The bustling, central hub of New Delhi, Connaught Place

From the archive record

Classical English architecture, wide beautifully-kept roads, colonnaded walkways and glittering large showrooms of every known brand – if it were not for the recurring garbage piles and betel stains ornamenting the white walls and grey marble floor, one would have thought they were somewhere in Europe. Welcome to Connaught Place – the heart of Lutyen’s Delhi! Officially called Rajiv Chowk and often abbreviated as CP, the massive commercial area was originally conceived to provide maximum shopping experience to British colonialists and military officers who then ruled over the subcontinent from their newly developed capital ostensibly christened as “New Delhi”, but now predominantly caters a clientele consisting of the Westernized, rapidly multiplying, newly affluent middle-class of a moder