The streets of Ghalib's delhi

The Streets of Ghalib's Delhi

Every time I come out of Chandni Chowk metro  station, I take the exit to the old Delhi railway station.  It’s not that I like the spoiled condition of Delhi’s roads in the vicinity of the station or the sweat clad faces of thousands of passengers just wandering by waiting for their trains to come, it’s the lives they are living or they would live while travelling that intrigues me. I envy each and every one who is entering the old fort like structure to go off to somewhere. The fort of the old station shines in my eyes like a lollipop in a child’s. I wish every time that the next time my exit from the metro station should  result in boarding a train going someplace, someplace calm, someplace where the monotony of my life doesn’t consume me.

 Anyways moving from dreams to reality, I visited Chandni chowk for the millionth time today for a   reason completely different from the one which inspired me to write this article. Chandni Chowk or should I say Old Delhi is the place that gives Delhi its identity; It would not be wrong to say that it is the heart of Delhi’s body that pumps  oxygen throughout it, making it live. It’s a hot-spot destination for all the tourists and even the fellow Indians who come to Delhi the first time and when I say ‘hot-spot’ I mean literally, the extreme levels of heat both from the atmosphere and the bodies of the people justify it. I believe that it is the mighty history attached to the place that attract even the laziest souls (like me) to wander its streets with so much enthusiasm. I feel like Mirza Ghalib every time I come here, searching for a perfect couplet to describe its beauty. Many say that Old Delhi has lost its charm since the days of the Mughals, looking at its buildings which are in ruins or the crowd which scares the hell out of any outsider. But I like these buildings and absolutely love the crowd; it’s one of the places in Delhi where the crowd acts like an attraction rather than repulsion. About the charm, it is still there, you just need to step out of your comfort zone and explore the hell out of the place covering inch by inch to discover it. 

Coming back to what I did today, I had an experience of a lifetime; I attended the light and sound show at the Red Fort. It’s a shame really that I had not heard of this show even after living my shameful existence for twenty one years in the beautiful capital. The show is a steal at sixty rupees an adult individual (Indian obviously); its aim is to give the audience a taste of Indian history, from then to now seen by the eyes of the fort itself. The show is amazing with the surround sound like nothing heard before and light mimicking marvellously each and every beat that the sound makes.  The narration beautifully blends the tale of the capital and to some it might appear as a musical of some sort.

The fort has seen things unimaginable to the eyes of the mortal; from the peak to the downfall of an era that dignified our country to be called the ‘Golden Bird’, from the reign of its creator to the mass looting from its destroyer, from the poetry of Ghalib and Zauq to the dance of the voluptuous prostitutes, the fort has witnessed everything. It is still standing as a symbol of what our country was and will continue to be for the centuries to come.  At the show’s end our National anthem was sung; never have I been this proud to sing it with my heart out.
 This ends my adventure for today and what a mighty one it was!
I would like to conclude this article by citing a couplet from the famous poet Zauq:
“kaun jae zauq par dilli ki galliyan chor kar”