Delhiwale: Walking on Safdarjang flyover

Everything you need to unwind is here — history, nature and perspective. Just step out of your car and give it a shot.

Trees with purple flowers. A monsoon breeze, gently caressing our face. A smooth and easy climb.

Originally known as Willingdon Airfield, Safdarjang Airport served the capital from 1929 to 1962. (Mayank Austen Soofi / HT Photo)

It turned out to be our most pleasant walk in recent times.

We’ve always seen Safdarjang Flyover as one of the many hurdles to be overcome on our daily commute. All we needed to do was get out of the car.

The broad footpaths on both sides of the flyover are paved with a pattern in white and brown tiles. We suggest that you walk on the flyover’s western side: the one that directly overlooks the runway of Delhi’s first airport.

Originally known as Willingdon Airfield, Safdarjang Airport served the capital from 1929 to 1962. It is from this historic tarmac that the last British Viceroy’s last Indian flight took off. MA Jinnah, too, took off from here to his new country of Pakistan. Today the airport is hardly more than a fleeting window-view from cars roaring down the flyover. Its vast emptiness feels particularly haunting in the evening, when the sunset sky starts to bleed in various shades of red.

The mood shifts as we walk further and cross over a picturesque set of railway tracks below. A local train is slowly chugging along. The straight rail tracks seem to join the sky at a distant horizon. But we know for a fact that the train will probably stop at Sarojini Nagar station, just five minutes away.

Next, we pass by a man in white kurta-pajama, quietly watching the traffic go by. On spotting us, he turns away.

On reaching the other end of the flyover, we return to the flat world.