Walk through lanes of history

Yes, yesterday's visit to Chandni Chowk was a walk through the lanes of history. I could feel the narrow lanes filled with romance, mystery, luxury, wealth and poverty - a package which only history can offer. Getting out of Chandni Chowk metro station needed Herculean effort as people were relentless to offer any space to move out. While coming out I just happenned to push some fellow Indian, who was standing right in the middle of the people-stream. After an exchange of angry glares, both of us parted on our ways. Once outside Chandni Chowk metro, there was a temple complex and with a lane behind it leading towards Chandni Chowk road. It was so narrow that there were two close lines of people moving through it. One going in and other going out. We passed through a Dahi Bhalle shop which claimed to be making the original Bhalles and that there are no branches to it. But so did another two shops that I saw. Authenticity at its best, as each of those shops are being run generations after generations since the last three-four hundred years. Yes, Chandni Chowk market was planned and built during the reign of Shahjahan. May be he wanted his queeens and daughters to do all the shopping they woudl like to in a single super mall. After a few minuts walk in the direction of Red Fort, I saw a gurudwara in the vicinity of which it is said that Guru Tej singh and his followers were killed by Mughals. A 'U' turn there, I moved through the shops that were selling almost everything under the sun. Occassional sweet shops and 'chat' shops dotted the street. I walked into a narrow street opposite to 'Ghantewala' and that was one of the umpteen narrow lanes I would walk. There were seperate lanes for different wares ; one for opticals, one for footware, one for sarees, lehengas and one for Parantas also. Yes, parantas in all possible combos that you can think of. Aloo, gobi, matar, paneer, almonds, bananas, dried fruits - filled paranthas. Right now there are three shops that still carry out the business of paranthas here. Each lane had different sub-lanes, named after some local person who was once famous there. No wonder these names were also as old as Delhi. As I passed through this part of Chandni Chowk called Ballimaran, the lines of Ghalib came to my mind. 'The street was srapped in fading darkness. Tatterred curtains flew listlessly on some doors. Pigeons flew over head and kids were fighting over marbles. A goat bleated timidly, tied to a threshold.' This was where he lived. One who changed the face of Urdu poetry. Now these streets have changed a lot. Honking vehicles trying to pass through lanes barely wide enough for rickshaw to pass, with people bumping over each other, endless shopping hoards filled the lanes. The scenes have changed a lot since then. Asked a few localites the way to Ghalib's haveli but could not get any pointers. Since the night was fast coming on, I decided to put it away for the timebeing. Small temples, mosques jotted all around these lanes. After an hour's walk through the maze of lanes, I reached the main road passing right before Town Hall. A left turn there takes one to Chawri Bazar and a right turn towards Chandni Chowk metro. Taking into consideration that it was almost 7:00 PM and that I need to reach Noida and that I am completelt unfamiliar to the topology, I decided it was time to move back to Metro station. This time I decided to take the road in front of Gurudwar I mentioned earlier which shoudl also lead to the station. On the way, I noticed a small 'chat' shop, which specialize in fruit chat. And yes, I stopped there for a quick bite before moving into the station. Then it was a metro to Rajiv Chowk and there to Noida City Center. Called it a day with a veggie meal from McDonalds from Shopprix mall.