A boring park.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

Lodhi Garden it is definitely not. It has no breathtaking beauty. Masjid Udyan Park in Old Gurugram is a small rectangular patch of land and, honestly speaking, it is a park more in name than in substance. The park’s lawn is mostly bare earth (see photo), pimpled by rat holes. In fact, the park was featured in this space some years ago, for it is special due to many reasons. And then there is another perspective. The park serves as a connecting point to some of the most fascinating aspects of the surrounding vicinity.

Within a few steps of the park, three distinct self-contained worlds unfold; one of these, a tiny landmark, is downright eclectic. Read on!

A ten-second walk from the park, a lane announces itself long before it comes into view. The air carries the pungent khushboo of oil and pickling masala. Shops line the narrow stretch, their shelves stacked with jars of lemon achar, karela achar, mango achar, garlic achar, heeng achar, karonda achar, hari mirchi achar, lal mirchi achar, and many other varieties. The oldest achar establishment opened some fifteen years ago. Its products are sourced from a workshop in nearby Rewari.

A fifteen-second walk from the park stands a shop that deals exclusively in mousetraps. The family business stretches back some six decades. The modest premises tend to be packed with metallic cages of different sizes. There is the Family Pack, the Medium Chain, the Short Chain, and the intriguingly named Chhoti Burfi, so called, apparently, because it resembles a small piece of burfi. The larger traps are bought by grain warehouses and mithai shops, while households opt for the smaller models. Business remains brisk throughout the year, the shop owner once told this reporter. That comes as no surprise, for Dilli region has no shortage of rats. (A walk through the aforementioned park is proof enough!) The surrounding area also has numerous sellers of rat poison, their banners displaying oversized rodents—and chhipkalis too.

A five-second walk from the park stands a multi-storey building that houses scores of businesses, including many tailoring shops. Their signs advertise salwar suits, sari blouses, and kurtis for women, and sherwanis, coats, and pleated trousers for gentlemen. Sewing machines hum behind almost every counter. You might hear a customer discussing the minutiae of fabrics, measurements, and colour combinations with the tailor master. The tailors sit beside rolls of cloth, their practised hands busy at “maheen” work. Watching them in action is like experimenting with a slower pace of life. One tailoring shop is called Lucky Ladies.

And when the bustle of buying-selling becomes too overwhelming to the senses, you may return to Masjid Udyan Park. While not instagram-friendly, it does have a large peepal tree that offers shade to tired citizens seeking respite from noise and heat. Sit there for a while and you may yourself begin to experience shanti. For here too, peace comes dropping slow.