Delhi’s Curly Tales

Delhi is a wonderful place for meeting the old and the new. Medieval monuments via here with multistoreyed buildings and in between are fancy markets and dingy bazaars that cling to the past and revive nostalgic memories of days gone by when lowly cowries and damries could buy as much as what Rs. 10 does now. If you pass by the Walled City you will see sights that are both amazing and intriguing. Dancing girls and eunuchs rub shoulders in narrow lanes and outside them are Sufi mazars where qawwalis ring the curtain down on a livelong day. It’s time to eat then and what better place than Gali Kababia, Matia Mahal Street and Meena Bazaar, unless you move on to Chandni Chowk and Ballimaran. If the TV programmes bore you then there is G.B. Road where the Mujra enchants hearts – both young and old, or you make your way to PVR Malls, classical dance performances and art exhibitions. Every season has its own speciality in Delhi. Summer perfumes make way for Sawan scents before fading away under the impact of winter hues and year-end festivals. It’s this annual scenario and the whiff of historical events that inspired me to write this book, with sketches by my son Tony. Hope you will enjoy reading it and overtook some repetitions which could not be avoided as the articles appeared at different times.