Shakespeare’s garden.

[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]

Any number of public parks in our fair city can look downright dreamy in early evening.

Stepping into south Delhi’s Greater Kailash Enclave-I around 8pm is, however, rather like entering a scene in one of those surreal Shakespeare’s plays. Where a banal world suddenly turns all magical with moonlight and, who knows, maybe with winged fairies fluttering about.

Probably it’s the bizarre jogging track lighting that does it. Walkers approaching you look like illusions. But gradually become visible under a glowing lamp, only to instantly evaporate into nothingness as they head back into darkness.

This particular evening a few folk are sitting on the grass, submerged in dimness. A woman perched on a bench has her head bowed, like some actress enacting a tragic scene. But now she lifts her face, and one learns the truth. She was merely busy on her cellphone.

Suddenly, a cat leaps over a jogger’s unusually long shadow.

Immediately afterwards, two men saunter past discussing something about a builder. An ordinary conversation like this ought to destroy the park’s surreal ambiance, but it doesn’t. It’s as though some magical particles are being wafted into the early night air by the very shrubs and grass.

One feels refreshed after leaving the magic garden and back onto the traffic-laden highway. As though a much-needed holiday has been well and truly spent.

A dreamy park

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