Delhiwale: This way to Gali Garhiya

Bharat Shocker, Cheena Shocker, New Star Shocker… Step into Gali Garhiya, and almost every signboard bears the word “Shocker

Bharat Shocker, Cheena Shocker, New Star Shocker… Step into Gali Garhiya, and almost every signboard bears the word “Shocker.” A trader explains that mechanics call a motorcycle shock absorber a shocker.

Delhiwale: This way to Gali Garhiya

The Old Delhi lane in Matia Mahal owes its name to garraya, a pit that once existed at the end of the street. This rainy afternoon, a grandfather, his son and his son’s son are sitting dry inside a shocker shop. The elder man offers chai, confirming the story about the street’s name. He also says that the Walled City has two more streets with this name, in Kucha Chelan and Chitla Gate.

As you walk deeper into the cramped lane, it bends and widens. Side alleys branch off, now left, now right. Shops follows shops, each filled with shockers and spare parts. Inside one shop, shelves from floor to ceiling are packed with shocker parts wrapped in transparent plastic. Hundreds of identical pieces fill every cubbyhole. The shopkeeper is halfway up a metal ladder, rummaging into what appears to be hole in the ceiling. Only his legs are visible.

Goats crowd the lane the way stray dogs elsewhere. One is scratching its face against the handlebar of a parked motorcycle. Another hops down from a scooter. Black cats prowl. Children, too.

The great surprise waits near the lane’s end.

A very large yellow bungalow appears, totally out of proportion with everything around it. Its entrance is framed by slender columns supporting a triangular pediment. Old wooden windows stand on either side. The walls reveals pink bricks beneath the peeling paint. Above the doorway is written Dildar Manzil in Urdu. It is startling to come across such a sprawling residence inside one of the most congested quarters of the Walled City. A few steps later, the lane ends beside yet another shocker shop.

Gali Garhiya is not called Gali Shocker Wali. Shocking.