Ten Snaps from Old Delhi Bazaar

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Old Delhi Bazaar backed by the Red Fort

 

Old Delhi. Shahjahanabad. The walled city. Though no longer walled, Old Delhi still feels like a world apart from the rest of the city. The Red Fort spreads out majestically on its southern flank and Jama Masjid Mosque punctuates its center.

The calm Jama Masjid Mosque is one of Old Delhi's backdrops

The calm Jama Masjid Mosque is one of Old Delhi’s backdrops

 

In the narrow alleys of Old Delhi Bazaar, children hang off rickshaws on the way home from school, crying “Hello!” to the tourists.

Children hang off the back of a rickshaw to come home from school

Uniformed children on the way home from school

 

The sound of fork against bowl is a clue that eggs are being beaten into omelets somewhere nearby. Laborers squat at tiny stands for thali while housewives line up to carry home a day’s supply of vegetables and freshly baked naan wrapped in newspaper.

Vegetable vendor, Old Delhi Bazaar

An array of red and green at the vegetable stand

 

An elegant onion seller in Old Delhi

The elegant onion seller

 

Naan shop, Old Delhi

Naan ready for the clay oven

 

An endless stream of wheeled, pedestrian and bovine traffic fills the alleys. It’s difficult for motorized vehicles to penetrate this labyrinth. Many goods are necessarily ferried by foot.

A man balances dozens of boxes on his head while moving through Old Delhi Bazaar

The special logistics of Old Delhi: a balancing act

 

The sun beats down; shopkeepers and rickshaw drivers nap.

A tri-rickshaw driver takes a nap in Old Delhi

A break from pedalling for some midday shut-eye

 

Perhaps there’s a power cut. Could it be due to the haphazard electrical installation?

A mass of wires is the usual electrical installation in Old Delhi

A mass of wires is the usual electrical installation in Old Delhi

Prayer calls emanate from Jama Masjid and the afternoon dwindles away. Karim’s beckons with its centuries-old Mughal cooking and addictive kababs.

Kababs at Karim's, an Old Delhi institution

Kababs at Karim’s, an Old Delhi institution

 

When night falls, lights flood from the stands and the bazaar lives for a few more hours.

The liveliness of Old Delhi continues into the night

The commotion of Old Delhi Bazaar continues into the night

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