A Beginner's Guide to Chandni Chowk...

Chandni Chowk seems to be the current favourite with Bollywood, and hence the viewers. It is an area that tends to be romanticised by most Delhi-ites, those, that is, who have seen it from afar, or have never seen it at all. With all due regards to the respective crews of Chandni Chowk to China, K3G and Delhi-6, the movies have captured Old Delhi rather shoddily.

My friends and I were daring enough to venture into CC a few years ago, and boy, what an experience it was!

Here's the story...

Digging into a pile of junk in my desk drawer, I found the large notepad which I used to always have with me. I had walked down the streets of Old Delhi with it in my hand, scrawling furiously like a waiter taking down orders from a host of invisible guests. I noticed a couple of pedestrians shaking their heads at me out of pity, as one would at the deranged.

We started our journey from the Victorian Town Hall, the erstwhile Lawrence Institute. It has previously served as a cultural/educational center cum club to the British, with Indians barred from entering. Civic affairs are now conducted in its bowels, and the only souls present here are Indian...

This building might be familiar to those who have seen Delhi-6, with Sonam Kapoor aka Bittu dancing with doves on the road opposite town hall. It must be noted here that doves are a rarity in pollution-clogged Old Delhi, and are only an aesthetic addition in the movie.

Through the trees in the garden behind Town Hall, a red brick building was peeping through. This served as a railway station during the Raj, and had (and still has) two roads leading out of it. One, into Chandni Chowk, and the other, through which we had entered the garden, led straight into the erstwhile Lawrence Institute. It once had a board proclaiming 'Indians and Dogs not allowed' planted at its head. At the front of the Town Hall stands the statue of Arya Samaj leader Swami Shraddhanand, where Queen Victoria's statue had earlier stood. The Queen now stands at Delhi College of Engineering (or so I've been told).

We set off, plunging into the heart of CC, or in Urdu, چاندنی چوک
Chandni Chowk is a collection of many smaller bazaars with telltale names, like

Ashrafi Bazaar: Ashrafi meaning 'Coin'

Johri Bazaar: Johri meaning 'Jeweller'

Kinari Bazaar: Kinari meaning 'Corner'

Chandni Chowk is a coconut-shaped area of land between Jama Masjid and Red Fort. It has a single divider running its entire length, which used to be called Neher-e-Bihisht, the longest canal in India. Before turning into a divider, Neher-e-Bihisht enjoyed a brief stint as a tram rail during the Raj.

Chandni Chowk has a total of 1,560 shops apart from those inside the Fort. The most famous and romantic 'ilaaka' of CC is Ballimaran, 'Balli' meaning stick, and 'Maran', a system of pulling water. Shahjahanabad was the only city in the seventeenth century with running water coming right up to people's homes. People would simply come out and draw water from the canal.

I felt goosepimples of nostalgia erupt on my skin as I remebered galli-hopping in CC as an eight-year-old, with relatives over from U.P. It was one of my cousin Mausi's weddings, and fourteen of my relatives were staying with us for two days in our two-bedroom South Delhi apartment. They had come for the sole purpose of buying a wedding dress from CC, for the Lucknow wedding...

...CONTD...

Keep checking this blog for Part Two of A Beginner's Guide to Chandni Chowk...