Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
Old Delhi’s “wiring” has to be seen to be believed.
Externally, everything electrical is “above ground”, rather than “above board”; electrical connections are “highly informal”.
The “regulatory hand” is nowhere apparent.
This post’s images were both taken from “our” rickshaw; the first looks left, into a lane, the one below looks straight ahead.
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Old Delhi is assuredly one of the world’s busiest, noisiest and most crowded urban places.
All that notwithstanding, some people choose to sleep on its footpaths and doorsteps…or they simply have no other readily-available resting-place.
Tourists are highly likely to be overwhelmed – or highly stimulated – by the sheer volume (in more than one sense) of human activity in Old Delhi.
However, at least some local residents appear to be utterly at ease, relaxed and unhurried.
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Q: who usually rules the skies over the Indian subcontinent’s megacities?
A: Milvus migrans – black kites.
One of the world’s most abundant raptor species (possibly, the most abundant) has proved very adept at taking advantage of the “rubbish” discarded by urban humans.
If one is almost anywhere within a big Indian city, one needs no bird-watching expertise to see black kites; simply look up, and there they are!
”Holy” places are no exception…
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Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned what is still Delhi’s greatest mosque.
He was also responsible for Agra’s Taj Mahal.
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In the context of the Indian subcontinent’s human history, what we now call “Old Delhi” is not very old.
The original walled city was meticulously planned; its foundation stone was laid in 1639.
Then named Shahjahanabad, it was the result of Emperor Shah Jahan’s decision to shift the Mughal Empire’s capital city, from Agra.
What is still Old Delhi’s most imposing structure was built between 1650 and 1656; at that time Jama Masjid was the subcontinent’s largest mosque.
In 2024 it remains one of India’s largest mosques – probably, its second biggest.
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Originally, in the 17th century CE, what is now known as “Old Delhi” was Delhi – a walled, Mughal city.
Now, it is no longer walled, and occupies only a minute proportion of Delhi’s mushrooming metropolis.
As it happens, I have experienced a number of the world’s megacities. (metropolises of more than ten million humans)
In 2024, Old Delhi’s 300,000+ residents probably comprise circa one percent of Delhi’s population.
Various lists of the world’s megacities offer sometimes-ludicrously-divergent rankings and alleged population figures, but most agree that Delhi’s metropolis now has many more human residents than does the entire Australian nation.
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