The Walled City enyclopedia.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

The name could belong to a resort spa. In bolchal Hindi, chah means desire, and rahat means relief. Presto, Gali Chah Rahat ought to be a place to recover from the exhaustion of daily life.

Step into this Old Delhi street, and at every turn yet another curio makes you pause. Much of the gali’s business is in ornamental artefacts. It feels like walking through a craft museum, except that the exhibits can be packed up and sent to your home.

This evening, labourers are carrying parcels containing giant sculptures. Others are sitting with chai, briefly relieved of their loads. In one shop, a life-size sculpture of Bhagwan Buddh sits on the floor with one palm raised, right beneath a red tantra mask with bulging eyes and a wrathful expression, hanging from the ceiling.

One shop is crammed with singing bowls and tall candle stands, each wrapped in plastic. The attendant behind the counter warns against photography. He says most of the objects come from places such as Moradabad and Aligarh, which he describes as centres of this kind of work. A sign nearby promises “worldwide shipping.”

Elsewhere in the street, a dusty chandelier-like ornament hangs listlessly outside a weathered door secured with a rusty lock. Dry leaves are caught in its strands of beads. The ornament does not appear to be for sale, but its tangled strands hold the gaze.

An elderly shopkeeper gives the street’s name an altogether different meaning. He says the name draws not on Hindi, but on Persian, once the court language of Mughal Delhi. The man patiently explains that chah means a well, while rahat here refers to a Persian wheel. The shopkeeper points to an old building behind him. Inside it, he says, is the well that gave the gali its name. The well once had a wheel that would draw water for Jama Masjid, a short walk away. The well no longer works, he says.

This evening, water is once more the street’s business. Two labourers, Rohit and Ramesh, are digging a trench to lay a slender water pipe along the street. They are working right outside the building housing the old well. Ramesh is resting on a motorcycle parked in front of the building’s locked door. Rohit is raising a pickaxe above his head, bringing it down on the ground. See photo.