Skip to main content

Chandni Chowk, Tram

Inside the city the wind blew free through the length and breadth of Chandni Chowk, raised dust in the streets and by-lanes, lashed the stalwart trees that stood in rows in the middle of the bazar from Fatehpuri to the Fountain and beyond. Men shut themselves up inside the houses or in shops. At noon the city seemed deserted and dead but for the grating noise f tram cars that plied throughout the day, though few people used them. In the evening men came out when the sun had gone down and the water had been sprinkled, and the city hummed with noise...
- Twilight in Delhi by Ahmed Ali, perhaps the best English novel ever written about old Delhi and the twilight days of its Muslim aristocracy, first published in 1940 (with some help from Virginia Woolf).


Trams Cars first came to Chandni Chowk in around 1910 and were running around till 1960s. There are now plans for the tram to be reintroduced.

Previously: Chandni Chowk's Paranthewali Gali
Labels:

Comments

  1. DipenOct 9, 2009, 3:59:00 PM

    Kolkata still has it.....I Know Mumbai had it when it was Bombay once....This one surprised me...So even Delhi had it..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Vinayak RazdanOct 10, 2009, 11:09:00 AM

    Kolkata has it...we all knw thanks to slo-mo sequence from 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' :)

    But yes not many people know about Delhi's Tram service.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJan 7, 2010, 3:27:00 PM

    You know what, OUR SHOP is still there in the pic. on the Left hand side.

    The Pic on the left is the main gate of Fatehpri Masjid I think no one noticed it!! and 3 shops after that is our shop.
    see it on google maps or whatever. Our website is www.rdsons.byethost8.com there you can see the exact location!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Vinayak RazdanJan 7, 2010, 3:58:00 PM

    Incredible!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I always like to hear back :)
However, irrelevant comments and irrelevant links will not be published. Needless to say, same goes for abusive comment and spam. Leaving back links related to the topic is encouraged. I know it can be tempting but try not to leave your email ids, phone nos and CVs in the comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Famous Old Faces of Doordarshan

Some people recall the faces and some people recall the names. Here are images of some of the famous readers and presenters of Doordarshan down the years. If you recognize any of them, leave a comment. [ Update 1 : Most of the faces now have names thanks to helpful comments by olio-gallimaufry ] [ Update 2 : Included image of one of the earliest presenters, Gopal Kaul. Send in generously from personal collection by son, Ashutosh Kaul. Sept, 2010.] [ Major Update 3: Got a tip-off about a documentary about the famous faces of Doordarshan from the makers   of     “The Golden Trail , DD@50 :Special feature on Golden Jubilee of Doordarshan ” from which these caps were taken. I managed to catch the incredible documentary and am adding some more faces/name and part of the docu here. New ones can be found after the image of  Narotam Puri. 30th Oct, 2010]  Pratima Puri. Believed to be the first Doordarshan reader.
175 comments
Read more

All about Taro Ek Dragon Ka Beta

Hawa mithee tu aa ja, purab se Tufaan tu aa jaa re paschim se Chali aa, jaldi aa jaldi aa tu aasmaan se ~Title song from Cartoon Series Taro Ek Dragon Ka Beta Japanese cartoon series from the late 70’s Taro the Dragon Boy ( orginal story by Miyoko Matsutani ) was shown on Indian national television - Doordarshan, in mid nineties with the Hindi title: Taro Ek Dragon Ka Beta . Due to this one serial, a generation of Indians was introduced to the wonders of Japanese animation. Although it may not seem to be a great series in itself( when compared to the new age sleek animation of these days) , showing of Taro the Dragon Boy was the true precursor to the coming of Pokemons, Inuyashas, Samurai Jacks and Dragon Ball Zs. In India, the series is mostly remembered for its title track Hawa mithee tu aa ja written by Gulzar and brilliantly composed music by Vishal Bhardwaj. In 1966, Taro, the Son of Dragon with the original Japanese title of ...
66 comments
Read more

Space City Sigma, 1989

A strange new deadly creature has sneaked aboard the ship. The latest maneuver of  Zakhakoo to take down Commander Tara and his city, the last hurdle to his plans of adding earth to his galactic kingdom and the universe. This time he sent a small Blob, strangely, much resembling a stinky wet Upla , a throbbing pack of  cow-dung . The Blob is given to jumps onto its unsuspecting victims and sucks the life force out of them. Soon, this 'death-on-contact-with-skin' creature starts making victims out of helpless citizens of the Space City who have no clue about the nature of these new deaths. As the word slowly spreads,there is mayhem, in this mayhem the Blob zeros in on what could be its most prized victim - Shakti. As a doors open (automatically, woosh -pause- woosh ), Shakti walks in only to be attacked slyly by the Blob. In the manner of its previous killings, this time too, Blob goes for the face, sticking to ...
56 comments
Read more