When buses will fly. Delhi’s international airport is named after Indira Gandhi, while Maharana Pratap has to make do with its main inter-state bus terminus. Unfair? Bus terminals, or bus addas, are not considered half as romantic as train stations and they lack the surcharged mood of...
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The ideas den. The floor is of Kota stone. The benches have wooden sheesham tops. There are no doors. Designed by the Delhi-based Romi Khosla Design Studio, this is Castro Café in Jamia Millia Islamia. It looks out on a garden and stays open till 7pm. The...
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The Walled City dictionary. Once, it was a land of galis (lanes) and kuchas (residential alleys usually inhabited by people having the same occupation). But little remains of Purani Dehli’s canals and tree-lined passageways bespeaking the Mughal era. Windowless hovels and dangling power cables fit the modern...
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A cushioned world. In the summer, the blooming flowers of the park’s Amaltas trees paint BK Dutt Colony a shade of gold. During the rest of the year, however, the park looks as ordinary as the neighbourhood in which it is situated. A residential locality in Central...
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Single screens and multiplexes. The pink chandeliers are from Italy. The carved pillars are of wood. The LED screen displays the exact air-conditioned temperature inside the auditorium. The balcony seats—headrest included—are of velvet jacquard. The maximum ticket price is `125 and the minimum, `50. This is the...
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The Delhi underworld. Omwati sweeps the place. Anil sells guavas and apples. Dinesh Kumar hawks mobile phone covers and chargers. Baneshwar Sahu keeps application forms for passport and PAN (permanent account number) card. Manoj Kumar has a collection of ties, with dozens of them in different shades...
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Two hours in the West. Tilak Nagar Central Market (Wednesday closed) in West Delhi can be regarded as the chicken curry for the desi soul. Congested and cosy — it has the small-town comfort — where shops sell Sikh turbans, tailors stitch denims and mothers shop bridal...
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Gangnam, DDA style. As seen on a board in south Delhi’s Deer Park: • Stand erect • Feet together • Jump stride • Bringing arms to shoulder level Follow these instructions and, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) promises, you will become a “Jumping Jack”. The Delhi Walla...
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In search of lost time. With sloping tin roofs, decorated iron columns, terracotta jaalis, independently-owned stores and a 19th century church, Kashmere Gate in north Delhi suggests a small-town setting, in which the life’s daily rhythm never changes. The Sunday prayers are still held at St. James,...
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The Raisina show. Sleekly muscled. Powerful. Well-groomed. These were some of the assertions made in a letter sent by Rashtrapati Bhavan in December 2012. The invitation to The Delhi Walla was for a preview of the “revamped and relocated” Change of Guard ceremony. As promised, the caparisoned...
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