[Urbanstudy] The Delhi Urban Platform: A Walk in the Old City with Sohail Hashmi

[Kavya Murthy]

*The Delhi Urban Platform invites you to-*

*A Walk in the Old City with Sohail Hashmi
*Starting at the Chawri Bazar Metro Station at 8 a.m, 20th November, 2010
[Everybody must reach by 7.50- 7.55.]

*We can have only 15 people on this walk: do write in to kavya at sarai.net as
soon as possible if you're interested and absolutely sure you can make it,
and the first fifteen will be able to go along. Others can line up for the
another walk with Sohail later. Do carry some money, since we will be eating
a (sumptuous) breakfast. *

The walk will try to cover one part of  Shahjahanabad, variously described
as Old or Purani Dilli  or Dilli 6 - the last sobriquet  derives from the
pin code of the area and was used derisively to describe the city that
Shahjahan built and its residents and all that the experience of visiting
the area entailed.

The walk will try to bring together a view of the life of this part of the
city as it has existed, the major professions that are and were in practice
here; you will get to see some interesting buildings, hear some anecdotes
about the place, get an idea of how the city transformed and changed with
the arrival of the colonialists and how it was gradually forgotten by the
residents of its younger cousin that grew all around the earlier Delhis and
other scattered settlements to the north and south of  Shahjahanabad.

We will walk down Chawri up to Jama Masjid. On the way we talk about Chawri
Bazaar and the businesses that were conducted here, why a road is called Nai
Sarak, what the have Marathas to do with this part of the city. If possible
we will go up the stairs to see the mosque of Nawab Rukn-ud-Daulah.

>From Chawri we turn right go through the scrap market and enter the Jama
Masjid from the South Gate.

THE SMALL PRINT
1 Every one carries their shoes in their hands or in cloth/plastic bags.
Bring your own carry bags
2 Do not wear bermudas, skirts, sleevless shirts etc unless you want to wear
the ungainly robes that the management at Jama Masjid will make you wear to
cover your body. The robes have to be hired at  20 rupees per piece.
3 Those wanting to take photographs  of the mosque will have to pay  200
rupees per camera. They try to charge for cell phone cameras also. Keep the
cell phones out of sight.

We come out of Jama Masjid through the North Gate, go through the fireworks
market, Dariba Kalan and Dareeba Khurd (Kinari Bazar), visit 9 Ghara-a
listed heritage site that is fairly well preserved- and go on to Gali
Paratheywali (you can have breakfast here) and come out at Kunwar ji Namkeen
and hit Chandni Chowk.

At Chandni Chowk we can decide which route to take, and back to the Chandni
Chowk Metro Station and back to whereever you came from.

Do write in if interested!

-Delhi Urban Platform
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