Walk with me | Ep. 6 - Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, India | Mirza Ghalib ki Haveli, Gali Qasim Jan

rrahulvverma@gmail.com | Old Delhi, Delhi, India | 2022: We begin this walk once again at the Lal Kuan neighborhood of Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi within the Indian Capital city of Delhi. We start right right at the point where Gali Qasim Jan meets the main road of Lal Kuan.

*Correction: Ghalib died in the mid 1800s and not in the 1700s. Sorry I misspoke the timeline in the video*

We walk leisurely yet thoughtfully along Gali Qasim Jan in the, roughly, north direction, hoping to find Mirza Ghalib at some point during our walk. The famous urdu poet is considered one of the best poets of the region, his poetry just as logical as it is emotional. While walking Gali Qasim Jan we take a turn into a number of interesting lanes called Kuchas that show a hint of the past glory and history of this neighborhood.

One such lane is the Nawab Loharu Gali or Haveli which was the residence of the Nawab of Loharu. Loharu was a pre-independent India princely state located within the present day Punjab. This lane in Chandni Chowk also happened to be the place where Mirza Ghalib's wife-to-be lived. Ghalib himself also spent some time at this place in Shahjahanabad. This place is hence locally and loosely also called Mirza Ghalib ka Sasural.

From the Sasural we head back deeper into the Gali Qasim Jan. The area we had unknowingly entered during our walk along this lane is actually called Ballimaran. Ballimaran is actually a word that suggests past associated of this place with fishermen - 'Balli' refers to a fisherman's oars.

We keep walking further and deeper into Ballimaran along Gali Qasim Jan until eventually we find Ghalib, still relaxing at this old Haveli at the end of this lane. Unfortunately though, the haveli was closed for visitors this day, so we could not meet the great poet in person. The entrance and the accessible entrance way of the Haveli did still give us a hint of what a wonderful and historical place this haveli is. Once we had reached Ghalib at his haveli, we knew the morning is done for us. We end the walk roughly in this part of Ballimaran.