A backpacker's hub: Paharganj goes quiet under Covid pandemic blow

A backpackers' hub, its unique economy of hotels, restaurants, travel operators and money changers reels under Covid blow

It is around 2.30 in the afternoon. Vivek Kanojia is carefully wrapping a ceramic wall hook that costs Rs 100 for his second customer of the day, Alina, who is from Russia. She is also the first foreigner to have stopped by his curio shop in a while. Two years ago, Kanojia would have already spent a few hours on his toes by this time of the day, attending to a steady stream of customers, most of them foreigners. “Now all I do is sit and dust my wares,” he says, looking at his stock glumly.

The street outside his shop