India, March 17 -- Narrow noisy lanes choking the cramped crowded localities. This being the primal force behind the steady exodus of the Walled City wale from the Walled City. The first trickle started some decades ago when households with centuries-old roots in historic Old Delhi started to flee the Walled City through its vanished walls. In quest of space and daylight (and playgrounds for children), many of them merely crossed the Yamuna river, transplanting themselves in nearby places like Laxmi Nagar.
The entrance to Old Delhi's Katra Dhobiyan is predictably dismal-it lets in no daylight, and promises nothing but congestion ahead. This sunny afternoon, the tunnel-like corridor is submerged in darkness. But.big surprise! It ends in an ...