Dilli

Strains of the latest Bollywood number "Yeh sheher nahin hai mehfil hai...yeh Dilli hai mere yaar" (This isn't city, it is a party. This is Delhi my friend.) floated from the radio in my car. Smiling at my beloved Neem and Gulmohar lined Lodhi road, I couldnt agree more.

The city is indeed an exciting party for me. It's home, comforting in its familiarity and yet exciting because the city lives in several centuries at the same time. So one minute you would pass by a 13th century tomb and the next, a glistening metro station. Delhi never fails to enchant me.

On my last visit a couple of months ago, I decided to take a walk with Art Historian Navina Jafa to know my city a bit more intimately. The walk focused on Sufism in India. Walk began at the Humayun tomb and took us to the Nizamuddin Dargah (A dargah is a Sufi shrine built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint) and Humayun's tomb.

Here are some pictures of our walk

Dr. Navina, our walk-leader introducing us to Sufism, the architecture and how the idea of being buried close to the the durgah took root and the became the preferred burial spot with graves of a Mughal princess, poets, musicians and royalty buried around. the shrine

I loved the tacillations on the Roof. The place was an oasis of calm in the midst of a busy bazaar

The tomb of Delhi's famous poet Mirza Ghalib- he's one of my mum's favourites

On the way to the Nizamuddin Durgah. People selling offerings for the Saint like rose petals and chaadar ( a richly decorated piece of cloth offered to cover the grave as a mark of devotion and often as thanks for a blessing)

Tomb of Mughal Emperor Akbar's wet nurse

And suddenly a group of pigeons swooped across the terraces, followed by another group from the terrace opposite. Ishq-baazi! Ishq-baazi (literally love-play) is a pigeon flying game that has been played in India since the Mughal times and contitues to be popular even today in some parts of Delhi.

Ishq-baazi

And finally the Nizamuddin Durgah

Sufi music lovers and devotees gather every Thursday evening to listen to music performances at the Durgah. The Quwwals (Quwwali is a form of devotional Sufi music; singers are called Quwwal) sing the same compositions they have been singing since the 1200s. We were treated to an amazing performance by the Nizamis at the Durgah. They invited us to their house where they have lived for generations and sang the most beautiful Sufi compositions I have ever heard. It was magical!