Interview

We were given a task for which we had to interview shopkeepers of Chandini Chowk and find out what kind of problems do they face, what kind of changes  they need in that area. We were very curious and nervous about what and  how are we going to interview them,  whether they will answer  us or not but it was great having a word with them as most of them were too cooperated.  We asked  them about various necessary questions but while doing that some of them thought that they were getting interviewed by media .

I decided to interview  Itra shop which I started by introducing myself that I am from Pearl Academy and was there to ask them few questions for my college assignment.  He also introduced himself by telling me him name Mehboob.  After that I started asking him questions. I asked him how long has he been working for which he told me that he has been working since 10 years he has been working here but the shop has running since 25 years and at that time his father used to work . I asked him about how he feels about working there so he said that everything was good and he has been working there since the age of 20 so it doesn't matter much to him as his father has asked him to work there so he is doing so.

After this interview I started to ask him questions about the Itra, like from where do they get it and how are they made?  He told me they get them from South Arabia. Then he described me how it was made. He told that it is made of dry flower petals, then they are boiled in water and the steam which comes out is cooled down in a bottle. The shop was filled with It tar bottles of different sizes with various smells like lily, smoky cigar, rose, sandal, henna and many more. I like perfumes a lot so I wanted every fragrance present there but obviously I couldn't so the shopkeeper made me try some of them. I was feeling so nice because of those fragrances that the shopkeeper made me try more and more of them.

I asked him about his monthly income but he was not comfortable answering it so I changed the topic and asked him other questions like does he face any problem in that area.  He told me that during rainy season they face many problems because the roads get blocked due to dirty water and also the drinking water comes dirty. So I asked him about the solution which they are using so he told me that they use a water filter but still the problem does not get solved properly as the area is already dirty. Then I asked him about the beggars sitting near the food shops on the road. He said that they are not beggars but are criminals and drug addicts. So I asked him does police take action against them. He said it's useless complaining about them as the police does not take any action and even if they do then they leave them after two-three days. Before leaving the shop I bought a bottle of Itra and thanked them for their time.

After such a hectic day I came back home and showed the Itra to everyone but as soon as my grandfather saw it he told me that it was fake because  Itra is expensive and is not available everywhere. I even got to know that the smell is Itra is long lasting. When I got to know this I was shocked as I didn't believe that the shopkeeper was earning a good amount of money by selling fake products, which also made me think that like him there might be so many shopkeepers who sells products like them for business which is a bad indication as they are ruining the name of our country.

GOING INDEPTH

After all the tiring visits to chandni chowk,it was time that we compiled everything we saw. From the interviews to our personal observations and sketches we had to put everything in our logbook. As i was working on this, i realized that all women were either in burqa or baggy jeans ,no one wore what they would wear in mall or even a market.

Exploring different areas

It was a usual day and we thought of visiting different place in chandni chowk, so we went to nai sarak. It’s a wholesale market for stationary, and it’s available for very cheap rates. And all of us went crazy looking at all those stationary. We purchased a lot of stuff from there; after that we were very hungry, so we went to parthe wali gali to fil our stomachs .as soon as we entered, there was a huge crowd, and the gulley we all were walking in was very small. We were in a state of panic, but we controlled ourselves, held hands and started walking.

 As I was passing into those gulley’s I noticed that there was no proper system to maintain hygiene and cleanliness. We reached our destination, there was one shop called shree ram, from where we had samosa, aallo ke sabjze and khasta-kachori .It was delicious. After that, when we were still not satisfied we went on to have the delicious paranthas . Moving ahead we reached a shop named, ‘Tradition of six generations’, it was a small place with very little seating arrangement, so we had to wait outside for about 15mins. There was a big queue. After a while, when we finally got the seat, we ordered lots of paranthas and we ate like we’d never eaten before, they were very delicious. Then we went out to eat this new dish called daulat ki chat. It was a creamy foam with mava and sugar, it was so soft that we did not even feel it in our mouth. And of course the famous lassi of Delhi, that you get there. It is so filling, that after having one glass of it, we were .Then further our destination was kinari bazaar. It is the main market for fashion and accessory, and you can get many types of artificial jewelery out there. As I mentioned before, the gulleys we were walking in were very narrow with many shops and most of their things were kept outside the shop, due to which the place appeared way more congested than it already was.

The main problem which I came across, was that there was no proper storage there. After exploring all these places, we went to jama masjid to discuss our problems and to relax. It was a nice experience as we visited new places, other than jama masjid and mena bazaar. we collected our information, doodled our sketches and went back home.  

The Everything Bazar

The recent module has been very exciting. It gave us an opportunity to explore a part of Delhi and find out the various problems faced by people there. 

So, our class came to a decision of exploring the CHANDINI CHOWK market and area around it. 

over view of this module

The beginning of this module was very exciting,as we were told to explore a place in specific.

We chose chandni chownk,as it was traditional and constant in a way.

This module was all about research and exploration. Chandni chownk is as exciting as it sounds. 

Our first day began with planning and how do we go and travel there.

Our first visit began in metro,as we reached,we walked through small lanes with small shops and stalls selling almost everything that is beautiful.

The major issue we faced on the first day was the traffic jams inside even small lanes,where people ,animals and vehicles moved together. But still there was harmony amongst them,they some how managed.

few words with Mehboob

He stood up as we entered his shop. He assumed us to be his customers, just like others who come to his shop. “Aiye andar aiye madam, baithiye!” he welcomed us into his shop. We introduced ourselves as students of Pearl Academy, doing research on Jama Masjid and area around. And we wanted to talk to him about the same.

Knowing them a little closely

This was our 3rd visit to chandni chownk and we all were very nervous,as this time we had to talk to the shopkeepers about their business strategies and personal life.
We all were a little hesitant to talk to the people over there.
As I entered this small shoe shop,which did not have a name written outside or anywhere I was welcomed as a customer.

Problems Faced By The Shopkeepers

While roaming in the market of Jama Masjid, I noticed that there was very less space for the pedestrians to walk. Because of the extended shops, we were left with no other option but to walk on the road. The constant movement of vehicles made every pedestrian venerable to accident.

first visit to chandni chowk

When we talk about cheap goods, we usually talk about Sarojani, Sadar Bazar or Karol Bagh and Chandni Chowk. Today our group visited Chandni Chowk, a hub for everything and anything we want and at a affordable rate. 

A place be so adorable

Masjid-i-jahannuma.
Another beautiful piece of architecture presented to India by mughals.
Mughals indeed did all that takes to make a place beautiful. The Taj Mahal be another good example of the mughal architecture.

Our Private Food Feast

#Day2:

On our second visit to Chandini Chowk we decided to go to other places other than Jama Masjid. So, we got down at the Chawri Bazar metro station. The first market we saw was the 'Card Market' where the shops sold customized wedding and business cards. As we moved on we went straight to 'Nai Sadak"- the hub of wholesale stationary.
Here the shops offered stationary in all shapes and sizes. A very good bargain was offered. The pricing and the variety got us all excited and we shopped the daily use stationary. One thing I noticed there was that some shops only sold a specific type of material, for eg. just notebooks or maybe just files in all sizes.
There we ate the Old Delhi's original 'Matara Kulcha'. As we walked forward we ate 'Nan Katai'. They are biscuits which are made of all purpose flour, milk and sugar. They are not baked but made on gas stove.

Second seen as a challenge

This was now our second visit to chandni chowk, we had geared ourselves as we knew how it was,we were prepared for the sunlight,small 'gulleys',traffic jams and chaos.
As we reached chawdi bazaar,we noticed a lot of congestion on the roads,traffic jams caused due to rickshaws and people walking on the same road and also selling their items on the same road which blocked a lot of passage.
Our main motive was to explore the food around jama masjid and also in chandni chowk.
as walked towards "nayi sadak' we started to observe stationery shops which sold almost everything at a very cheap price,basically wholesale rates. we all got very excited.

moonlit through my eyes

Chandni chowk- full of all kind of products at such cheap rates. I had two reactions in my mind at the same time- WOW! AND WHY? 

Why do people are selling their products at such cheap rates when they can get a better price in some other market? why are people in such an overcrowded locality which has so much competition? why is the place so different from new delhi?  

after i had to the shopkeepers i realized that the people in chandni chowk are hardly educated. moreover, they didnt have enough money to open a better shop . this is the reason that they have no stalls even, they have to display there products on the road itself.

chandni chowk is made up of all kinds of products from clothes to utensils. the interesting thing is that we wear designer clothes but the material put on these designer clothes is from chandni chowk. 

we find the best food in chandni chowk . we just overate there because the food was so tasty right from chole kulche , katai , kachori , samosa , lassi to paranthe gulab jamun , and dahi bhalla . trust me, we tasted all of these. our taste buds were enlightened. we realized that these shops started as a tela.

basically, the thing is no matter how hard the life of people have been . no matter how many problems they are facing , they are happy in their own little world

Lanes near the Masjid

Though the area is crowded, congested and catastrophic, yet nothing can beat the variety and the bargain the Chandini Chowk are offers. As we got out of the metro station 

we went through various grimy lanes towards Jama Masjid. As we were heading towards Jama Masjid we saw street market which provided all kinds of things.

They offered clothes for all ages and in all sizes, toys, watches, perfumes, electronics, home-made medicines, wallets, footwear, etc. 

Dilli 6

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

Chandni chowk- the heart of delhi. So here it was my first experience to chandni chowk. Initially, my mindset about chandni chowk was very different, i fount it very dirty and crowded, but trust me this visit to dilli 6 has changed it completely.

As i stepped down the metro  , i knew my biggest nightmare has a arrived- whoff! a crowded and filthy metro station. I wanted to run back home after seeing this scenario.
On the roads were people selling all sorts of products from toys to clothes, people spiting, peeing, yelling. basically they didnt give me a single chance to rethink about my opinion.

In those narrow lanes

Our first walk in Jama Masjid was a task. The area is crowded with people of all kinds,some with smiling faces and some with dull tired faces.
As I took up the responsibility to click pictures of our whole exploration,it wasn't an easy task.
The first picture i tried to take was of an old man selling coins of different sorts, I dont think he appreciated it much and asked me to leave.
It was a little discouraging, but my mates helped me along.
The lanes were crowded and clustered, it wasn't easy to walk or even bend down to click any image.
Even though those lanes were small,but you could find almost anything in them to purchase from toys to clothes, shoes to hats.

 People had weird ways to attract customers,some called out loud about how low their prices were,some would just yelled "hey madam,what do you want?'

People around were very polite and it made it easy for us to approach them and ask them questions.

These narrow lanes also had brotherhood in them. we saw a lot of shopkeepers and beggars talking and cracking jokes together. people from all religions worked under the same roof and also helped each other.

When I see that tail wagging

From the first time that i held him in my arms, i had no idea that he would man so much to me.

Breezer, that's my Best friend's name. A white Labrador, he was the size of my shoe when i first saw him.

Feeding him used to be the toughest task,he used to literally swim in his bowl. 

His first walk was to my school,where he got so tired that he sat down in front of my school gate and refused to move. 

I had to pick him up and walk back home.

As he grew up, he became more and more eager for his walks,he used to wake me up at 6am by jumping and scratching my face.

He used to sleep right in front of my face due to the Air conditioner.

he is still an air conditioner addict.

Whenever I get back home, I see him wagging his tail,Jumping and trying to break the leash to reach for me.

Waiting @yamuna bank

I didnt slept for like 4 days and had like 10 15 cans of redbull! I knew this would make thing go crazy and so happened.
I left collage at 3.30 pm and reached yamuna bank station. I called her up. She was still in her goddamn class. I was staring at all those random strange faces. Some smiling, some giving an expression of tension as if they are getting late or maybe he was getting late to meet his girl. That was so obvious she was calling him again n again in every 3 minutes I guess. Those old ladies who  were sitting infront of women's coach, discussing their daily chores or maybe the problem with each and everything that disturbs them. Those uncles with big big tummies and laptop bags on thier backs, tired amd waiting for metro to arrive. Those couples holding hands and giggling. Passing comments and just like me staring at others. May not be noticing but just having a glace at every other person that steps up.
I almost slept. It was 4.40 pm. I was about to call my  girl. And out of no where she was infront of me. You might never be able to feel what i was feeling. Inside i was laughing and shouting and so i was doing outside..
Finalllyy! I met her. It feels so good to meet her a day after you met her a day before :p

We were waiting the 8 coach metro and eating biryani on metro. As 8 coach metro is almost khali. You have like 5-6 people  sitting in last coach. We ended up sitting on a seat of six people where only we were sitting or i would say sleeping.

That's how a person's normal day ends :p
Trust me. Nothing can be better than travelling with your best friend sleeping in the empty metro!