Amid Air Pollution & Criticism, Man's Heartfelt 'I Love Delhi' VIDEO Brings Wholesome Twist To Debate

Delhi is facing several challenges right now, and among them, the most pressing one is its deteriorating air quality. People have taken to social media to slam the city, even calling it “unlivable.” However,

amid all the criticism, a video is going viral in which a man explains why — despite all its problems — he still “loves Delhi” and describes it as “an emotion.” The clip has garnered massive attention online.The video was shared on Instagram by a man identified as Ashish Tulsian. In the video, he says, “I love Delhi, and I love Delhi while knowing all the bad things that happen in Delhi. Mein jab Pune mein gaya, mujhe yaad hai kisi ne mere se haath milaya aur bola, ‘Kidhar se ho?’ Toh I said, ‘Delhi.’ He said, ‘Toh padh yahan pe rahe ho?’ I said, ‘Nahi, college bhi Delhi mein hai.’ He said, ‘Accha, OMS.’ I said, ‘OMS kya hota hai?’ Usne kaha, ‘Outside Maharashtra State (OMS).’'' (“I love Delhi, and I love it even while knowing all the bad things that happen here. When I went to Pune, I remember someone shook my hand and asked, ‘Where are you from?’ I said, ‘Delhi.’ He asked, ‘So, you’re studying here?’ I said, ‘No, my college is also in Delhi.’ He said, ‘Oh, OMS.’ I asked, ‘What’s OMS?’ He replied, ‘Outside Maharashtra State.’)He was shocked with the OMS term and further shared, '' I was zapped and started laughing. I was like, okay — yeh koi category hai? Phir Pune mein mujhe sunai diya, hum Marathi hai aur non-Marathi. Mujhe woh Marathi vs non-Marathi clearly bante hue dikha.” (I was shocked and started laughing — I was like, okay, this is a category now? Later in Pune, I started hearing people say, ‘We are Marathi’ and ‘non-Marathi.’ I could actually see that divide between Marathi and non-Marathi people.”)

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He also added, “Phir main Hyderabad gaya, phir main Bangalore gaya, phir main Chennai gaya. Aur dheere-dheere mujhe ek cheez realise hui — ki Hindustan ke har state mein kahin na kahin regionalism hai. You can call it local pride. Mujhe realise hua ki Delhi is actually a melting pot. Delhi kisi ki nahi hai, kyunki mujhe kabhi aisi feeling nahi aayi ki ‘yeh Delhi hai, aur yahan ke hisaab se karna padega.’” (“Then I went to Hyderabad, then to Bangalore, and then to Chennai. And slowly, I realised something — that in every state of India, there’s some form of regionalism. You can call it local pride. I realized that Delhi is actually a melting pot. Delhi doesn’t belong to any one group, because I never felt like, ‘This is Delhi, and you have to do things the Delhi way.’”)He concluded, “When I went outside, I realised that every city has its own way of saying, ‘Hamare yahan hum aise karte hain.’ Delhi mein aisa nahi tha — mere paas koi aisa example hi nahi tha. So I think Delhi sabki hai. Delhi ki apni problems hain, jaise har jagah hoti hain. Un problems ka koi denial nahi hai, par I love Delhi — I think it makes me feel alive.” (“When I went outside, I realized that every city has its own way of saying, ‘This is how we do things here.’ But Delhi was never like that — I never had an example of that kind. So I think Delhi belongs to everyone. Delhi has its own problems, just like every other place does. There’s no denying those problems, but I love Delhi — I think it makes me feel alive.”)The video has since gone viral and continues to spread rapidly online. Many users agreed with Ashish’s thoughts, echoing his sentiment that “Delhi kisi ek ki nahi, sabki hai.''