City Walk – Chelmsford Road, Central Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - March 27, 2023March 27, 20230 Saddest road. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some places are too melancholic, and Chelmsford Road must be one the saddest in the entire Delhi region. Maybe because of its stark disparities. Elegant bungalows bordered by bougainvilleas; and under these bougainvilleas, citizens living on the footpath. Other places have citizens coping with difficulties, but often within a support system of fellows dealing with similar circumstances. Like this group of daily-wage labourers hailing from Jhansi district, living together on the footpath near Gurgaon rail station. Or like the beggars who live with their families under the Oberoi Hotel flyover in Delhi. In Chelmsford, though, each homeless person seems to be totally alone, and barely noticeable at that, as if swallowed by the
Mission Delhi – Hari Narayan Ojha, Daryaganj Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - March 27, 20230 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] He isn’t from Old Delhi, yet an integral part of it. Hari Narayan Ojha, 83, came of age in the Walled City. Today, his sons run, in the historic quarter’s Daryaganj, a relatively new bookstore borne out of his herculean struggles. A simple exchange of namaste with the graceful gent is akin to coming face-to-face with an Old Delhi monument. His brief biography, in his words. “I was born in Gonda, UP, before the azadi. My father died very early. When I turned 20, I ran away from home. Had only 13 rupees. Remember boarding a passenger (train). Took three-four days to reach Dilli. “I started as a