While our visit to Delhi was specific purpose and just two days, we yet managed a few hours to visit the well known sunday second hand book market of Delhi, also known as 'kitaab bazaar', at Darya Ganj.
India Gate on the way. What if seen early morning, would have been pretty morning fog, is now the most spoken about smog of Delhi. This was at noon, on a not cold day.
New Delhi and Old Delhi are both intensely sensory experiences. We were staying at Safdarjung Enclave, so getting to Darya Ganj took us through the fanciest part of Delhi, to reach the heart of Old Delhi where the Kitab Bazaar happens every Sunday.
Passed through roads with these lovely names etched with Delhi's, rather India's history......Tuglak Road, 10 Janpath, Akbar Road....... and the roads are just so so beautiful. Names which you read in the paper are name boards outside houses. Every turn can throw up something historical.... imposing monuments , impressive embassies, beautiful parks, old tombs...what have you.
What's most apparent by it's absence are hoardings, there isn't even one. It's wide and clean roads, tree lined avenues, rich character .......all go to make you proud to have the city as capital (ignore smog and stuff).
Equally vivid is the character of old Delhi. History jumps out of our school text books to make itself live. Redfort, Jama Masjid, Kutubminar, Chandni Chowk, Meena Bazaar..... And the chaos and street food of Old Delhi.
After Darya Ganj, we were carrying so many books that we hopped into a cycle rickshaw just for that fifteen minutes to Jama Masjid, and that in itself became an experience worth having. It's a rare skill that it must take to maneuver those roads, we were amazed.
The street of Darya Ganj was so choc o block with, actually with everything, there was every possible mode of transport there, cycle rickshaws, tongas, e-rickshaws (battery operated rickshaws), cars, scooters, bikes, and even a tow van....interspersed with pedestrians.....you almost wonder at how it even moves....it seems gridlocked at any point.
The street of Darya Ganj was so choc o block with, actually with everything, there was every possible mode of transport there, cycle rickshaws, tongas, e-rickshaws (battery operated rickshaws), cars, scooters, bikes, and even a tow van....interspersed with pedestrians.....you almost wonder at how it even moves....it seems gridlocked at any point.
After walking around Jama Masjid, we did lunch at the iconic Karim's, ( which Swaroop had been talking about even in the train), an eatery that's been featured on many a popular channel and paper, including the National Geographic and BBC.
E Rickshaws which work on shared basis
An old and interesting looking building on the way
Tongas, which are still very much in use
On our way to Jama Masjid, from sitting in the cycle rickshaw
Darya Ganj, Jama Masjid and Karim's deserve their own posts :)
Wasn't sitting in the cycle rickshaw with the sloping seat, balancing with your foot as lever itself a challenge? That is my most vivid memory of my first time in old delhi! And then the vegetable vendors with fresh carrots,cauliflower and peas in winter arranged in a Tiranga on the pavement. Landing straight from Hyderabad at 25 with no Internet exposure, I could just stare and absorb! Your blog brought back memories! :)
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