The redevelopment of Chandni Chowk doesn't capture its unique spirit

A massive, glitzy makeover of Delhi's Chandni Chowk fails to address the Old City's multiple, unique historie

I am standing between two worlds. To my right is a Delhi Metro station, a steely, swift example of modernism. To my left is the Red Fort, the power centre of medieval India. And in front of me lies the future — all dug up and adding to the phenomenal chaos that is called Chandni Chowk.

The 1.3-km stretch — with the red sandstone royal citadel built by the fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan at one end and the grand 17th-century Fatehpuri Mosque, built by one of his wives, Fatehpuri Begum, at the other — is the site of a