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Saturday, January 3, 2026
TopicOld Delhi

Topic: Old Delhi

‘Chandni Chowk, but with AC’ — Omaxe mall is the hot new thing in Old Delhi

Its bejewelled arches and roofs are straight out of the Mughal-e-Azam dance scene – a Bollywoodised imagination of the past.

‘Hell penetrated my heaven’—Old Delhi havelis crumbling, Shahjahanabad now a commercial slum

The current state of Delhi's old havelis is the result of past events, starting from the 1857 First War of Independence and the subsequent development of railway lines.

This Old Delhi shop took authentic zari, gota work to new heights—even Rajendra Prasad ordered

At one point, the hybrid of Chinese cloth, Rajasthani designs and Delhi gota became a steady favourite of the royal gharanas of Rajasthan.

Badass Begums — A new heritage walk of Old Delhi is all about Kothas & courtesans

Mughal princesses and princes were sent to kothas to learn elite etiquette or train in music and dancing. They were the ‘etiquette institutions’ of the Mughal era, said the tour leader Anoushka Jain.

Sita Ram Diwan Chand, Paharganj’s one-dish restaurant selling Lahori chole bhature since 1947

Sitaram's modest stall in Imperial Cinema, set up after Partition, made his venture a part of the refugee ecosystem in Paharganj. His business only grew thereon.

An old Delhi heritage walk that’s not about Jama Masjid, Red Fort. It tells queer histories

Iqbal Ali who leads the walk observes that within the current political climate that’s hostile to the LGBTQ+ community, these walks are a source of resistance.

On Camera

Savitribai Phule made space for radical women misfits. She pioneered Satyashodhak modernity

The distinctiveness of her writing is evident in her compositions—women, shudras, and atishudras are at the center. Her poetry challenges the aesthetics of 'modern' Marathi literature.

India’s urban co-op banks are turning the page—crisis to cautious revival, one metric at a time

With bad loans shrinking & capital buffers stronger, urban co-op banks’ new umbrella body NUCFDC is now prioritising rollout of digital transformation.

Greece looking at TATA’s WhAP infantry combat vehicle for army procurement

If deal goes through, Greece will be 2nd foreign country to procure vehicle. Morocco was first; TATA Group has set up manufacturing unit there with minimum 30 percent indigenous content.

A year-end Mea Culpa in National Interest—The Army-Islam combo doesn’t kill democracy

Many of you might think I got something so wrong in National Interest pieces written this year. I might disagree! But some deserve a Mea Culpa. I’d deal with the most recent this week.