Through the windows of Chandni Chowk-Day 1

"Yeh Chandni Chowk station hai.....This station is Chandni Chowk". Just when I heard  this in the metro,I was all geared and ready to enter one of the most busiest places in Delhi! This place welcomed me as I had expected it to, will people in bunches of hundreds moving here and there and everywhere. It seemed as if people were aimlessly walking and wanted to go wherever they could. 

After stepping out of the metro station, we headed towards a way where most of the crowd was going. In the beginning, it was difficult for us to find space to land out feet on the ground while walking (by saying ‘find’, I literally mean it). After walking a few steps we finally made sense of the place and realised that we had reached our first destination, ‘Natraj Bhalle Waala’. I was excited to taste bhallas from there. After waiting for some time, our chance finally came and we grabbed a plate for ourselves. I remembered all the praises my friends had done and those which I’d read online about this place which made me even more excited. As I took a bite, I didn’t like it at all. I understand the fact that everyone has different tastes but at that time, I just wanted to shout at my friends who’d asked me to specially go and eat from there.

Natraj Bhalle Waala

After our ‘not so interesting meal’, we headed ahead. We walked ahead and started observing the place. On closely observing the surroundings, I realised that besides the crowd, this place had a lot to offer. The old architecture of the buildings gave us an essence of the ‘Mughal Empire’. The carvings on the railings of the balconies and the doors, everything had the essence of the ‘Mughal Empire’.

On entering the famous ’Kinari Bazaar’, I realised that this place had everything any designer needed from swaroski to laces to fabric hangings. I was struck when i see the variety of sequences and laces. After moving a few steps ahead, we even figured out that this market also offered products related to wedding invitations and trousseau. I now know why everyone who gets married demands for their invitations be printed from ‘Kinari Bazaar’.

A shop at Kinari Bazaar

 We started our research work from this market. We visited different shops and asked the shopkeepers and customers about the market. The first shop we visited, ‘Aggarwal Beads Center’ was recently renovated. We talked to its owner and found out that all the laces , buttons, sequences, etc that was available in the market was manufactured in Kolkata and China. Likewise, we visited a few more shops and talked to the shopkeeper. On asking various shopkeepers about the problems that they faced in this busy market, all of them stated about almost similar problems those were, traffic, garbage problems, sewage blockage system, hanging electric wires, etc.

After exploring ‘Kinari Bazaar’, we headed towards ‘Nayi Sadak’. This market is famous for book sellers and shops which sold fabrics and readymade clothes. We talked to a few shopkeepers in this lane too. Some agreed to talk to us and answer our questions while the others refused straight away.

After exploring these lanes, we were too hungry and tired so we visited the ‘most talked about Paranthe Waali Galli’. We all ordered while I was scared of tasting it after my horrible experience with the bhallas in the morning. I was happy enough to see that this place actually offered good food!

36,Paranthe Waali Galli

After eating, we visited the ‘Red Fort’ and clicked photos and appreciated its everlasting beauty.

On our way back to the metro station, we stopped at ‘Old Famous Jalebi Waala’ for some dessert. The jalebies were mouth watering. After eating a few bites, we headed towards the metro station.

After leaving this place, I personally realised that this place has many things to offer like toys, electric gadgets, clothes, fabric, etc.

We went back home looking forward to our next visit.