A street in the Walled City.

[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]

Kucha traditionally implies a lane of dwellers sharing the same occupation. Faulad means steel, or strong. So Old Delhi’s Kucha Faulad Khan neighbourhood can be explained as a strong man’s street.

As for Faulad Khan the man, let’s pester the street’s shopkeepers.

The genial Mahesh administers Asia General Store. “Faulad Khan…,” he murmurs, deep in thought. He remains thoughtful for some more moments, and then smiles, shrugging. “Well, it has always been called by this name.”

Mahesh doesn’t live in Faulad Khan but his shop has been here for 75 years. It was set up by his father, the late Nand Lal, who used to run a vegetable stall on the site. Mahesh turned the inheritance into a grocery 35 years ago. His family belongs to congested Old Delhi, and used to live in a street behind Delite Cinema. They eventually moved across the Yamuna river to Lakshmi Nagar, joining the slow-motion mass migration of Old Delhi wale wanting to seek ampler residences for their expanding families.

Who else to approach?

Maybe the gentleman at A.M. Cattle Feed shop have something concrete to say about Faulad Khan. But he is sitting on the floor, busy over his meal.

This corner of the lane used to have a chai shop with beautiful blue walls. It was replaced some years ago by Hair in Style-The Family Salon. The barbershop stands next to a darkened store, bare except for a handful of toys, a surreal looking golden air-filled children’s chair, and a plastic bag filled with rose petals. Shopkeeper Hari—elegant in white hair and white pearl necklace–gives his understanding of the street’s onomatology: “The area during the time of the kings must have been home to a nobleman of this name.”

Eavesdropping on the conversation, an elderly passer-by donates his version: “Faulad Khan was a police kotwal, back when badshahs ruled from the Red Fort.”

The truth is that Faulad Khan has burrowed deep into the street’s forgotten past. Nobody today anyway has time to bother about the old days. The street is busy building a new world. The mouth of the Kucha, where it meets the bustling street of Tiraha Behram Khan bazar, is flanked by multi-stories with facing suburb-style balconies.

Some old remnants remain, however. Like the dilapidated building that faces Asia General Store (see other photo). It is landscaped with niched taaks, arched doorways and out-of-fashion lakhori bricks. Perhaps this sprawling relic too will one day give way to multi-storied housing, and further invigorate Faulad Khan with new faulad.

Strong man’s lane

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