Chandni Chowk arbour.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

The martyrs’ bodies were hanging from the trees, here in Chandni Chowk. That’s one of the legends Purani Dilli wale tend to recall of this Walled City avenue. The executions were said to have followed the doomed 1857 uprising against the British. Many of the trees were later felled by those colonial occupiers.

Today, Chandni Chowk is overloaded with trees—unlike the rest of Old Delhi, which hardly has any. A few of the trees are even furnished with stone benches.

Indeed, over the decades, Delhi’s many chroniclers have extensively dissected Chandni Chowk for its many historic monuments and landmarks. Time to make a note of its many trees as well.

Let’s start with a tree more common to coastal lands than to landlocked Delhi—the palm. Central Baptist Church has one. Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib has eight!

The sacred peepal however is the tree most widely spread across Chandni Chowk. An exceptionally lush peepal stands outside the main gate of Town Hall. This afternoon, a towel seller has stacked up a bundle of colourful towels right beside the trunk. The massive peepal is also harbouring about a dozen people sitting under its shade; they appear to be fatigued shoppers.

fatigued shoppers, as well as labourers and rickshaw pullers, are also resting under the peepal that stands facing Chhabra Trading. Same story with the peepal in front of Hero Pharmacy Sex Rogi Clinic.

In fact, almost every Chandni Chowk tree is like a dharamshala, a refuge of transitory rest for citizens. This sun-filled hour, scores of men are sheltering under these trees. Some are lying flat in the shade, seemingly asleep. Others are sitting motionless, indifferent to the bazar chaos. Toy seller Ramesh’s establishment lies under a… he couldn’t identify the tree, saying, “it gives the fruit that only birds eat.”

And what’s this tree with unusually large leaves, next to Aditya Textiles? A passer-by identifies it as sagwan (teak), remarking that its wood is the costliest. (The men sitting beneath this tree instantly turn to look towards the trunk.)

Steps away, two peepals are twinning like Seeta aur Geeta. One tree houses a shoe repairer’s longtime stall. Lifting his face from Navodaya Times newspaper, the friendly gent introduces himself as Prakash Kumar Das. The other tree has a matar-kulcha stall. Its vendor’s name too is Prakash.

The peepal in front of Yammy Momos is vendor-free. It shelters a camp marked “Police Post Beat No. 6.”

For the moment, the noisiest tree is the peepal in front of Bhagwan Dass Labhu Ram Laces & Embroiders. Dozens of monkeys are jumping across the branches, making the tree shake with their hullabaloo.

Last and least, the only tree in Chandni Chowk that is totally deserted stands outside Bhikharam Chandmal mithai shop. It has zero leaf, zero shade.