Once again sorry for the lapse in posting. We're in the final throes of kitchen and bathroom design. I'm happy to say that we're almost there (design-wise that is - we'll see how the conceptualization to realization phase goes...) and I'm getting excited about my new kitchen-to-be which I've only seen in 3D renderings so far.
I've been to Old Delhi before (in search of mango lassi when it was 42 celsius last year) but haven't ventured into the dark, narrow, winding lanes yet - basically for fear of getting lost on my own - so this walk with Delhi Heritage Walks was the perfect way for me to get a feel for the place with people who know their way around.
You can almost imagine yourself transported hundreds of years back in time if you can mentally photoshop out the electrical wires and motorcycles. The medievalesque feeling is heightened by the way the neighborhoods are divided up by different crafts or businesses and by the way the open drains along the alley make you want to look up to make sure some serving wench doesn't empty a bucket of slop on your head. Most of the shops were closed on Sunday which made it easier to get through but much less colorful.
Our tour started just outside the mosque where we passed the fireworks sellers area, then we walked through the bead quarter, the ribbon/edging quarter, the quarter where guys made folders and ended up in the Parathewali Gali where a few paratha makers will stuff almost anything into dough and fry it up for you.
Even though the beautifully carved entranceways and the lovely screened porches (where the ladies were permitted to watch life on the streets outside) are decrepit and dirty, it gives you an idea of what the havelis must have been like in their prime. Most havelis have been broken up into apartments and filled with shops, but we were able to see one that retained the basic form which is similar to buildings in Paris in that they're built around a courtyard.
We visited an old Jain temple too, but that deserves its own posting once I've done some research...
Old Delhi is a photographers paradise, I feel a little uncomfortable snapping pictures of random people on the street since I would not like strangers taking pictures of me like that but several others in the group (with much nicer cameras than mine) were shooting away so I just went with the flow. Here are a few random pictures I took.
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