Starting this month, we are making the street food walk in old Delhi a regular feature of our calendar. Moreover, the route we have chosen is a combination of food stops & some hidden gems of history in old Delhi. Hence the title ‘Heritage Walk & Street Food’.  The group met at Jama Masjid, one of the most famous landmarks of Delhi & negotiated our way to Sitaram Bazaar, the end point for this heritage trail.  Getting there can be quite a task though. Delhi Metro has made the old city easily accessible, but once out of the metro, get ready to face the madness here. The nearest metro station is Chawri Bazaar & the road leading from Chawri Bazaar to Jama Masjid is perpetually jam packed. There are rickshaws, hand pulled carts, scooters, cars, dogs & a sea of humanity all trying to keep going. One wrong move & the traffic comes to a standstill!!  (more…)

Lodi Garden is one of the greenest & most pleasant places to walk around in the city of Delhi. It was originally royal burial area for Sayyids and Lodis. Today, it is more of joggers- paradise; the park works as a breather from the busy life of the city in the middle of numerous medieval Islamic monuments. The plan of the garden was laid down by British as a part of re-landscaping Delhi and was christened as Lady Willingdon Park. It was renamed ‘Lodi Garden’ post  Independence. Not just the scattered monuments, one can find variety of plants and trees here including Jamun tree, royal bottle palm, Neem, bamboo, Eucalyptus trees etc and numerous birds such as Parakeets, Mynahs, Kingfishers etc. (more…)

If a Delhi-ite wants to experience a place which tells you stories about Delhi’s Islamic rule and present life, one must visit, Hauz Khas complex. Amidst of contradictions, once forming the outskirts of the city of Siri, known for its reservoir and monuments of 14^th century is now a fashion street & has come a long way. One of the most fascinating things about this place is we walk down through a busy road with shops and boutiques, this chaos and noise leads to a quite and different place, the Hauz Khas monument complex. The participants in our heritage walk are awestruck at the view when we stand on the parapet which over looks the tank; the first reaction I get to hear is “wow, what a view!” The credit of building this tank goes to Alauddin Khalji. (more…)

Set of pictures by Farhiz Karanjawala, a regular at our heritage walks

It is a truism that the city never sleeps. Not only is it always alive, it is constantly changing. People who live in an area, in our case old Delhi, have been constantly working & reworking their lives & in turn the life of the city. Which means that purani dilli has layers of pasts which need careful exploration & observation. A fun way to do this is walking through its lanes. Our heritage walk this Sunday was focused on the main street of Chandni Chowk. This is not to say that the rest of the old Delhi is not of interest. (more…)