Dilli is being missed, those streets, the people, the life, the rickshaw rides, the metro, the walk, the gardens, the monuments. The last fort I visited before the third wave in Delhi, was Qila-e Mubarak, Lal Qila, which was commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan, and designed by architect Ustad Ahmed Lahori. The ‘Red Fort’ signboard is now on a verge to disappear like history.
I was accompanied by a friend who was visiting it the first time. The queues for tickets were so long, that we thought of dropping the plan at first, but then tried booking it the secret way. Else, we could have missed the world that was revolving inside the fort. Meena Bazar welcomed us with a bunch of stories, as if we were living a modern life in the forgotten world. We could even spot us in the cool sunglasses. Imagine it to be a part of the emperor’s reign, it would have made him look the coolest. I could even spot so many Taj Mahals, commissioned siblings of the Lal Qila by Shah Jahan in one of the shops, which said ‘No photos allowed’. Still I clicked one.
I felt visiting Red Fort is a new experience every time. In background, my friend started telling me about the fort, referring to a documentary that he saw long ago on some channel he doesn’t remember now. ‘Red Fort has now lost it charm’ we talked about. ‘What would have been the long lost time like? We cannot say, but all we can say about is the present.’ What would have been a pandemic in their era?
I could picture a scene right in front of my eyes, when I visited the Diwan-e-Aam and saw people standing in front of the Marble Throne, with their sorrows and trouble in front of the King. It escaped me from reality for some time and I came back to my senses when I saw the precious stones disappeared from the lotus, leaving a void in the beauty.
The Exhibits in the museum keep changing time to time, but the bench kept in this British-looking, colonial era buildings remains the same. It feels like hope is restored, even if the time changes, a part of the world remains the same. We were walking out and I saw Meena Bazaar’s Meena wearing a beautiful looking black coloured pashmina, embroidered with flower designs, but looking sad. A lot would change like the long lost forgotten time, but there will be smiles, like the bench of hope...I hope. Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manankathuria/
Thank you for being a part of my journey :')