Text & Photos: Gokul Sharma
Established in the year 1951, Khan Market is among Delhi’s coolest hangouts, with plenty of restaurants, bars, showrooms and cafés offering you time and space to relax.
My favourite spot, however, is an old family-run shop, Faqir Chand Bookstore. After a quick purchase of Stephen King’s ‘On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft’ I walked out of the store, and strolled about trying to photograph the little details of the market that are usually overlooked. The exterior of one of the houses (you hardly find houses that you could call home in Khan Market) appealed to me.
Trying to get the right frame, I was adjusting my camera when the door swung open and a lady appeared. This is where I found LOVE.
Joban, a soft-spoken lady in her late seventies, asked me why I was taking pictures. With some hesitation, I told her of my love for discovering art and beauty in simple little things. She called me in to have a look at what she was working at—a small banner stand, with the imprint of a flower, captioned LOVE.
“Khan Market is slowly losing the care and affection that you find in the solace of a home, so is the world at large,” she said. Then she shared her idea behind LOVE—Local, Open, Vibrant, Economy.
It is a concept that she feels is mysterious and real at the same time. It starts at local level, but is open to the world. She wants to restore the vibrancy of life, the pulse at its core. She believes in an economy that is a result of goodwill devoid of wealth, an economy that is synonymous to the warmth of family. The infinity she illustrates is the creator. Her deep-rooted sentiments for Khan Market and her concern for the slowly dying love and care in the modern times is what made her create this vision.
She doesn’t believe in advertising her effort; her goals are above the materialistic world despite being a part of it. The doors of her house are open any time for people to come and share their stories. She believes it’s the only way to make this world a home for all.
She was showing me an article dating back to 2020, stuck to the window facing the street, when a visitor interrupted us. Her son, Shaunaq, accompanied me to door.
I was there, alone in the crowd, staring back at home in Khan Market.
Cities become warm and endearing only through human touch, which is also what lends the place a timeless charm. Read here about Mehrauli, and how it lies sprinkled with tales long lost.
