Delhiwale: CP surrealism

Oh, the Regal cinema building! The world its passageway shelters! The softy stall named Everyone’s Happiness Place, the longtime burger outlet but now shut for months, the vendors hawking belts, handkerchiefs and sunglasses, the love birds walking hand in hand… the mere sight of the white building brings back these scenes

Oh, the Regal cinema building! The world its passageway shelters! The softy stall named Everyone’s Happiness Place, the longtime burger outlet but now shut for months, the vendors hawking belts, handkerchiefs and sunglasses, the love birds walking hand in hand… the mere sight of the white building brings back these scenes. So familiar, so recognisable. So is the newly renovated Starbucks in A Block. Yet, in the Instagram reels of Saturday’s disturbances in Connaught Place, these landmarks seem to belong to another place, with security personnel and protesters gathered around them.

Photo of the Regal Cinema corner was snapped on Sunday afternoon. (Mayank Austen Soofi)

Indeed, it is surreal to see places where we stop for a latte or wait for a friend suddenly appearing amid scenes that we generally associate with TV news from places farther away.

To see CP as we know it in normal times, let’s return to one of its most serene spaces, unknown even to many of its staunchest loyalists. No matter how crowded the colonial-era shopping district is, this corner always remains quiet. It is the courtyard of the Sufi shrine of Shah Abdul Salam.

Tucked into the Outer Circle, across from the hotel originally known as Marina, the dargah is reached through an easily overlooked passage. Within moments, the narrow passage leads away from the bustle of CP into a courtyard with trees and graves.

This afternoon, much of the courtyard is empty (it always is!). The leafy trees spread above the enclosing walls. Their shade extends over the yard, interrupted here and there by sunlight. A row of potted plants make parts of the courtyard feel like a household aangan.

A woman is sitting quietly against a wall. The sight is ordinary, yet precious. For there is something reassuring about being able to sit like this in CP, without ordering anything, without being required to keep moving, without being accosted by vendors, without being distracted by showroom windows.

The many old graves in the shrine are part of the courtyard’s everyday surroundings. Afternoon sunlight is reaching the silken cloth covering a grave. The light then passes through a stone screen, falling in small droplets across the floor beside it.

On exiting this serene site, one is instantly sucked back into the excitement and commerce of CP. That, too, feels good. In times of normalcy.

PS:Photo of the Regal Cinema corner was snapped on Sunday afternoon