The Magical City:Old Delhi

From past six years, since I dwelt in this magical city and got blended in the motley crowd as if i was born here itself, I always wanted to view this appealing city,I was eying for something different ,different from big malls, branded showrooms, metro trains, “hot girls”, slums,main markets, and even food joints. Actually i have seen all of that a lot in past years ,in every corner of this magical but puzzled city.But what always fascinated me ,over all these so-called modern development ‘s was the ruins of OLD DELHI: “THE WALLED CITY”, It will not be a metaphor to describe old Delhi as a city itself.

Even with the huge vastness of the area, old Delhi has a flux of emotions and a unifying crowd from different religions and races, It’s an elated feeling to see hindu’s and Muslim’s inhabiting the place together and showing high content of mutual respect to each other.It seems like a Terminus, where genie’s, from the Aladdin stories, might had  ended  up ,when asked to get anything.

I always wanted to roam around in this wondrous place but never got enough time to do so,but today ,I and one of my good friend who also happens to be a fond traveler and a foodie… decided to explore this place which has always awed us, though my friend was much concerned about the food part (being a big time foodie, with a 2 months belly) , I was trying to capture as many images as I can, both in my camera and in my memory.

Spectator of the change….

Down the line six years ago, Metro was in its first phase, trying to cover important places in Delhi, and I used to stay in Laxminagar, in East Delhi, traveling mostly by DTC and Blue line Buses across Delhi,but I must say, traveling in those almost collapsed buses made me felt like a “Delhiite”  far more than the comforting metro did. Those days came alive when I traveled in a bus ,rather metro, today after a long time. Annoying sounds,irritating voices ,a hell lot of people stepping over your foot, and the sultry climate, did not feel so bad , rather the scene left a smile on my face.

We left the bus at “jama Masjid” and walked along the pavements of “chawari baazar” ,making our way through the jam-packed streets ,we finally reached “Nayi Sadak”, after gulping down some Matar Kachori’s and Lassi and Gujarati Khandwi’s  we proceeded towards “Sadar Baazar”, the hub of wholesale and retail merchants, Cutting through the mob, and passing across every possible shop and market imaginable from grocery, to hosiery , to crockery, to cosmetics, to electrical appliances, to general stores we reached “Pahadganj” covering around “10” kilometers on foot,( no Riksha or any other conveyance ), the rows of lighted and decorated hotels on both sides of the roads, looked lovely.Foreigners being the majority of the crowd there, were distinguishable easily , with different vendors trying their best, to attract them.Famous food joint’s  like “SAM’s Cafe” were the part of Vicinity. Alleyways are one of the specialties of old Delhi, where locals don’t even fear to pass a car by those narrow lanes (half Sarcasm, half truth) ,and an outsider fears if he can pass through them comfortably. Everything about the Walled city is so charming and strange at the same time, it has not changed much since the beginning unlike other parts of Delhi, the smell in the air is unique , very dissimilar from the one in the main city, old ruins of palaces and tombs still stands stiff , now occupied by local vendors putting them to use. Jama Masjid always reminding of almighty,paradise for the Non vegetarian cuisines and the place has got it all, from “HOT GIRL’S to FOOD JOINTS” .

Lastly i will only like to say

“Puraani  dilli”. It’s a place filled with Sarcasm and Sadness, People are Funny and Strange, Life is Swift and Dumb, Atmosphere is Calm and Anxious , go forth and experience it.

Still after covering more than 20 kilometers of distance on foot,my thirst  for wandering in this place has not come to rest, I want to be the witness of, arguably, history’s most important change :Old Delhi. I do not consider myself a very good writer or a blogger, so may be I  am not up to the mark in explaining to you what it’s like to be in old Delhi, so please make a visit yourself and feel the presence of the place, serenity and beauty it has to offer.