Old Delhi; colourful, crowded and exotic

Chandni Chowk, the main street of Old Delhi, is bright and busy with carefully displayed squeezed-together stalls chock-a-block with walkers, rickshaws, bicycles, auto-rickshaws, cows and the occasional brave car. Street sellers crowd the pavement and road. Women sit surrounded by kitchen utensils. Shawl sellers and blanket vendors jigsaw themselves between others specialising in plastic ware, stainless steel cutlery and winter jerseys.

Between the crowds and bustle Harry, my guide, points out heritage buildings; Moghul merchants’ mansions now divided into many apartments, an art-deco picture theatre, the Victorian town hall, a 400-year-old mosque and an elegant Sikh temple. Some of the buildings date back to the late 1600’s when Shah Jahan, the ruler of India, built his great Red Fort on the edge of the nearby Yamuna River, deemed this to be the new capital city and established Chandni Chowk next to it.

But heritage buildings, though they are exotic and varied, are out-dazzled by the activities on the streets. Behind the crowded road there is a labyrinth of back alleys. Harry takes me down silk-sari alley, which is barely wide enough for two people to pass but, here, small neon-lit shops are crowded with women considering saris. Customers sit in huddles cross-legged on the floor while assistants unfurl six-metre lengths of shimmering colour. The salesman moves the sari sensually, like a breath of breeze or an elegant woman walking…tempting…tempting.

An adjoining lane sells sewing notions; brocade edging, myriads of different sizes, colours and weaves, some with real gold and silver thread interwoven. Mysteriously for me but normal for him, a man sits cross-legged on a counter surrounded by doll-like figures of gods dressed in fancy clothes.