<![CDATA[Tramping the Dusty Roads: Delhi]]>https://www.rajivchopra.in/s/delhihttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KXsk!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffafe4a78-4b91-4195-aa90-46eb302f0391_1280x1280.pngTramping the Dusty Roads: Delhihttps://www.rajivchopra.in/s/delhiSubstackWed, 06 May 2026 11:23:04 GMT<![CDATA[How do you define Delhi? ]]>https://www.rajivchopra.in/p/how-do-you-define-delhihttps://www.rajivchopra.in/p/how-do-you-define-delhiWed, 07 May 2025 08:16:59 GMTCan you define a city like Delhi?

How do you define a city as old as Delhi, one that has witnessed as many changes as Delhi? Benares is an older city (I will write about my visits to the Benares region in mid-June), but it has an unbroken cultural thread as a Hindu city that most, if not all, Hindus revere.

I started studying Delhi’s history when I did a …

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]]><![CDATA[I can be an idiot sometimes. Sometimes?]]>https://www.rajivchopra.in/p/i-can-be-an-idiot-sometimes-sometimeshttps://www.rajivchopra.in/p/i-can-be-an-idiot-sometimes-sometimesThu, 12 Sep 2024 09:37:34 GMTBasant Lok, New Delhi

There is an area in Delhi called Basant Lok, which lies in the middle of a "richie-rich" colony called Vasant Vihar. Basant Lok is a shopping complex with a movie hall, cafes, banks, restaurants, and shops. The movie hall, Priya, was famous until a company called PVR gobbled up every standalone movie hall, including Priya. It conver…

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]]><![CDATA[Why the Emperor's ghost wept. ]]>https://www.rajivchopra.in/p/why-the-emperors-ghost-wepthttps://www.rajivchopra.in/p/why-the-emperors-ghost-weptWed, 10 Jul 2024 09:41:15 GMTI visited the Red Fort a few months back.

I visited the Red Fort in Delhi a few months back as part of a book talk. The book is excellent. I bought it because it will provide an excellent reference when I complete my project on ‘Delhi and The House of Timur.’ Some of you may wonder what ‘The House of Timur’ was, and I won’t blame you: between 1526 and 1…

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]]><![CDATA[Kashmere Gate & the Partition Museum]]>https://www.rajivchopra.in/p/kashmere-gate-and-the-partition-museumhttps://www.rajivchopra.in/p/kashmere-gate-and-the-partition-museumWed, 17 Apr 2024 07:48:35 GMTA conversation provided the trigger.

Almost a month back, I met a bunch of old friends for lunch. We got talking and reminiscing. Reminiscing is a widespread human pastime. This way, we talk about our youth, relive it, apply selective amnesia to certain aspects of the past, and, for brief moments, imagine we are in the prime of youth, with the world with…

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