Threatened by Foreign Direct Investment. ‘Every Little Helps,’ Tesco tells us. ‘Save money. Live better,’ promises Walmart. So, the Indian government has announced foreign direct investment in the multi-brand retail sector. Will Khari Baoli spice bazaar in the Walled City relocate to a purpose-built commercial zone in...
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The black & white Delhi. A city is built of dreamed memories. More than three centuries have elapsed since the founding of Shahjahanabad on the banks of the Yamuna. Shahjahanabad today is a different country. The river’s course has drifted further east. The dynasty that established the Walled City...
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The noble entrances. The entrance doors of a few houses and mosques and monuments in old parts of Delhi such as Mehrauli, Nizamuddin Basti and Matia Mahal have an artistic character. They add dignity to the sad streets that are filthy, congested and full of stench. There...
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The symbol of Delhi. The DL number plate given to cars, auto rickshaws and bikes registered in Delhi shapes our view on the city’s roads and streets. These two alphabets arranged together speak for the capital: its heat, dust and smog. Its aspiration to be a ‘World...
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The nature’s gift. One evening The Delhi Walla saw a small pomegranate tree in the courtyard of the sufi retreat of Nizamuddin Chilla, behind Humayun’s Tomb in central Delhi. The tree’s thin branches were bending down under the weight of fruit. The leaves were green, but yellowed...
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Strange encounters in the city. It was over in a minute. The Delhi Walla was outside McDonald’s in Janpath, Connaught Place. The traffic light turned red. The cars halted. One was a silver-colored monster, unbelievably long as if Godzilla had stretched it himself. A girl rushed out...
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Seeking a Shangri-la. One summer evening, The Delhi Walla spotted a turbaned man in the Indian Coffee House, Connaught Place. With its weak coffee, soggy sandwiches, oily cutlets, watery sambhar, creaky sofas, slow-moving ceiling fans, uniformed stewards, inexpensive menu, long-lost glory and die-hard regulars, the café has...
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South of the city. No soul in sight, the wall crisscrosses through what seems like a jungle. The Delhi Walla is standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down at what used to be a stone mine. The wall is...
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The music of a tree. Life is a series of disappointments. And then you see something grand and noble, which surpasses life. A few months ago, The Delhi Walla came across a giant pilkhan tree, ficus virens, in Deer Park, Safdarjang Enclave (click here to see the...
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The portrait of a marriage. On May 6, 2011, Delhi saw thousands of weddings. It was Akshaya Tritiya, a lucky day in the Hindu calendar for people to get gold, silver and brides. The Delhi Walla chronicled one such wedding, in Noida, the town across the Yamuna....
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