Old Delhi

cooksinindia
A little history- People have inhabited Delhi for thousands of years. It was just in the 1900s that the British built New Delhi when they moved the capital of the Raj from Calcutta. The area where the home of the president, Parliament Building, India Gate etc was built from 1913- 1931. It was designed by a Brit named Lutyens and it is all laid out in a orderly fashion with wide tree lined boulevards, many traffic roundabouts.

This is in contrast to Old Delhi which is the original commerce and government center of the area. There is a huge fort there and winding, narrow streets with many bazaars.

We went up to Old Delhi and it is quite exciting- lots of sensory overload. The main bazaar area is called Chandni Chowk. People have been shopping there since the 1500s. It is a maze of narrow streets with even narrower alleys off them. Each bigger street specializes in a different type of product. There is a lane specializing in silver jewelry, another in spices. It is very crowded, noisy. There has been some talk in the newspaper about banning bicycle rickshaws to cut down on congestion. I guess that would help but it would also put a lot of people out of jobs.

We ducked down an alley to explore a little. The buildings are about 5 feet apart. Just a sliver of sunlight comes in from above. As we walked down the alley, Mike spotted a barbershop. 3 chairs, 3 barbers in about a 8' x 8' space. He insisted he wanted a haircut and tried to explain to his barber (who speaks no English) what he wanted. Mike has been wearing his hair clipped about a 1/2 inch long. I didn't think he needed a cut but he was dying to have the experience and he will send photos to his barber. The barber set to clipping his hair using scissors only (no electric clippers in sight.) I sat on the step of a little temple across the alley and waited. About a half hour later the barber got out a straight razor to finish up the job and I protested (the nurse in me worries about bloodborne pathogens- lets hope Mike does too for his next haircut.) He ended up with a pretty good haircut (sans the shave) for about Rs50 plus a Rs10 tip ($1.33.)

I wasn't actually able to buy anything in the bazaars. I guess I was just too overwhelmed with all the activity to make any choices. I'll try to get back there before I leave.