Sunday 31 January 2016

Shahjahanabad Shooting Diaries- Day 9- Chandni Chowk-II

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It was going to be our last day of shoot before we took a break for a month till February. There was no plan, so we decided to explore more of central Chandni Chowk. Chawari Bazar Metro station has now become our meeting point.
We walked from there to Ballimaran, crossing Hauz Qazi, Lal Kuan on the way. Gali Qasim Jaan Ballimaran became famous especially after Gulzar's TV series on Ghalib. We decided to have tea at one of the Chai walas, as buildings around made it 'interesting' architecturally. Opposite was Ahata Kale Khan Sahab, a neighbourhood mostly dominated by Punjabi Muslims.
As we discussed our plans for the day, and I told my colleagues about some of the famous bakeries of Ballimaran, other people having tea suggested a few other names'.

Embedded image permalinkEmbedded image permalinkThe other eateries looked interesting too, we had decided in the morning itself that we will have early lunch at Ballimaran. One of the perks of working in the city of Shahjahan,  is one can decide, pick and choose liberally from the available abundant options- Vegetarian and non-Vegetarian both.
Embedded image permalink(A butcher feeding the cat all the useless meat, and on the right samosa preparations on for late evening, along with another shop still selling poori-sabzi). Another interesting boy was shouting about Vegetarian Biryani- his board said Aloo ki Tahiri and Matar Pulao, a kilo for Rs. 60!  

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We went further in Gali Qasimjan and reached the Ghalib's Memorial. It was encroached upon heavily and has only recently been restored partially. Ghalib's poetry written in calligraphy in English, Urdu and Hindi. Some of the translations in English were quite bad, to be honest!
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The guard at the Memorial cycles everyday from Yamuna paar colony and gets Rs. 6000 per month. He complained about lack of toilet in the complex.






Embedded image permalinkFurther, as we turned towards the Spectacles Market of Ballimaran, from Gali Qasimjan, we found a few interesting offices.

Embedded image permalinkOn the left is the Party office of Revolutionary Socialist Party Office. I wanted to go inside and climbed the stairs to the first floor office to speak with the people managing it. Only problem- it was empty! We joked, Revolution has  finally been abandoned, and everybody has gone home!
As we asked some of the other people who had other shops on the same floor, they said usually a man sits and probably had gone to have his food. But its doors were open, I tried to look at the literature inside the office, there were just some flags, no pamphlets, nothing! Disappointed I came out.


A little ahead, we spotted an interesting building with the board, which read, "Delhi Peasants' Co-operative Society" working for Delhi's peasants.  There were three to four people who were sitting inside. My first question to them was, there are no peasants here, so why have an office here in this part of Delhi? They said the office was set up by the first Delhi government, to help the farmers' of Delhi. Now the farmers live around Yamuna, Okhla, Seelampur areas. Some farmers' come to this office and sometimes they have to go to the field. The building was very interesting, we took a few photos, thanked them for their time and left.

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 It was afternoon now, we were hungry, so we went to a eatery and ordered almost everything from the limited menu. And the bill came to just Rs. 350 and most of the food was of Chicken based, except for the fried Fish.
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Embedded image permalinkPost- lunch we decided to go towards Old Delhi Railway station , but the crowd and traffic was too much. We kept walking and reached Red Fort. It was late afternoon now. The light was fading fast, when we entered Red Fort.
Embedded image permalinkEmbedded image permalinkThe covered Meena Bazar market inside Red Fort where rent starts from Rs. 16 and goes up to maximum of Rs. 120.
 There was a very interesting exhibition going on by ASI and Ministry of Culture on the Hair styles in Indian Art. And outside on the cut outs there was a long queue of people busy taking photos, we could not resist too!
On one side, there was even a Selfie Corner!
There was a note which explained -
"Hairstyles very much depended on the wealth, age and social group the individual circulated in. Bound hair was felt to be symbolic of propriety..." (language for aam janta!)
Hairstyles of men, women, priests starting from Harappa/ Mohenjodaro to Mughal era all were on display through paintings, sculptures, etc.

Embedded image permalinkEmbedded image permalinkAs we went inside to capture whatever we could in the fading lights, we saw this family where each member including the newly weds separately posed with a "firangi" couple! The Indian obsession with the White skin knows no bounds, we laughed our hearts out, when we saw the husband ask his wife to pose, then posed himself and rest of the family joined later! It was very gracious of the firangi couple to agree to be a part of this "photo session"!
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Embedded image permalinkThere were renovations going on inside, and after only half an hour the weather got so cloudy and dark that it became impossible to shoot/ click photos. So, we decided to just take a walk around and soak in the history of the place. My Photographer colleague, quite an expert on Mughal history kept explaining various things about the architecture and on Mughal kings especially Aurangzeb. Mughal empire expanded exponentially mostly under Babar, Akbar and Aurangzeb. The politics around Aurangzeb mostly by the British still carries on by the right wing, quite a misunderstood man! For more details and discussion on Aurangzeb, I can pass the number/mail of my colleague!


Embedded image permalink Diwan e Khaas or Emperor's room looked in severe need of restoration. Also interesting was to see the symbolic scale of justice here on the arch.




 As we finished our walk and decided to come out, my Mughal History expert colleague commented on the rule according to which Indian flag is removed after sunset everyday. We asked the guard, and he confirmed. Another weird rule of which one cannot make any sense!

Tuesday 12 January 2016

Khwaab Marte Nahi - Dreams Do Not Die


Khwaab marte nahin
Khwaab dil hain na aankhein na saansein ke jo
Rezaa-rezaa hue to bikhar jayenge
Jism ki maut se yeh bhi mar jayenge
Khwaab marte nahin

Khwaab to roshni hain, navaa hain, hawa hain
Jo kaale paharon se rukte nahin
Zulm ke dozakhon se bhi phukte nahi
Roshni aur navaa aur hawa ke alam
Maqtalon mein pohanch kar bhi jhukte nahin

Khwaab to Harf hain
Khwaab to Noor hain
Khwaab to Suqraat hain
Khwaab Mansoor hain

Ahmad Faraz


Dreams do not die
Dreams are neither heart, nor eyes nor breath
Which when turn to bits, would scatter
Would wither with body's death.
Dreams do not die

Dreams are Light, Melody, Breeze
Black mountains cannot stop them
Persecution's Hell fire cannot burn them
Flags of light, sound and breeze
Executioners' square cannot bow them

Dreams are Letters
Dreams are Light
Dreams are Socrates
Dreams are Mansoor

Sunday 10 January 2016

Shahjahanabad Shooting Diaries- Day 8- Jain Mandir Yatra

We had visited the Jain Mandirs earlier, and the people there were so nice, they even invited us to the Yatra that they take out every year on the 4th of January (and to  post-Yatra lunch as well)!*

They took address of the Sahapedia office and told us that they would send us an invitation card! Then came Christmas and New Year's, and we completely forgot about it! On the first working Monday of 2016, still enjoying my holidays, after deep oil therapy I was sitting soaking in the warm sun in my balcony. Suddenly around 10am, I received a call from my colleague who said that they have received the card from Jain temple authorities, and he was going to cover it! What followed was a mad rush to get ready. But, by the time I reached, the Yatra had started.
I kept asking my colleague for directions and in the loud background noise he kept directing me to Chhattas and Mohallas I had not even heard the name of!
When I would reach there, the procession would move to another place! It was a game of game of "Catch the Rath, if you can" in the crowded Chandni Chowk streets, with traffic stopped at most places. The crazy Chandni Chowk traffic got even more crowded! I finally gave up chasing the Rath Yatra around Chandni Chowk and told my colleague to wait at Town Hall in the middle of Chandni Chowk for me. It was around 11.30am by now!
Fortunately, my colleague had reached early and captured some of the procession before the battery of his Video camera ran out! (We were not prepared, and our Day was not looking too good!)

Embedded image permalink   By this time our other colleague had come from Gurgaon and he had with him the Still Camera. We did find the Rath Yatra on the main street of Chandni Chowk preceded by a Band, dhol, naggade, school kids doing some aerobics, etc. and a crowd of devotees.


We decided that we would wait for the Rath Yatra to reach the temple. The entire narrow Kinari Bazar lane was choc-a- bloc with people, rickshaws and two-wheelers! We somehow made our way through the crowds and reached the Jain temple.  The street was decorated, there were some empty chairs and in an unoccupied, old haveli tent had been put up. There was hardly anybody at the temple. We waited for some time, the kids in the street were also wearing fancy clothes and some women were chatting outside the temple. It was a no-cooking day for them. The scheduled program was pasted outside near the main Gate.


We met Pappu Ram the Mandir's All in One man (cook/artist), who happily chatted with us and invited us to the Haveli where Lunch preparations were going on.There were big cauldrons of different dishes like Shahi Paneer, Pulao, Dal, Kaju- Matar, Halwa, Kheer. Two types of hot pooris were being fried (plain and besan).The Haveli had a long table with dishes, the inside part was for women and table on the outside were for men.

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Embedded image permalinkThe head chef Rama Kant Sharma, cooking since the age of 17, was now putting dry fruits on Kheer and Halwa.
Embedded image permalinkEmbedded image permalink After making sure that the food was all good and done, we came out on the street as it was time almost for the procession to return. Everybody who lived in that street was out, waiting excitedly. First came the students of Jain Public School, then Nagada walas, band walas, bigul walas, the atmosphere got all noisy.    


Embedded image permalinkEmbedded image permalinkThe palki came from the side of the street as devotees lined up to give a shoulder to it. The rest of the rath came from the backside. The street on the Kinari Bazar side, the rath completely blocked the street. It was as wide as the street. As they dismantled the different parts of the Rath, we managed to capture it on camera, just by sheer luck!
As people on the street got all excited with the coming of the Rath, some even took off their shoes as the Palki went by. There were more rituals to be followed at the Mandir basement. We went inside to catch a glimpse but since it was crowded, we went over to the back side and saw the entire Rath getting dismantled there. The laborers who had carried/ accompanied the Rath at various points were waiting for their wages and food here. We took our time, got some very nice shots and came inside. In the open verandah on the ground floor, there were some people. A big, bulky guy asked my colleague to click his photo with his mother. Then, asked for our details and wanted his picture mailed to him on his id (hello.hisname@gmail). We made a promise with no intention of keeping it. He was extremely rude, tried to act important and later had a fight with another man on the street! More like most Mamus' act when there is wedding in the house! While I used the occasion to congratulate my colleague on being upgraded to "an event/shadi photographer", and he narrated stories of how people misuse his skill with the camera!
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Once the crowds thinned, we finally went to thank the Secretary for the invitation. He insisted that we should eat. We were a bit hesitant but after this green signal went straight to the Haveli where food was being served.

Embedded image permalink As I tried to make my way towards the Table where food was, some men told me to go to the "Ladies" section. It was on the inner side of the Hall. I went there, served food on my plate and ate. The food was rich and heavy, as Janis do not use any root vegetable, including onion/garlic, they make up for it with cream and other dry fruits. Everything was cooked in desi ghee.  We even spotted Anubhav Sapra who had also come to taste the Jain food, but found it spicy. He introduced us to the other residents of the street, some we had met before (like Atam Aggarwal), we did our courtesy "namaste's", finished our food and left through a busy, crowded Kinari Bazar street.

*(For detailed post on Jain Mandirs, please see-http://uzmaazharali.blogspot.in/2015/12/shahjahanabad-shooting-diary-day-3-jain.html).



Saturday 9 January 2016

Strength of Goodbyes


After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul
And you learn that love doesn't mean security,
And you learn that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises.
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open,
With the grace of an adult, not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build all your roads on today,
Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain.
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn that even sunshine
Burns if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden and decorate
Your own soul, instead of waiting
For someone to bring you flowers
And you learn that you really can endure...
That you really are strong,
And you really do have worth
And you learn and learn and learn.
With every goodbye you learn.
-Jorge Luis Borges



Har zakham ek kahani hai
har yaad ek nishani hai
zindgi hai to jeeye jaate hain
apno ko khoye jaate hain

Na koi paas hai
na koi darkar hai
Ab jo dil ne jeena seekha h
to aur bhi zidd hai isko
ab yeh aur bhi khudsar hai

zakhmo pe jo khurand aaye
rooh pe chhaye malal ke rang gehraye
zindgi ankho ko khwab bakhshe
ya ratjage laaye
phelen andhero ke saaye
raste aur pattharaye
zindgi le chale jis safar par chahe
khade hain hum
ankh se ankh milaye!!

Monday 4 January 2016

Shahjahanabad Shooting Diary- Day 7- Chandni Chowk Markets-II


Embedded image permalink Late morning we met at the Chawari Bazar Metro station and started the last working day of 2015 with nearby Ashok Chaat's Papri Chaat and Golgappas, a shop more than fifty years old! My colleague (Haleem fan) had arrived early in the hope of having Haleem for breakfast, but, we arrived just in time to dash all his hopes and he had to satiate himself with Chaat for breakfast!      
Embedded image permalink                                                                          We decided to cover the market of Hauz Qazi. On the main road, one can easily spot Mubarak Begum's mosque. Constructed in 1823, also referred to as "Randi ki Masjid" (Prostitute's mosque) on account of her being a mistress and a nautch girl from Pune, she converted to Islam and became 13th wife of General David Ochterlony (first British resident of Delhi). The mosque is an interesting mix of Anglo-Islamic style, painted in red and green. The caretakers were friendly, did not object to us shooting, but only asked us to hurry up, as the time of afternoon prayers was approaching. The board with the details about the mosque, on the ground floor was covered by Bhatia Pipe's stuff. We asked him to remove it, the owner swiftly removed everything that hung from the board, but in no time was back again as we walked ahead.
Embedded image permalink We walked into one of the lanes of the Hauz Qazi market. This is Asia's biggest sanitary ware market, we were told by various shopkeepers. We went inside an old haveli-turned-godown. The designs on walls and pillars were somewhat visible, but the traders disallowed us to shoot over there. Legally, it was a heritage building and they had converted it into a go-down! They threatened to throw us out and take our cameras, we did not want a scene so we walked into another lane. The variety of taps, showers, toilets and all the accessories were mind boggling.

Embedded image permalinkWe kept walking into lanes and shops and found this tea seller, making tea with froth on coffee machine with cardamom. He had been selling tea here for over 40 years.
The haveli nearby had a board which said "Not for Sale or Rent ", as it is a market, the house owners who have shifted out are under constant pressure from traders to lend their space for keeping goods. The name was interesting - "Chhatta Sufi- Peepal Mahadev", named after a temple dedicated to Peepal tree and Shiva.
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Walking further, we came across again a beautiful Haveli falling apart, where a school was run previously. On the ground floor was Sharda Printing Press printing since 1940s. The owner Sanjay, printing calendars, said, the business was only 10% left now. The digital printing had taken away his business.

Embedded image permalinkAs, we kept walking in the by-lanes of the market, our eyes getting tired of all the showers/ taps on display, we spotted this beautiful haveli painted in bright colors and well maintained too. We decided to knock on the door, (and I am glad we did), as we met the Sharma family, one of the most friendly and nicest family, from oldest to youngest  were kind and sweet(even their Dalmatian dog!). Two brothers living in this haveli, where recently a Manoj Bajpayi-Aditi Sharma film was shot recently, they kept telling us about the shooting stories. The entire ground floor has atleast four different temples, in the courtyard, in the rooms. Kitchen is on the ground floor, and bed rooms on the first floor. Even though they had closed the temple doors post- Pooja but opened it for us. The house had a covered well (now water drawn through pump), water was used for ritual/ pooja purpose. The elder sister- in-law gave us a guided tour, more talkative of the two sister-in laws, told us about the history of the house, Manoj Bajpayi stories, and other details! There was space for 'Parikrama' around the temple. We went to the first floor. There were some plants and around three to four varieties of Aloe-vera plant. She said, pointing at one of plants, that it was sweet, and they also use it to make sabzi of it! As she tore a part of it, offered it to us, my colleague ate a part of it, I politely declined, and she happily finished it herself .
Embedded image permalinkTheir "foreign breed- Dalmatian" dog was basking in the winter sun, only 9 months old, it looked big. We took our time and shot around the haveli. There was a pakoda shop opposite to the house frying gobhi pakodas, as Mrs. Sharma, praised the pakodas, we decided to check it out. I bought some for us and some for the family. I gave it to Mrs. Sharma's son, (a school- going boy), he instead asked us to join them for lunch or tea or just some/ any food.  We were already impressed  by the family and their hospitality  (finally some Old Delhi tehzeeb, as I proudly told my colleagues!)
 Mrs. Sharma had told us about the many mandirs in their lane. But, since it was afternoon, most were locked. Apparently, Gods rest in the afternoon! Luxuries Gods get, denied to human beings!
Guru Charandas Mandir looked very big, well maintained, brightly painted, but inner part of the temple was locked. Another temple in the opposite lane, had a fountain in the courtyard, where the families living on the first floor had planted a banana tree!

This part is mostly Hindu dominated part where Vegetarian food is found, often even with out Onion/ garlic. The trader community living here, practices strict Vegetarianism. Thus, the Jain fruit sandwich, matar samosas, milk/paneer dishes, gobhi/ bread pakoras, etc. We finally found our way out towards the main road on the Chawari Bazar, and moved towards Nai Sarak.

Embedded image permalinkNai Sarak is a big paper market for books, stationary, diaries etc. The market is always crowded. We tried to do what we had done at the Bhagirath Place. Climb a tall building and take a shot from there of the crowded lanes. The people were not friendly here, and the shots just did not happen!
We kept walking and found this samosa wala selling samosas for the past 45 years at Nai Sarak. From Bihar, he was disinterested in the Bihar politics (rare Bihari)! The samosas were small, spicy but nice.
Embedded image permalink We entered a Singer sewing machine shop, and found very old sewing machines. The owner said, the sales have not  been affected, as people still give their daughters sewing machine at the time of wedding. Also, retail revolution in clothes means their machines are still in use. The designs have changed though. The oldest sewing machine in the shop was from 1885.


   Next, from Nai Sarak we turned to purana Marwari Katra, where one can always find people shopping for wedding clothes. Heavy lehengas, sarees, etc. One of the small lehenga shop seller told us his most expensive lehenga was for Rs. 30,000, as the work was all handmade. Machine lehengas can come for Rs.5000 also.
Embedded image permalinkOne of the shop owner in the market, under a beautiful Haveli, told us about the history of his haveli. A very old Haveli, happy to pose and talk on the camera but refused us the permission to shoot inside his house!
 There was an old Atta chakki, we decided to speak to its owner, who was sleeping inside. He promptly got up, and started the chakki for us! 110 year old Atta Chakki, could still do 100 kg of wheat in 40 minutes.

Embedded image permalinkThis street merges into the famous Parathe Wali gali. All the paratha shops in this street are of the same family, now run by cousins. The owner of one of the shops was happy to pose and talk about the history of his shop. Also, prompted me to ask questions, that I "should" ask! He said, after the coming of Metro to Old Delhi, the business has really picked up. The smell of parathas made us hungry and we decided to gorge on mixed/ aloo/ rabri parathas, served with two kind of sabzis. Parathas are deep fried in Desi ghee. We ordered Lassi too, which was disappointing! Gluttony? Nope, its work!

Outside was a nankhatai wala, looked educated, made in desi ghee his nankhatais were big and actually very good. He told us, it has been his family business, but his children would go into service industry, they will not carry the family tradition!

 From here, we emerged on the main road of Chandni Chowk. I thought, we should go towards the Fatehpuri side. The bedsheet market near the St. James' Church (built in 1867), was very crowded, its streets stone paved, but had come up only in the 1970s. Not old enough, we decided to walk to the opposite side, where we had seen a couple of interesting buildings.
Embedded image permalinkOne was a school run by a trust, its charges were nominal and classes ran in shifts in the morning and in the afternoon. The same trust also ran a Dharamshala, the charges were Rs. 70 per day! The place was big and clean. We asked, if they face problem of over-stay by people as charges are so nominal. The friendly person at the Reception desk said, they give three days, and allow overstay depending on the seriousness of the reason for it.
But, the senior in-charge team (three not- so- friendly heavy Lala men sitting behind a big desk) refused us the permission and told us to contact their secretary who lives at Hailey Road!

We came out and went to the opposite hotel- Punjab Hotel. Here, the charges were from 280 to Rs. 300 per day for single and double room respectively.  The building was very open, British style and very quiet. Hotel team was friendly too, owned by a Sardarji, the hotel occupancy was almost full too.
 It was evening now. The light was fading and we were feeling tired too, after a long day. We decided to take rickshaw back to the Metro station.  As my colleague inquired again, if he could eat some haleem, at least now!

Beedi Peeti Aurat

 बीड़ी पीती औरत   अंकुश लगती है घूरती निगाहों को समाज नकारता है कुढ़ता है उसकी बेईमानी पर   उसके कर्त्तव्य याद दिलाता है   ये उसका हक़ नहीं   इ...