New Delhi, March 22 -- The otherwise bustling lanes of Nizamuddin Basti are rather quiet for a spring afternoon. Once primarily a slum cluster in the heart of the national capital, the Basti now accommodates buildings that appear taller than some monuments here. Beyond its dusty paths and dingy lanes, the Nizamuddin skyline has domes of monuments decked with fairy lights for the holy month and lush green trees in the backdrop.

"I was born here; I grew up seeing these monuments all around me," says Shumayila, a 25-year-old history enthusiast for whom white marble monuments and pietra dura ornamentation were a common sight.

"I saw them from my home's terrace."As a child of three or four, she grew up mesmerised by the grand tombs of Nizamu...