THE NIGHT WE KISSED IT.

It was the ultimate chaos, as I LIKE to call it.

There was a barrage of vehicles in every direction. People were all around you. You hardly knew any of them. A Traffic Jam so huge - even a snail could move faster.If you had somehow entered the Bandwagon, you Hardly had any chance of escaping it before a matter of few hours.

You could not go home. There was noise. People were rambling frantically; Disoriented.There was nowhere to go. There was hardly a human who wasn't shouting their guts out.

Screams-Jumps-Louspeaker-Police-Barricades.

The kind of a situation that could make you believe we were on the verge of a WAR. A

thousand cars tailgating each other.

But the irony ?

There was no honking, no fear, no haste. Any noise was being music to the ears. You just wanted to lose it, to let your hair down and live it, knowing that this could be the first and the last time you could possibly experience it.

There was a WORLD around India Gate, yet you felt like you were in the cozy comfort of your home. The people around you, whom you'd otherwise just surpass sans noticing, were suddenly your Childhood friends.

The amity oozing out of every heart was infecting the air. Loud MUSIC, Dance freaks, Smiling faces of the police force(Something you don't witness so often).

It was like a mammoth party in the middle of the night. The entire Lutyens' Delhi being the club, the sky being its roof, The DJ being the cars' music systems, the street lamps giving the effects, and the roads being the dance Floor.

You really didn't mind if people swore or fell walking because they were drunk, or climbed truck-tops and jumped like Tarzan,or just escaped falling off a jeep, or rolling off the roof of a Land Cruiser - Why ? Because you knew they were happy,and so were you.

People wouldn't mind if you cracked jokes on them that could otherwise invite you their wrath. They didn't mind if the side mirror of your car smashed against theirs and rather insisted on thrashing it down cuz it was alright for them. Why ?Because they were on the top of the world and couldn't mind such 'petty' issues.

After all, That very moment, they were in love with you, as you were in with

everyone else.

The aunties seemed to have resurrected from their Kitchens and errands, to give themselves a breather by joining in the middle of the night some random, chaotic, childish fun. Unable to resist sitting out on the car windows, some of them wearing funny caps and holding pom poms. Because for them, the night was never returning.

The uncles didn't mind if their kids jumped to no end on the car's roof, denting it beyond measure - because even the Dads were once again kids, behaving in a way that could even put a child's clandestine naive desires to shame.

Little and large groups spread around on the huge roundabout encircling the respect-worthy monument - while it seemed to have silently taken pride in what the nation it was dear to achieved.

The dance groups would pull you in, they never knew your name, and probably never will, but you spent some unforgettable moments with them - the kind you may not spend with most of your near and dear ones. All you could think of was screaming, expressing your joy, and sharing it with others, while others multiplied theirs by sharing them with you.

It was like a nuclear Chain reaction that just got triggered somewhere in the Land of Mumbai, that abruptly threw the entire nation in a rapture, making people lose control in a way that could NOT harm anyone but augment love, your love for the nation, as Inspired by the Indian within you, seeking instant connections with the Indian in the others.

Making the most cricket-averse go gaga at the Ultimate triumph - The quenching of a 28 year old thirst, that of a forlorn Cup that India kissed last only in 1983.

In a matter of 4-5 hours, you high-fived and hand-clasped a zillion people you never knew and will most certainly never run into again. People congratulated each other halely and with the purest smiles and uplifting eye-contacts, living an indescribable, nameless,effortless, INJUSTIFIABLE but a strong bond of limitless attraction, inebriated by Euphoria.

After all, every Indian on the road was in hight spirits, passing enlightening smiles like we had the world at our feet, ready to hug you if you didn't mind. Such a spirit that could make the most shy people run around sharing pleasantry with others in a way that could otherwise officially prove them lunatic.

All under the street lights we

re people bursting crackers, creating a helluva, blocking your way, opening their car boots, playing loud music, and pulling you out of your car to join them for dancing as if you were their esteemed guests.

Gorgeous faces, frivolous antics, Careless attitudes, Blithe environment, The absence of a past or a future, the 'feel good' experience, and the suddenly acquired ability to not get annoyed at anything.

It was marvelous. In fact the word 'marvelous' goes mundane. The reality of that night makes it so. You did things you never knew you had the gut for, or the stupidity for. You might be reserved otherwise, or mostly busy criticizing the nation for its malaises, but that night you lost your inhibitions to Patriotism.

Everyone around you was your own, your own India beloved fellow. Ladies, Girls, Uncles, boys, Kids, teenagers - all were there. There was No upper Class, No middle class, No lower class. All were being JUST Indians.

Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Christians; South Indians, North Indians, Chinese, American, European and who not - formed a melange of cultures in the Country's Capital.

Foreigners came running out of their '5- stars', watching what the Indians were upto, observing cars and people running past with the Indian tricolor help up high in the Air, quickly responding to your calls, gestures and victory signs, and clicking pictures to take away the memories of what they had a chance to witness for real.

Rarely seeing a non-exalted face and poking them by asking if they were Sri Lankans for being so serious, and inviting a spurting laughter from them and an affirming wide grin to justify they were not.

The whole of India gate was then the safest place on Earth - a place which even the heavens could envy for a while, reflecting the amity that even the most friendly nations could learn from.

Utter Excitement.

The attention one got for being a proud Sardar with that mighty turban on one's head - inviting calls like 'Singh is King' and "Sardarji assi Jitt gaye"(Sardar ji we won).

*Indiaaa Indiiaaaa* being on every mouth, people could just not help shouting slogans, and those who didn't know what to say, simply screamed - yet were understood.

The Night of the Contagion: When fraternity spread like an epidemic, Strangers became friends, Grown-ups became kids.

The night I'll never forget, of which I still feel I couldn't express well. Only if you could be there to experience it just the way I did, so could you know how much that night was worth dying for.

The night I'm not sure when I'll see again, the night that never ended and the night that had no tomorrow. The night that witnessed a dream, the night we were taken by love, the night we all were together, the night we all cheered for India, The night we owned the CRICKET WORLD CUP 2011.