Friday 7 August 2015

What’s so new about ‘The Old Delhi’?


July 28, 2015

What’s so new about ‘The Old Delhi’? Me (Aman) and my friend Ankit have been asking the same question to ourselves. It was about time we get the answer, or in other words – we explore our answer.


Delhi is been like a pearl in the eyes of tourists because of attractions like Qutub Minar, Akshardham, India Gate – Rashtrapati Bhawan, Connaught Place, Raj Ghat, Humayun’s Tomb, Hauz Khas, national Museum and many more. These places give a heartwarming hug to the visitors.


The infrastructure, development, progress and expansion is on the top in the capital. But what makes Delhi, Delhi is its heart. Like an old wine, Old Delhi, the heart of the capital, is a treat to savour.


After a serious discussion on a Sunday evening, Ankit and I decided to follow the heart with our heart. Tuesday was the day, weather was in our favour. Ankit grabbed his DSLR and I decided to go with my pen and diary. Funny thing is that both our tools help in capturing something precious.

Best way to reach anywhere in Delhi is travelling by metro, it saves time. We met at Shahdara Metro station and boarded the metro at 11:15 AM sharp for Chandni Chowk. There are only four stations in between from Shahdara - (Welcome, Seelampur, Shastri Park, Kashmere Gate) - but you have to change one metro at Kashmere Gate. It only cost us about Rs. 12 by metro card.

 We reached there before 11:30 AM. It was our first expedition so we decided to sit down and prepare a check list and a map of ‘how we are going to do it’. It was obvious the Red fort will be the starting point (It is better to start from something known). From the red monument we will traverse on foot towards the great chandni chowk bazar to the destination Jama Masjid. It covers most of the root alleys of the area.



Time 12:00 PM. We reached Red Fort. The tri color flag at the top was bowing down to pay tribute to our most beloved former president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. We thought of going inside and take some beautiful snaps but there was a long queue. I have been to Red fort before, but never seen a queue like this. Probably because of coming Independence Day.

Standing outside Red Fort, there was a huge line for entry, some Foreigners were looking frustrated. Because there was only one queue to enter. We both looked at each other thinking, “thank god we were here to cover the streets”.

 You can always find rush and multitude of people and vehicle in front of Red Fort. It would take you 5 minutes to even cross the road. I knew, no one will share their views about Old Delhi easily. So I pulled my Mass Communication college ID card thinking people will share something looking at the badge, and it worked. Though Ankit had already said it will work.



In the entry queue, there was a guy with red cap, cream t-shirt and shorts, wearing sport shoes. He was looking like a tourist, so I decided to talk to him. His name was Neemesh Mehta, all the way from Gujrat.


Neemesh said he was here with his group to visit Swami Narayan Akshardham Temple. But he was here at Old Delhi alone. While Ankit was busy photographing the streets and mob, I asked Neemesh – why alone here? What he said was touching – “I wanted to ‘see’ Delhi and this is the exact place to start. It’s little messy compared to our city but I can smell different flavor here”.

 “My group was here to visit only Akshardham. We are leaving for Gujrat today, I didn’t want to waste this opportunity. I grabbed my gear and here I am”, he added.



We took some photographs, rickshaw pullers were posing for us, and we continued our Expedition. Just opposite the main gate of Red Fort there is a long road filled with diversity. On this road you will find a 200 year old Baptist church, a 350+ year old Digambar Jain Temple, an 800 year old Gauri Shiv Hindu Temple, a 230+ year old Gurudwara standing with 370+ year old red fort of Emperor Shahjahan.



As we were walking along the road, we saw many food joints, garments shop, small tourism company and lots and lots of people. Ankit was feeling hungry, he didn’t have breakfast before coming but I think it’s because of chandni chowk’s street food. Who can stop himself with all those delicious mouthwatering food! We stopped at a shop, read the menu but decided to walk away. It was too humid inside. And ‘The Humidity Problem’ is with every shop here. We wanted to grab something which is quick. Finally found a ‘shikanji wala’. It is basically lime, some salt and spices mixed together and refrigerated. A Rs. 10 glass will give you energy to walk more.



As we kept walking we came across the name of the market on a shop board. It is called Moti Bazar. There are several rickshaw puller there. They get a lot of passenger from there to Jama Masjid, another beautiful historical monument. As I was clicking some photograph Ankit asked a rickshaw puller about his life. His name was Manoj Yadav, from bihar. He lives at Shashtri Park, other side of river Yamuna in delhi, but come here to work on his rented rickshaw. He earn much here because of tourists.



Ankit is very fond of Photography, he saw some cycles lined up on the divider, said it is a good scene, let me capture it. But it took us much time than pressing a button. Why? Because it is chandni chowk and traffic here is unstoppable. In about 15 to 20 times we got one good shot, though we cropped the person who tried to ruin it.

As we keep walking there is a huge Saree market on our left, through this market we can go to Jama Masjid. But we decide to walk some more. At the end of this road we can find Fathepuri Mosque. We stopped at Ballimaran Chowk. A huge old Haveli caught my attention. It has about 20 doors in front, people living in the Haveli reminded me how old architecture is preferred by Indian people.



We 'captured' the Haveli and took left to enter ballimaran market. The market is of shoes and sunglasses and specs. At a point we couldn’t stop ourselves from checking out the shoes. It is a huge market. All varieties of shoes and specs whether branded or local are available. You can also buy handmade shoes from here.




As we kept moving forward in the market, the road lead us to ‘Nai Sarak’, a street, which happens to be the biggest books and paper market. It was 1:15 PM, we were in Chawri Bazar, Nai Sarak. It was time we had something to eat. As you know its Old Delhi, everything here is famous. First we went to ‘Shyam Sweets’ famous for his ‘Matar Kachori’ but Ankit had some ‘Bedmi Poori and sabji with salted Lassi’ and I had one sweet Lassi which cost us only 120 bucks. Next we tried some flavored milk from ‘Sudarshan’ for only Rs. 35 each, just opposite Shyam Sweets. You can review and can check review from www.zomato.com for both of them.



As we started walking, after having our fill, we saw Jama Masjid’s side wall. It made us happy that finally we are here. Took a nice snap from street and started walking. You have to pass through Motor Market to reach Jama masjid’s main gate, if you are coming through this way.



It is a huge building. We entered and climbed up the stairs. We sat down facing the entry. Time was 1:41 PM. You can see the Whole Street, full of people. We removed our shoes put them in my bag. Shoes are not allowed inside masjid. Ankit paid Rs. 300 as camera charge, which I think is too much. We entered inside in the amazing building. The architecture is immensely beautiful. There are two towers inside but you have to pay to reach their top. We walked around or, as we remember, jumped around as the floor was Oven-like hot, but still we clicked some photographs. Ankit was running to and fro finding the carpet to stand and cool down his tootsies. And there is problem if you are wearing an I-card, people think you work for a news channel and try to come in your camera frame when you are capturing something. 



After we had our moment at the heritage, it was time to go. It was different and amazing. How things change with perspective. I have never seen this side of the city and its culture. In all this mob and humidity i still found the heart. What is so special about 'The Old Delhi’ is its cultural diversity which cannot be found anywhere else.




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