The Walled City encyclopaedia.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

This place is khas, special. In the olden times, it was in fact known as Khas Bazar. That Khas Bazar was completely destroyed by the British following the 1857 uprising. Even so, the zameen where Khas Bazar stood continues to exist. And in it its own way, this slice of land remains a khas portion of Old Delhi.

The open space showcases a view of the Red Fort on one side, and of the Jama Masjid on the facing side. It also happens to be the only location in the Walled City that presents the front prospect of the grand mosque. This facet of the 17th century monument is the only facet that has been spared from being compromised by the contemporary clutter of Purani Dilli’s chaotic zigzagging architecture. You could as well be gazing at an old painting of the monument. See photo.

A broken Delhi Tourism board states that Khas Bazar was a road during the Mughal-era. The royalty would use this avenue to travel from their residence in the Red Fort to Jama Masjid for their Friday prayers. The emperor would commute in a procession of elephants and horses. The road would be full of veggie sellers, and it also had a square, said to be Chowk Saadullah Khan. This chowk was super-rich in street life, comprising of jugglers, fire eaters, magicians, dancers, astrologers, dancing wolves, performing monkeys, bird fighters, acrobats and bazar hawkers. They would show up in the evening.

That entire world vanished after the British destroyed the place. The road too vanished. The lost spirit of Khas Bazar was however reclaimed after the place reinvented itself at some point in the last century. Today, the area is kinetic with the energy of scores of hawkers hawking eclectic range of stuff to hundreds of visitors daily. A random stroll one evening showed the following merchandise on sale: rose sherbet, post-expiry discounted shampoos, waterproof wrist watches, coconut slices, adrak chai, plastic baskets. undergarments, dates, mobile phone screens, leggings, haleem, hand towels, biryani, lemon crushers, almonds, perfumes, dining mats, chhole bhathure, teddy bears, etc.

Another evening, the place was packed with massive crowds. It was like being in Meerut’s Nauchandi Mela. Far away in the distance, the red sandstone Jama Masjid was cloaked in smog, appearing grainy as if it were an apparition of golden dust.

Yesterday afternoon, on Independence Day, the crowd was somewhat less, perhaps due to the rain. The place was nevertheless decked with balloons patterned after the colours of the national flag. The sight looked khas.