Mehar Chand market gets makeover

NEW DELHI: It's hard to put the insignia of a city on any one location, but walk through the single lane of Mehar Chand Market in Lodhi colony and you know you're in Delhi. Much like the city, years of constant evolution have shaped the market, and the former tailoring locality is now home to an eclectic set of entrepreneurs.
Decade-old local kinarastores flank specialty organic grocers; baby boutiques stand contiguous to Indian textile shops; and small momo stalls and chaatwalascreate the milieu for new, world cuisine joints. Kiran Kapoor, who owns the CMYK bookstore and cafe in the market, sums it up nicely: "It's everybody's market," she says.
Kapoor is still a recent entrant -- the store has been there for three years, the cafe only since January - but she's not alone. In the past year or two, several have chosen the quaint market for its lazy vibe, open spaces, wide sidewalks, reasonable rents, convenient parking, and central location.
"This market will be the new Hauz Khas Village," says Lalita de Goederen, who most recently opened Bagel's Cafe at the market, the second branch in Delhi and fourth in the national capital region. "I looked at this market for 18 months, and I have seen it pick up immensely. There were few eateries in Hauz Khas Village when I opened the cafe there, and footfall definitely increased once they came up. I expect that trend here also," she says.
Enter one of the newer establishments, Kunafa, and a dazzling array of Middle Eastern desserts greets you - a revelation for those who may not think beyond baklava. It's a small, cozy space lined with trays filled with golden pastry confections prepared by two Palestinian and two Syrian chefs; a piece of the Middle East in the heart of Delhi.
Naser Barakat, one of four partners of the Delhi outlet - the chain has branches in Beirut, Palestine, and Jordan - says proudly, ""We had to fire three chefs until we found one who could prepare mabroomeh(a type of baklava that takes four days to make)."" Clearly, authenticity is important. They get hazelnuts and pistachios from Iran; lemon peel, orange peel, and apricots from Syria; dates from Palestine; and figs and coffee powder from Turkey. ""We use natural Jordanian honey for all our products,"" he tells a walk-in customer worried about the calories.
Barakat, a Palestinian, who has been in the city for over twenty years - he calls himself Hindustani now -says people would always ask him to bring back baklava whenever he took a trip. ""There is a big market here, and until now people had nowhere to go for these desserts. We also plan to open a proper cafe with shishaand shawarmas,"" he says.
Not far away from Kunafa is yet another newcomer, Chez Nini, where people amble in all day - some for the French food, some to catch up over coffee and cupcakes. The bistro, with all its twinkling lights and forest-like decor, has an easy vibe to it. Kings of Leon plays over the stereo, and the sinful desserts on full display - chocolate tart with caramel oozing out from the centre, sticky toffee pudding, lemon meringue pies straight out of the oven - make you linger on.
Owner Nira Singh's engineering background belies her passion for cooking, but it's evident once you meet her. She obsesses over the electric wires she can see through the metal fixture in one corner, personally greets everybody who walks in, and says she designed every bit of the restaurant. ""I came to the city from Montreal five years ago for a culinary internship and ended up staying on for no particular reason. The restaurant has been a dream since then,"" she says.
It opened only in March, but Singh is already talking about changing things up. ""I want to change the menu and look of the restaurant every few months because I always want to be excited about it. I also want customers to have a new and different experience each visit,"" she says.
The market, on the whole, seems to be all about the visitor experience. You never know what you may stumble upon your next visit -- maybe a quirky store, a fascinating entrepreneur, a story hidden in the slum right behind. It's Delhi at its creative best.
And nothing screams creativity more than Crazy Daisy, a brand started by Jagriti Chadha with her mother Tito Singh Metge. The store instantly hits you with a blast of colour, and it's impossible to ignore the orange walls, wooden wind-chimes, and felt butterflies that line the walls. Small knick-knacks fill every shelf, there's a doll house in one corner, and an antique looking magnifying glass strewn casually over a stack of ceramic plates. Wearing a string of real pearls and glass birds, Singh epitomizes the store's philosophy. ""Pearls are proper, but we make them fun. The store is very whimsical,"" she says, showing a roll of printed toilet paper too cute to be used.
The market has a community vibe to it, credit for which goes to its dwellers. "We have weekly cooking classes, and hold occasional live music performances that I'm hoping to make a regular feature. I'm also trying to start a welfare association for the shop owners here," says Kapoor. Several months back, she also held a Farmer's Market, which was organized by another Mehar Chand entrepreneur, Ayesha Grewal.
Grewal, who owns the organic store, The Altitude Store, says, "We do many products ourselves, but also stock other brands to give people more choice." One of the brands, Nourish Organics, also has its own store in the same market. "I plan to start a fine foods range of items like smoked duck breast, sausages, prepared meats, and soups once the weather settles," she adds.
Not all original stores have managed to survive the boom. Those that did not only accepted the growth around them, but also welcomed it. "Over half of the tailors have left the market in the past few years. We never thought of leaving, as our customers, especially 'hi-fi VIPs', have increased because of the newer showrooms," says Nand Kishore, who has been managing First Wonder Om Tailors since 1990. Theirs was the first tailoring unit to open in the market, "We called ourselves 'wonder' and others that came in also followed,"" he says. Many 'wonders' followed, few remain. But the market continues to grow, spawning wonders of a different kind.