Delhiwale: The best place to read poetry amid flowers with some jhal muri

It is the right place to read poetry — secluded but not solitary and dedicated to a poet.

We think we have found the most suitable place in this city to read poetry.

This plaza on Maharshi Raman Marg is dedicated to Subramania Bharathi. (HT Photo / Mayank Austen Soofi)

This tiny plaza on Maharshi Raman Marg is dedicated to Subramania Bharathi. We confess never having read this Tamil poet (we are still to learn the language) but the vibe around his statue is certainly friendly.

The plaza is bordered with a sea of lavender-coloured flowers. On a breezy day, they toss wildly, trying to reach out to people on the benches. Not that you would find a crowd here. Only itinerant vendors of jhal muri and ram laddoos stop by to lounge on the benches. It is calming to watch them sleep.

We, however, warn you this is a place that offers seclusion but not solitude. You will not be able to feel completely alone for more than a few seconds. The traffic on the road is constant. Sudden intervals of intense silence are crudely broken by the siren of a VIP’s cavalcade or, more pleasantly, by the flutter of a peacock’s wings.

The plaza has been here since 1987 but started to look inviting only recently — we hadn’t noticed the benches before and the weedy bushes, too, are gone.

Winter is coming and we plan to lounge here more often. But first, we must get Subramania Bharathi’s English translation.