Delhiwale: This way to Motor Market

Old Delhi's Motor Market, behind Jama Masjid, is filled with motor shops and laborers, showcasing a blend of history and bustling activity.

Gali Choori Wallan had choori sellers. Gali Sui Wallan had suiwork artisans. And Motor Market had motor sellers; and it continues to have them.

Old Delhi’s Motor Market is better known as Jama Masjid Motor Market. For it lies right behind the Jama Masjid. A pavement wall separates the Mughal-era mosque from the Motor Market road. (HT)

Old Delhi’s Motor Market is better known as Jama Masjid Motor Market. For it lies right behind the Jama Masjid. A pavement wall separates the Mughal-era mosque from the Motor Market Road. The wall is flanked by bougainvillaeas shrubs. These pink flowers happen to be the sole decorations in the living arrangements of labourers who reside by the wall. During the day, the men are away at work, leaving behind their bags and belongings, which hang from hooks nailed to the wall. The labourers return in the evening. After the night meal, they lie down on their share of the pave. This same pave overlooks the Motor Market’s motor shops, across the road, and also at the hotels perched atop the shops. (The pink-walled Taj Hotel hosts a vivid view of Jama Masjid — all the three domes visible simultaneously from its guest rooms.)

The Motor Market’s principal character is naturally marked by its motor shops, overfilling with piles of “spare motor parts”— which are “Indian and imported,” “old and new.” A kind shopkeeper helps identify the each with its name: engine gear, shocker, suspension, car doors, magnesium coil, lead, censor, gear haddi, BCM, ball bearing, side mirror, rear view mirror, roller, needle, thrust, car light, piston, and fuel pump.

Years ago, the market used to be a site to dismantle old and damaged cars. Every single car part would be thoroughly repaired, ultimately transplanted into another vehicle. Today, the dismantling has moved to workshops far outside the Walled City, says a “spare parts” merchant. He has heard from his elders that the congested area was once a sprawling ground, with motor shops clinging directly to Jama Masjid’s centuries-old walls. (The stone mosque, as mentioned earlier, is now separated from the market road by a pavement wall).

Around midnight, the Motor Market gains quietude. The road divider is claimed by street recyclers. These citizens lie down on the elevated concrete in a long row—head to feet, head to feet.