Sketches of Dilli

Delhi, The city of cities.

The city of Galib and khusro is a mega polis now, engulfing villages and towns, attracting immigrants and offering jobs. The city got ruled by many dynasties, many rulers from different parts of the world.
For me, its my hometown and a place of good memories, nostalgia, adventures and surprises. Exploring the city is still my favourite past time.

It is said that the very first city of Delhi was Indraprasth, Made by the Pandavs during the era of the Mahabharat.  The Indraprasth was one of the five villages given to the Pandavs. They made it the capital and developed it and built beautiful palaces and structures. Archaeological surveys confirm it to be at the site of old fort.

The other cities include Rajputs’  city’s  remains,  Khilji’s Siri, Tuglaq’s Tuglaqabad, Jahapanah and Ferozabad, Dinpanah by emperor Humayun ,  Dilli by Shershah Suri and British’s Imperial New Delhi.
Not going chronologically, this essay is on my Dilli, what I have experienced and absorbed.

A land of immigrants and travelers.

Belonging from a Punjabi family, I remember both of my maternal and paternal grandmothers have long never ending stories to tell on partition and how they shifted from Punjab in Pakistan, the routs they followed and how they finally settled in Delhi.

Just like my grandparents, there are millions of delhites who share the same story. Be it Punjabi’s  from Pakistan, Tibetans from Tibet, people from nearby villages. Delhi has accepted everyone with open hands.

It is a city where from ages people have come, fell in love and settled.  From small traders, to big rulers, everyone fell in love with the city.  One exception was the great traveller “Ibnbatuta” who visited Delhi at the regime of Tughluq, his account are proved to be great help to testify.

An architectural delight and a cultural wonder

Every ruler left his impression on the city, some of it is tangible, in form of monuments, and other intangible is in the culture, language and ethnicity of the people.

The major famous monuments of Delhi include the Qutub minar complex at mehrauli, the Bahai’s Lotus temple and The Jama masjid and India gate.
However there are several major monuments which were the architecture marvels at their times but now are ignored and forgotten. Khirki Masjid in the Khirki village is one of them. Now surrounded by ever invading houses Khirki masjid was built in 1351 during tuglaq’s era.

Most of the monuments invite social gatherings. Both localites and tourists perceive the monuments in different social spots. Local families, like my own, go to India gate after the dinner to have ice cream. Jama masjid and Meena Bazar is full of people in the time of Ramzan even at 2-3 am in the night. 

A fast sketch of the social gathering in central park with Jeevan bharti building (designed by Charles Correa)  in the background.

The relatively modern Markets and Business centre include Connaught place developed as a showpiece in lutyen’s Delhi. Formally a Ridge covered with Kikar trees and filled with Jackals and wild pigs. It now attracts millions of tourists, businessmen and customers. 

A sketch of Barakhamba road from the Central park in CP.

The Chandni chawk was built in 17^th century by Shah jahan. The name means “moonlight square”, adjacent to it is Khari Baoli, Asia’s largest t spice market.

It is still houses a big Wholesale market. There are streets dedicated to the type of product sold, like the food street is called the Paranthe wali gali. The street for books and stationary is the Nai sadak. There is a specialised street for saries and its components called the kinari Bahzar where from ages the families brought the bridal dresses and are loyal to their shops. Other specialised streets include “balli maran” for shoes, there is even a controversial street called G.B road, known for the dingy brothels.

Efficient public transport

From a world class metro system , to local e-rikshaws, autorikshaws,  Cycle rikshaws,  DTC busses, short trip shared vehicles, Delhi has everything , you say it we have it.

Every different transport system has made a culture of its own.  There are different slangs, unofficial rules and bargain percentage for each of the mode of transport.  

 The Auto rikshawas are an integral part of the public transport in the city. They are one of the first people whom the tourists and travellers meet.

Delhi Transport Corporation runs public busses, commonly known as DTC busses. The busses are given a route number. Experienced people like my uncle know the numbers of most of the major routes.   Major hub of the bus transport is the ISBT, chaotic yet functional.

The arrival of the metro has proved to be a boon for the people of Delhi.  Big clean concrete and steel stations, shining stainless steel metro trains which are never late and the big web of metro columns spawning over the city have changed the overall Image of the ancient city.

Metro is a social hub now. The stations are the new meeting spots, thanks to the in-station cafes and restaurants.  The metro announcements are used in the slang words among the youth.  The big corporates prefer metro over the road traffic and chaos.

Different people in the Delhi Metro

How an extra person is added in the metro bench with generosity .

Elevation

Plan

Place for foodies

Delhi has a lot to offer to the food lovers.  There are many small famous old shops wich attract so much customers.  Be it the delicious street food in Chandni chawk to the lavish restaurants and themed clubs in khan market, Delhi has a lot to offer. There are dedicated clubs for food lovers and special food walks.

Going through one of the narrow lanes, of chandnichawk, we can reach the paranthe wali gali, a street with many small shops proudly showcasing the photographs of eminent personalities which includes first prime minister of india, Pt.  Jawaharlal Nehru too.  Walking further towards jama Masjid will lead to the heaven of Non-veg cuisines known as KARIM’S .

 Stark contrast between wide roads of Lutyans Delhi and the narrow lanes of Chandni Chawk and khari bawoli.  Khari bawoli being the biggest spice market in asia.

Bauli’s were mede to preserve water, many of them lost in time.

 Some of them which are still left are Agresen ki bauli, in cannaught place.

A juncture of new political revolution

“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”

Not to forget, the Delhi Houses the Parliament of the country built on the splendid Raisena hills.

The city has been a power source for the major political revolutions, and Ramlila ground and Jantar mantar serves the hubs for agitations and public  gatherings. Be it the Jai Prakash movement in 1975, the Anna Hazare Movement in 2011 and the Arvind Kejriwal swering in Ceremony in Feburary 2014.

My Dilli is a City of surprises, little adventures and treasure hunts.