The Binding Knot

What good is in the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.

-John Steinbeck

Crowded lanes of Chandni chowk

Each one of us have that moment of a black out when we relate two opposite things with each other, when two situations, extremely repelling and bizarre, make you think about one another, the two places that you can never be experiencing at the same time, the two breaths that would never feel the same but yet similar. Well I had one of those moments today.
The 10th of March will always be a memorable day in my books of learning since it was this day, or today that I got myself to think and relate two of my existing life events by a common thread. Since all you readers are aware that I have been working on an assignment in chandni chowk, so all my attention and thoughts are dedicated to it to a large extent. I pretty much sleep with my mind thinking of a solution for its various problems.

View through my sketches

"The sketch hunter moves through life as he finds it, not passing negligently the things he loves, but stopping to know them, and to note them down in the shorthand of his sketchbook"

                                                                                    -Robert Henri

View of the Red Fort

interaction with amazing merchants

While walking in the lanes of Chandini Chowk and getting acquainted with the Business world, I came across the most helpful merchant out there named Surinder verma without whom this field survey would have been futile and unsuccessful. Once he came to know the purpose I was there for trying to seek his help, he willingly welcomed me in his shop offering to seat myself comfortably and even offered tea, soft drinks,etc. He patienly answered to every single question asked by me without hesitating. Out of all the sudden love that arose in my heart for his courteous behavior, I started calling him Surinder uncle.

I introduced myself to him as a student of Pearl Academy, Naraina telling him about my research related project in which and due to which  I needed to know about their lives in Bhagirath Palace

Then I started to bombard Surinder uncle with all the questions I had. I started off with a very basic one which was if he himself was the owner of the shop or if he worked there to which he answered smilingly that he holds the position of the owner.

Then I asked him that since how long he had been running and owing the shop from to which he responded saying a couple of years. I even asked him about his views on Bhagirath Palace for which he said that he loved the place a it had given him a lot in life. Not just this but he said he feels connected to the place for it had been a long time since he has been working there. 

Then I asked him about the different kind of customers he had to deal with everyday to which he laughed and bluntly said that he had to deal with every kind of customer varying from some really good to some very stubborn ones.

In the business world

Working in the business world is a difficult task. Stock prices falling, petrol price hikes, decrease in investments, increase in custom duty of goods etc can sometimes make or break a business.

In the business world, nothing remains constant. Times change, people change. You need to be innovative and adaptive to survive in the dynamic environment. 

Entrance of Bhagirath Palace

An Attempt To Replicate The Witnessed

"In spite of everything I shall rise again: I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing."
-Vincent van Gogh 

The visual culture of Chandni Chowk

The Astounding Five

…he said, with a sort of a little derisive smile, “How can you walk down the street with all this stuff going on inside you?” I said, “I don’t know how you can walk down the street with nothing going on inside you.”

-Nelson Algren

I walked and stared. I observed and explored. I ate and breathed. I questioned and wondered. I did numerous things in Chandni Chowk that beautiful sunny morning until an experience with a shopkeeper made me feel that, that conversation was the first and the last of my whole day. All I took back with me that very day was only those five minutes spent in conversing with a strange but a dedicated shopkeeper who reflected honesty in his answers in uncertain ways.
I stepped into Chandni Chowk that day to learn and to kill my anxiety. I was curious. I was curious about the people residing here and working here, the kind of people that came and the many little things that went unnoticed. I wanted answers. I didn't want them from myself but from those who would know best and with the most authenticity. I began questioning random shopkeepers about their lives, their work, their sales and their opinion. Some answered kindly while the other few pushed me away.

Understanding The Darkness In The Lights

The twists and turns of Chandi Chowk were amazing but what caught my eye was the Bhagirath Palace - Asia's largest electrical market. When I entered the market, a totally different and strange view appeared in front of my eyes altogether. I felt that I had stepped into some kind of  maze. A maze where every corn could be compared to these jam packed shops, people rushing here and there, lights here n there..

sketched scene of the market
credits- self