I have expressly borrowed the title from William Dalrymple’s travelogue for Delhi, the capital of India: a place with a raging and celebrated past. I cannot think of words more fitting to illustrate it, the city of genies. In the most clichéd terms, Delhi is a hot melting pot of all cultures. One of the most striking things about Delhi is the symmetry in the contemporary lifestyle and the reflections of the past. Progressive commercial expansion on the one hand and historical footprints on the other thrive alongside each other. The myriad of malls, markets, industries, offices manifest the modernity while the many monuments reflect the ancient legacies. Delhi bubbles with a very cosmopolitan population, so much so that sometimes it is said to have cast away its own identity while embracing the cultures from all over India.
Chandni Chowk, a 300 year old shopping area is one of the most affluent and flamboyant markets in Old Delhi. In contrast to New Delhi, the antique and adorably old school way of life seems unperturbed here. Since it was established during Mughal rule, the buildings still hold on to the Mughal architectural grandeur. Chandni Chowk screams life! It depicts a plethora of dynamism, centre of opulence, mélange of aromas, blaze of beauty and a jumble of sights and sounds. It is always busily teeming with people in the multitudes of shops in the narrowest of lanes, buying, selling, fervently bargaining and eating.
Before I start talking about my mini-voyage, I have a few disclaimers:
- The details that I am providing here are things that I have gathered from hearsay from the people in Delhi and not facts from the internet or other sources. This implies their authenticity maybe questionable.
- The pictures were taken in my 2 megapixel phone camera, and though they have not failed to capture the spirit and colours of CHandni CHowk in all its splendour, the quality is lousy.
- I have no flair for photography. This experience is my story and I am recounting it my way.
Time: 10 am, on a chilly foggy December morning (peak winter)
Take the Delhi Metro and get down at the Chandni Chowk station. The Delhi Metro is very similar to the Singapore MRT system, minus some coaches, dustbins, and plus the people pushing and falling over each other. Of course, the Metro system is more useful there since Delhi is huge and has the cut by half the commute time taken by other public transport systems.
Shopping in Chandni Chowk:
Although you get everything under the sun here, Chandi Chowk is especially famous for its trinkets and Zari work sarees. It is an ideal place for wedding- and window-shopping. Each little store has thousands of commodities stacked in its every inch. And even though the outlook is archaic, the goods are still very much à la mode. As soon as you enter the market, a dozen people marketing for their own business invite you to their shop, breathlessly reciting their offers and price ranges, and trying to convince you that it is the best shop in town and that you are their most valued customer. Keeping with the custom in Delhi, the market has ample scope for bargaining. If the shopkeeper quotes a price, ask for at least half of that and more often than not, if you are an experienced bargainer and draw on how you’ve been in Delhi for so many years and know the correct prices of goods, or how your grandfather’s father owned 2 shops in the area, the recession, etc., interspersed with enough “Kya Bhayya,”s and “Theek daam bolo”s, you can get it for the price you want. The price of bangles here is around half the price of those in the main city.
Every inch in Chandni Chowk houses a shop. Be it the murkiest corner of the darkest alleys, there has to be a shopkeeper hard at work in the tiny cramped shadow of a space. Most of the buildings are old and some even dilapidated, but the signature of Mughal style is all over them. Some corporate offices are also here.
Transport:
To travel within the vicinity, the cycle rickshaws (a conventional travel vehicle in India, now dwindling in number) are the most convenient and accessible, if the driver is not in the middle of his mid-morning nap or engrossed in a game of cards or heated discussion about the rise in the prices. The cycle rickshawman is also a rich source of information about the offers and sales in the different shops and can direct you to the best shop that has the best stuff you are looking for.
Eating:
Hail from any culture or region or religion, the Delhiites are united by their passion for 2 things: shopping and eating. Besides the Haldirams and the McDonalds here, Chandni Chowk is most famous for its Halwais (confectioners) and parantha shops (note: different from prata). The street called Gali Paranthe Wali has parantha shops from the 1800s, before which it used to include silverware stores in the Mughal times. They make paranthas in unimaginable flavours, and one bite of those will make you wonder what noble deed you have done to experience such culinary bliss. The food is vegetarian without onion and garlic, but spicy. The walls of the tiny eat – out are decorated with pictures of eminent personalities who’ve visited and eaten their paranthas. The paranthas are served with sweet and sour tamarind – banana chutney, mint chutney, potato-red pumpkin subji and chole. You can choose you parantha flavour. Some notable ones are chilli , plantain, bhindi, peas, and pudina. The special taste is also because they sprinkle some aloo water on the paranthas when they beat the dough.
Glistening in pure ghee, sweet and a wee bit tangy, the most well-known local dessert delicacy is the jalebi. Every second shop in Chandi Chowk sells jalebis. Another famed dessert is the Rabdi Kulfi, and since Kulfi is a non-whipped frozen dessert, it doesn’t melt easily, the perfect snack even for a cold winter evening.
Come dusk and all the shops are embellished with the most dazzling lights.
If we walk along the main road towards the Red Fort( a very famous monument of ancient India), we can see the Gurudwara Sheesh Ganj, Digambar Jain lal Mandir (the most well-known and oldest Jain temple in Delhi) and the Gauri Shankar Mandir(over 800 years old), flaunting the glorious history and the multi ethnicity of the region.
Then, across the road comes the Red Fort.
Exhausted at the end of day, I went back home munching on hot moon dal ke pakode, bags bursting with goodies and mind laden with memories. Chandni Chowk is a speck of true India, a bit of this and that, and a totally brilliant package for having a good time.
Sneha's Weblog 