The in vogue center for fashionable people, foodies and expressions and art now charges immense rents for even a modest, stuffy storm cellar. Restaurants, pubs and studios are leaving — and the huge chains are moving in. Is Delhi's celebrated Village losing its outside the box vibe?
The street that prompts Delhi's hippest location, the Hauz Khas Village, is just about melodious. Store timberlands that make a shelter overhead line the street and the temperature drops extensively only a couple of meters in. For brains confused by the mid year warm, this desert garden gives some highly required rest. It goes on for a couple of minutes. Inside seconds, the overhang vanishes, everything is secured with dust and the calm punctured by yells of "Bhaiyya! Stopping hai kya," at different levels of distress. Hauz Khas Village or HKV. You've arrived!
Aesthetic, varied, bohemian, trendy person — all these modifiers are utilized for HKV, however the nearby Delhi term — "thoda hatke" (somewhat unique) — says all that needs to be said. The "thoda hatke" on Google Maps interprets into an indistinct arrangement of structures at the edge of the Hauz Khas Complex, an archaeological pearl molded like a cut of toast wrapped in timberlands. This minor urban town throbs with the vitality of the city's trendiest hotspot. It has appeal, workmanship, curiosity and history. Displaying studios, workshops, kitsch garments stores, craftsmanship displays, bars with unrecorded music, boutique bread shops, restaurants, the Village has worn its identification of free business with pride. But is this set to change?
In the last few days I have come across the bitter truth that lies in the glorious HKV. The slum dwellers at the back of the fort are fighting for the basic amenities and on the flip-side we have pricey stores with a snob appeal. You can always find a person bargaining from the street hawker who is going back home,which is the slum to feed his hungry family but you will never hear them say that the stores are too expensive for them to splurge their money.
With the fort coming to an end,comes the area which is in need of proper development from all sides of life in the city.The awfulness of the town can be consolidated inside its two polarities — one, that it shows our loved thought of the ideal urban space with its history and legacy, its beautiful setting and common magnificence, workmanship and stylishness, flourishing trade and upward versatility and two, it reflects everything that isn't right with the city — its greed, its fixation on development at the expense of everything.
Aesthetic, varied, bohemian, trendy person — all these modifiers are utilized for HKV, however the nearby Delhi term — "thoda hatke" (somewhat unique) — says all that needs to be said. The "thoda hatke" on Google Maps interprets into an indistinct arrangement of structures at the edge of the Hauz Khas Complex, an archaeological pearl molded like a cut of toast wrapped in timberlands. This minor urban town throbs with the vitality of the city's trendiest hotspot. It has appeal, workmanship, curiosity and history. Displaying studios, workshops, kitsch garments stores, craftsmanship displays, bars with unrecorded music, boutique bread shops, restaurants, the Village has worn its identification of free business with pride. But is this set to change?
In the last few days I have come across the bitter truth that lies in the glorious HKV. The slum dwellers at the back of the fort are fighting for the basic amenities and on the flip-side we have pricey stores with a snob appeal. You can always find a person bargaining from the street hawker who is going back home,which is the slum to feed his hungry family but you will never hear them say that the stores are too expensive for them to splurge their money.
With the fort coming to an end,comes the area which is in need of proper development from all sides of life in the city.The awfulness of the town can be consolidated inside its two polarities — one, that it shows our loved thought of the ideal urban space with its history and legacy, its beautiful setting and common magnificence, workmanship and stylishness, flourishing trade and upward versatility and two, it reflects everything that isn't right with the city — its greed, its fixation on development at the expense of everything.
Incredible India...isn't it. People come here to enjoy play and have fun and they destroy it unknowingly and they don't even know about the history of that place.
ReplyDeleteVery informative blog and shows the perception of a non delhite about Hauz Khas.
ReplyDeleteWhen we visit hauz khas we only see the glamour and gal-lour around us. we never really think about the life behind the walls of the for. It is so different from the perception we have. we are blinded by the cafes and restaurants. this was a real eye opener.
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