Soul Stripping on the Net

Read Part 7: Zafar's Absent Grave by clicking here Once I got over my sense of disappointment and sadness over the state of Zafar Mahal, I repeated the Maps process and settled in for a long-distance walk to the intriguingly named Bhool Bhoolaiya. Wading through courses that were labelled ‘main road’ – often footpaths that merged into houses, temples, stores, and parking lots beside them, I finally reached a wider-ish road. I term this road ‘wide’ because I had space to dodge traffic. Here there was a slight difference in the chowk setup. There was a police station, bhelpuri stands, sugarcane juice sellers, municipal offices, and buses! I had chanced upon Mehrauli Central bus station. Beside it, a Lord Krishna jagran blasted out of sanctified speakers. Opposite it was a typical Lodhi Gardens style tomb, though it was built during the Mughal reign. Again not the ‘bhool bhoolaiya’ I had in mind, but it would do. Adam Khan was a general of Akbar and this was his tomb. It got such ...

 Read Part 6: Where is Zafar? by clicking here There was only a gate. Supposedly Bahadur Shah Zafar wanted to be buried here, beside his ancestors and family. Now only an ornate-looking gate remains, or can be seen. It is locked. The gate comprises a wooden door, beautiful chhatris, and a broad Bengali-styled chajja. The palace was credited to Akbar Shah II. Zafar renovated the gate, the Hathi darwaza, so named because he could be seated on an elephant while going through it. Today only bats haunt this house. Beside it is the busy mosque of Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki. Peeping through a hole in the door, the sunlight highlights dust, spider webs, and wooden ruins. If a mahal or graves did exist, they have long made room for the surrounding living bodies and buildings. The gate shut the day Bahadur Shah Zafar closed his eyes in far-away Rangoon. My eyes could only admire Zafar Mahal on Wikipedia. कितना है बद - नसीब ' ज़फ़र ' दफ़्न के लिए दो गज़ ज़मीन भी न मिली ...

 Read Part 5: Jahaz Mahal by clicking here I did something I am ashamed of at this point, I misinterpreted the map. When Maps threw up Zafar Mahal, I looked at it, and wrongly thought that I understood it was due in which direction from my position. However, I was not going to lose the way for the first time this chapter. But the next time would be Sundarji’s fault. Where bylanes are apartment in-lanes, the GPS does not understand. A gate might suddenly appear on an “open” road on the map. When a path is more of a staircase and a subtle curve is a footpath alongside a nala, you have no option but to ask locals for directions. It does not help when every road going through every chowk is technically ‘Zafar Mahal Road’. The dust and heat are finally taking a toll, I thought when in the middle of Mehrauli Market I saw an Indo-African store. I was not hallucinating. It exists. Trudging back some part of the way I came, and taking new turns in newer chowks, passing even more butch...