The laddu valley [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Lady with a dog. Gentleman with a chai kettle. A temple. A peepal tree as immense as Kipling’s jungle. A water pyau. And manning the entry of this introverted world are pomegranate seller Rajinder, ice-cream seller Lalji, marigold seller Ramesh Kumar, and aloo-tikki seller Chunnilal. This street is in a megapolis, but feels like a friendly small town, with its slow sequence of uneventful days. Such towns probably don’t exist for real, but the charmingly named Laddu Ghati—valley of laddu—does exude the ambiance of unrealistic havens. It lies in the backpackers’ district of Paharganj, but is free of cafés, lodges and backpackers—though a few rooms of next-door Hotel Relax overlook the street. Some