Between the Lanes

I wish the world was twice as big, and half of it was still unexplored.

                                                                        -David Attenborough.

                                                                Day 2. Chandni chowk.

Entry into Asia's largest wholesale market-
Bhagirath Place

I walked into the slightly familiar Bhagirath Palace clutching my book and pen in hand, and taking care of where I set my foot.

Traditional market vibes

Chandni Chowk (Moonlight Square) is a market that is filled with activity all throughout the year. It is a crowded place and normally there is a maze of traffic that one has to negotiate almost every second. There was the palace of the Begum which today houses the biggest electrical market of Asia, Bhagirath Palace.

The Bhagirath Palace

Bhagirath Palace is not a very easy place to locate as most of us are likely to miss the entry of the narrow lane which is obscured by a tree, a temple and a cinema hall, however the cinema is a  good landmark to locate the market. There is a easy way to enter it. Just as you enter Chandni Chowk from the metro station, you will see the famous Natraj Bhallawala at the entrance. Just take a left and walk further and then again take a left turn after a few minutes in order to literally enter the street of lights.

A view of the street

Bhagirath Tour

The second trip to the market was as thrilling as the first one.The place looked crowded as usual. The same noises could be heard. But this time the motive was to walk between the narrow galis and find the hidden truth.

The Search For An Answer- The Second

As people are walking all the time, in the same spot, a path appears.

-John Locke

A still of the narrow lane

I walked in the midst of the narrow lanes of the largest wholesale electronic market of Chandni Chowk and Asia, the Bhagirath Palace. This area being an imperfectly managed blend of electricals, surgicals, ayurvedics, interesting food flavours and also residences. This time I walked into these lanes in the search of a different something. I wanted answers. I wanted to communicate with those same faces, which were distinctly present in my memory. 

With my bag on my shoulder, my diary in my left hand and a pen in the other I walked with an aim of penning down everything I got to know about the place. I wanted to cover every aspect of research, not because it was assigned to me but because I was eager to learn more and more about and from that place. 

Exploring the Unexplored

I walked the streets of Delhi's famous Chandni Chowk yesterday. Although walk was remotely close to what I was able to do on the over crowded, potholed roads. The place looked like a cohabitation of people, garbage, pests, paan and traffic. There were people in almost every single direction.

In The Streets Of Purani Dilli

The moment I stepped into the streets of Chandni Chowk, I saw a blend of people with food, business, religion, etc.  Narrow lanes, noises of traffic, people moving in a hurry, shopkeepers calling out the names of people, created a huge chaos but I was still looking forward to absorb abundant experiences. 

Chandni Chowk Market

Eleven kilometers of indulgence

A few months into Delhi,I made my first visit to Chandni chowk. It was a typical ride filled with mouth watering street food to surprisingly cheap stuff. As soon as you enter the market you feel like its an entirely different world. It has a mixture of food, religion, fashion, history, urbanization, chaos, anxiety and commerce. People rushing through narrow lanes.

Leaving Behind My First Footprint

"The magic of the street is in the mingling of the errand and the epiphany."                   -Rebecca Solnit

Walking between the shops into
the narrow roads

When I walked into the streets of Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi, I saw swarms of people trying to make their way through the crowd, all in a hurry to reach somewhere. I was one of them. I pushed my way through people to find solutions for problems but I wasn't aware of what it was that I was actually looking for. So I walked and walked and went on observing.

As I passed the unknown eyes, quietly, walking through the narrow streets observing, I heard the sounds of the kulfiwalas trying to sell kulfi to people passing by, the cloth sellers promoting their terrific quality of fabric and the screams of the chai-walas calling out for people to taste the best chai of Chandni Chowk and numerous thela walas and with everyone addressing me as "Madam ji" and wanting me to visit their shop over everyone else's. 

my first walk of chowk

It was always i heard about the gallis of chandini chowk and especialy the paranthe waali galli but it was always as a form of other peoples experience it was like a second hand data documented to me , i always admired to go to this place and visit each galli myself .
Finally it was time our college sends us in groups to chandini chowk as a field trip. I was extremely excited to mark my first steps there but the first reaction that poped out of my mouth was eww its stinky, but as we moved further through the narrow lanes of chandini chowk i brought back a good experience with memorable moments with my friends. The most favorite part of the trip was having "daulat ki chaat"