CHAOTIC STREET SCENE                                                                                     Extreme everything can be found on the street our guide lead us through in this oldest of Old Delhi shopping districts. A primary location and destination for local wholesalers, professionals, and retailers, it also brings in out-of-town shoppers from all over, drawn more to the excitement of its chaotic and noisy street scene, architectural intrigue, bustling crowds, and sidewalk and alleyway food vendors than they are to the seemingly unlimited number of purveyors of plumbing and hardware supplies, wedding invitations, appliances, bathroom fixtures and much more.

The infrastructure to support such density of place and intensity of activity is almost non-existent … from the spiderweb of power and telephone lines strewn haphazardly above streets and alleys to the sparse provision of water and sanitary facilities, the area is severely lacking. None of this, however, seems to matter. All day long and into the night the district is clogged by rickshaws, bicycles, taxis, cars, and hand-pulled delivery wagons, all fighting for space among the hundreds and hundreds of pedestrians purposefully moving through the organized disorder of the street.