Delhiwale: This way to Gali Shankar Wali

Gali Shankar Wali, named after Shankar Bhagwan, features Javed's bakery, Zeeshan Roti Wale, where he employs three and serves local patrons.

All the sincere conjectures about the street’s name reverently points to the same divinity. Every passer-by accosted in Gali Shankar Wali assumes that the Old Delhi lane must have obviously been named after Shankar Bhagwan. One dweller—actor Kaushal Kumar—leans out from his first-floor balcony, stating matter-of-factly: “Shankarji visits our gali at night when everyone’s sleeping.”

A man in check lungi and T-shirt is sitting silently in the bakery. (HT Photo)

In the dull light of the day, however, the lane resembles an earthly cluster of residences and shops. The banners of street businesses bear fascinating names though: Lovely Store, Muscle Care Nutrition Store, Bright Beauty Parlour, Scissors-A Cut Above Men’s Salon…. then there is the buzzy Razabul’s Chai Khana sharing its wall with Zeeshan Roti Wale bakery. This late afternoon, a man in check lungi and T-shirt is sitting silently in the bakery (see photo). The smoke-stained walls are lending the place a venerable character, but the bakery isn’t old, and was founded only four years ago by this same man. Zeeshan Roti Wale makes tandoori rotis and sweet sheermal bread for the area’s households.

Mild-mannered Javed had named his establishment after son Zeeshan, who is 10. That was the exact age when he himself had arrived in Delhi from his village in Bihar’s Kishanganj. Circumstances had made the child jettison his childhood. Little Javed started in the city as a “karkhana” worker in distant Jaffrabad. After the karkhana shut permanently, he shifted to Old Delhi, becoming a helper in a Meena Bazar biryani kiosk. The next job took him a few neighbourhoods away to an eatery in Shahganj. He later moved to Islamuddin Roti Wale in Mohalla Qabristan, and worked for 18 long years.

Today, the man who spent a lifetime labouring in other people’s establishments, himself employees three men: Arbaz, Hazmat, and Arman. The bakery’s daily patrons mostly comprise the dwellers of Gali Shankar Wali. The rest of the regulars walk in from nearby Sitaram Bazar, Bulbuli Khana and Kalan Masjid. Nobody comes from Pahari Bhojla’s Anjuman Chowk, Javed’s own address, where he lives with his family.

Anyhow, the modest bakery owner is feeling too shy to talk of himself. Changing the subject, he remarks that the site of his bakery used to have an eye clinic. Where did it go? He shrugs his shoulders. Soon, a customer pops up to get a few rotis, each priced at six rupees.