My Neighbourhood in Lajpat Nagar

July 4, 2018 by Guest WriterHome Connect 1 Essays, Personal Stories, Urban Insights

A “Home Connect” Essay on Lajpat Nagar:

“One can never feel bored in Lajpat Nagar as all of you have to do is look outside and see how life is unfolding for many. The perks of living here is that you can always do last minute shopping.”

The Home is located in New Delhi, the capital of India. The Writer has chosen to remain anonymous.

Image Source(s) – PropTiger.com

Read the story of author’s home here…

My Neighbourhood in Lajpat Nagar

Lajpat Nagar has been my home for about fifteen years now. I live in California now but my parents still live in Lajpat Nagar, so I keep going back to its ordered chaos. I live on the street leading up to the central market.

Lajpat Nagar has a wild energy, which I miss whenever I go away. There are a myriad things happening at any point of time here. There are shopkeepers wooing customers, fruit sellers who carefully, artistically and proudly display their produce, kids playing badminton, stray dogs trying to claim the alleys by barking at unknown faces, young boys and girls going to college or tuition centers together, hordes of people gathered at tea stalls and Afghani bread shops waiting for their beverage and bread, people queuing up outside ATMs to complete their shopping expedition, cab drivers looking for the passenger’s address, old women gathered at a small temple getting their daily dose of spirituality and socialization all at once and much else.

One can never feel bored in Lajpat Nagar as all of you have to do is look outside and see how life is unfolding for many. The perks of living here is that you can always do last minute shopping.

Whenever there is an engagement, wedding or any function in our family, all my cousins from other parts of Delhi, come stay with us. This is because you can get your last-minute shoes, clothes, mehendi etc. We are also one of the first people to know of the latest fashion trend in Delhi. Multiples of fabric shops are a major attraction and encouragement to design one’s own clothes and I find it a satisfying experience to wear clothes designed by myself.

A funny thing that the residents including my family practices, is that Lajpat nagar residents buy essentials for any festival on the day of the festival itself to get good deals. An example is that the women buy rakhis on the day of the festival, getting it at an extremely subsidized rate. Another great advantage is the delicious food here. The street food including tandoori momos, shwarma, soy chaap, chaat, mooli laddooo etc. are some reasons I find it hard to live away from home.

As a girl I always feel relatively safer in Lajpat Nagar as it is so well-lit and active. There is no dearth of modes of transport here. The traffic in lajpat nagar can be a big hurdle to wade through at times but if you are a true resident, you will find shortcuts to avoid the traffic.

The only issue I have is with the architecture of houses here. Since historically it is a refugee colony, the rooms are lines after the other as it seemed convenient for the government to allot houses in such a manner. The rooms in between have no privacy. I call it living in a train coach.

The neighbors are very friendly and helpful, unless you park your car in their designated area outside their house! Neighbors usually go for walks together in the evenings when the market has been packed up. I also noticed that everyone took the cleanliness drive seriously and would clean the roads in their evening walks around the markets. It was a heartening sight, which made me feel proud of my community and friends.