls still wore Salwar Kameez, more popularly called the Salwar Suit with Dupatta. The fashion revolved around this outfit. Kameez would become long or not-so-long and Salwar would change from Gherwaali to Pathan type or the straight simple type. That was all fashion about.

The girls still grouped together without any substantial conversation with the boys in a coeducational college. That did not however stop the sexes to stealthily look and admire each other.

Delhi was modern in dress, outlook and attitude. In the Delhi colleges young girls from the so-called elitist background would wear Jeans and Pants with T-shirts or sleeveless blouses. It was shocking for a Punjabi small-town boy. But Punjabis are known for their flamboyance and adopting anything western.

The Punjabi boy that stayed in the Delhi University hostel did not need a Mobike for the college was walking distance in the campus. But having a Mobike was an in thing then and facilitated to have a girl as a friend. 

Varun, the boy from Punjab excelled in studies as he did in sports. The independence and anonymity of a big city made him sporting enough to befriend girl students. With enrolment in all the social and cultural clubs of college and hard pursuit towards the goal, he acquainted with this ‘damsel’ by Punjabi standards. The acquaintance developed into a friendship and Varun was surprised to have got casual invitations from her to visit home.

Varun had never spent any time other than that in the college with her. She would come and go by the University Special DTC buses that plied only for the University bound students from different destinations to Delhi University and back. One day he proposed that he was going to UPSC at Shahjahan Road that was not far from the Government apartments and could drop her home. This was a chance that he was seeking and lo it worked. He dropped her home on one summer afternoon, met the girl’s mother and spent as much time as to finish the cold drink that was offered to him.

He was very happy that he could make a breakthrough, for it was an effort that he had been planning on since long. Came winters and film festival was held in Delhi when shows of English and foreign movies were held in different South Delhi cinemas. Varun stood hours in a queue to buy two tickets for an evening show. He had never been to a cinema with a girl and could not muster courage to ask his friend out. It was decent to ask and seek permission from the friend’s mother to take the daughter out. What if she felt offended and said No with a growl? He practiced several times before asking the mother, “Auntie, Can I please take Ria to the movie show?” “Oh yes. Have fun and don’t be naughty Varun.”