Peacetime Chandni Chowk

One of the many perspectives of exploring a historic district

- Mayank Austen Soofi

We make wars. Battlefields pile up with dead bodies. After which the passing time lets the wild grass do its job of gradually covering up the bloodied fields.

This imagery, evoked by a famous American poem, straightaway connects to the vibes of a small market corridor in Old Delhi’s historic Chandni Chowk. With one difference—the bazar shops are doing the work of grass here. This extraordinary corridor looks ordinary, lined with Bagz Wala, New India Garments, and Kanpur Leather Store. But one morning, centuries ago, exactly above where these shops stand today, a Persian invader oversaw the massacre of thousands of Delhiwale.