Praying in the street.

[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]

There were no women to be seen. (They probably remained inside their homes.) The men filled up the mosques and also the streets to perform the prayers of Eid ul Fitr, the Muslim festival that arrives after 30 days of fasting.

The Delhi Walla watched the faithful from a roof in Chitli Qabar Chowk, an intersection in the Walled City of Shahjahanabad.

The prayers mats were spread out on alleys that were lined with garbage. The Hindu constables of the Delhi Police stood watching the crowd as it bowed towards Mecca. A woman’s face briefly flashed on a window. An old man continued to sit on his portion of the pavement. He did not join the congregation.

The prayer ended in fifteen minutes. The crowd dispersed in a minute. Beggars and hawkers reclaimed their appointed places. Eid Mubarak.

In God we trust

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