Shahjahanabad was a city of emperors and courtesans, kaftans and the Kohinoor, beef and ghee. This morning I am searching for its past splendor. The ancient alleys of Matia Mahal bazaar, under the watchful eyes of Jama Masjid, are redolent of morning meals. Kesar-flavored milk. Sewai. Jalebis. Soon a rich, meaty aroma tempts me. Paya-nihari. But it is burra - Buffalo meat. (I don’t like burra meat.) A true nihari carries the upper thigh of a cow. In its absence, I will perhaps have to resort to goat instead. I continue walking. Read more

Time: 7.18pm; Place: Kutub Khana Anjuman-e-Taraqqi-e-Urdu bookshop, Urdu Bazaar, Matia Mahal, Old Delhi

Here is the bookseller lounging down on the carpet. There the calligrapher talking on the mobile phone. Hey look, this smoke coming from the next-door kebab stall is burning my eyes. But it is the books, stacked all over – in the shelves, on the floor – that are filling me with awe. Read more

Apart from its dusty lanes, urine stench, potholed roads, blaring horns, there’s another reason for not going to Paharganj’s Main Bazaar, popular as the backpackers’ district. According to Delhi Pollution Committee, it is the most polluted area in the city. Read more

Which is that one book you carry while walking around in the city? I lug along with Twilight in Delhi. First published by Virginia Woolf’s Hogarth Press in 1940, this novel was written by a Delhiwalla called Ahmed Ali. Read more

The other day while walking around in the Daryaganj’s Sunday book bazaar, I came across a wrinkled man. He was wearing nothing though an old Shobha De was wrapped around his you-know-what. On further enquiries, I discovered that after dedicating 30 years of his life in the service of Delhi Public Library (Uttam Nagar branch), this gentleman has now taken over the task of addressing the sexual disorders among the city’s bookworms. I took down some suggestions that he offered to a few of his patients.

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One afternoon I went knocking around houses at Matia Mahal in Old Delhi asking the residents, “May I please climb to your rooftop?” I was refused. Folks thought I was crazy. But I had my reason. I wanted to see how Jama Masjid looks from rooftops.

While thak-thaking around, I met a paan-walla who claimed that his terrace faced Jama Masjid’s Gate’s no. 1. Bingo. We became fast friends and after discussing girls, sex and politics, I asked him, “Can I see Dilli from your terrace?” Read more

The sufi shrine of Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed in Old Delhi, shaded by a large Neem tree and lying opposite the eastern gate of Jama Masjid, is a bubble of serenity in the otherwise chaotic district. The noisy biryani sellers and quarrelsome Bangladeshi beggars in the alley outside are unable to disturb the quiet that lurks inside the shrine. Read more

How is it like to live in Ballimaran, an Old Delhi neighbourhood?

The dominantly Muslim mohalla boasts winding alleys, decaying havelis, crumbling balustrades, half-lit carom-board clubs, and chatty chai stalls. It is most famous for being the final address of Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib. More recently, film star Aishwarya Rai shook her buttocks to the chartbuster Kajra re song whose lyrics included the word BALLIMARAN. Read more