This way to Gali Ansari

The Old Delhi encyclopaedia

- Mayank Austen Soofi

The cul-de-sac is full of discoloured doors and cobwebbed windows. Suddenly, a little white cat slinks out into the empty lane from under a locked door. On seeing an unfamiliar visitor, she flees towards the far end of the lane, stopping after every few moments, turning her head to make eye contact with the stranger.

Gali Ansari near Turkman Gate has to be among Old Delhi's least-known streets. It is also a street that has apparently stayed frozen in time. For, it hasn't changed at all since Independence in 1947, insists the venerable Shamshuddin, sitting inside his box-making workshop. He has been living in the lane since his birth 67 years ago.