"Tombs of emperors stand beside traffic junctions, forgotten fortresses command suburbs, the titles of lost destinies are woven into the vernacular, if only as street names"   ~ Jan Morris Much has been discovered about the Delhi and many travelers have documented their memories, painted with golden and silver letters. Yet Delhi remains unconquered with plenty of things to discover. In fact, there would be no contradiction if Delhi pronounced as a blanket of civilizations in spite of city. There are numerous marks and monuments which give trace to old but different burgs once existed. Recently I was roaming around Greater Kailash Colony, one posh area which has everything to symbolise itself as a modern locality with little or no association with the past. But my fondness for sweet grilled corn drove me to a public park where I discovered a point where two civilization despite great time lag exists together. There was an old structure...

Among the fourteen gates build by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, Kashmere Gate is one of the survived structure. Facing towards the north it still reminds of the Seventh City of Delhi. Shah Jahan who holds the credit of being great city planner built Shahjahanabad, the seventh city of Delhi in 1649. All fourteen gates were made up of hard bricks and encircled in a way to protect the royal city. Many say the name given Kashmere gate, as it was facing north, towards Kashmir. The ruined, silent historical site has witnessed  many sighs. It has seen glorious Mughal days and also blood during the British era. And currently, after large portion being demolished in 1965, the gate is under the protection of Archeological Survey of India. However, in early 18th century when Britishers start settling in Delhi, they found the walled city in poor condition. And while building residence near Kashmere gate, th...

Artists are born to do wonders and the CAFE is created to draw all such poets, journalist, musicians, writers scholars and photographers to give a push to resistance in most effective and creative way.  This was the first few which crossed my ear from some corner of shiny creamy coloured hall. Don't get confused I am just sharing my worthy Sunday evening experience from inaugural session of Centre for Art and Free Expression (CAfE). The metal gate of the creative institution opens in a Muslim populated area, taking inspiration from the Harlem Renaissance. Bilal Zaidi, host of the event describe the initiative as, Inspired by the Harlem Renaissance that took place in the city of New York in the 1930s, the Centre of Art and Free Expression aims to be a cultural centre that ... draws Muslims and other marginalised writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. It's a safe space where they could freely express their tal...

It has been four years since the 2012 Delhi Gang Rape, when a 23-year-old female physiotherapy intern, Jyoti Singh, was lured into a private bus and then beaten, gang raped, and tortured. The incident led to protests across the country, with calls for justice continuing to ring. ANWARUL HODA met with the victim’s mother Asha Devi. Excerpts: Q. It has been four years, how are you coping? There have only been disappointments in these four years. Since the case is in Supreme Court and the legal procedure is taking its due course, I am hopeful that someday culprits will be hanged. Q. You asked for justice, what did you actually mean by it? Justice for me is what begins with ensuring security and providing some convenience to the victims. Things like registering FIR to punishing culprits on time is justice for me. The family of the victim suffers a lot and it is not easy for them to keep struggling with police and judiciary for years. I don’t understand how an upper court is ...

As the results started showing clear mandate to BJP in Uttar Pradesh poll, different versions of narratives against the previous predictions started flowing on social media sites. The defeat of BJP was almost assumed before the exit poll declaration but unlike Bihar, most of the exit polls turned true and remained close to the exact result. In fact, for the first time, BJP crossed the massive 300 figure and fourth time since independence any party in UP has managed to surpass this magical number. It’s really interesting to convey, for all the three time, ‘historical mandate’ to the particular party was emotionally driven. India National Congress become victorious for two and Janta Party for once. The history of UP electoral politics has been unstable for most of the time and there are very few chief ministers who successfully completed their tenure of five years. Akhilesh and Mayawati are one of them. Coming to the statistics of UP verdict, Samajwadi-Congress alliance sum-up ...