Interactive session with Mrs Swapna Liddle about Markets and Neighbourhoods of Delhi for Classes 6, 7 and 8
26th February 2020

Class 8 got the privilege of meeting the renowned author and historian, Swapna Liddle. We engaged in an interactive discussion through which we time travelled into the past and delved into the rich history of Delhi.
She mainly talked about the naming of different places in Delhi and divided their origin into 3 categories :- Pre- British, British and Post - British. In the period before the British rule, places were mainly named after the royalty or famous people related to it like Sadar Bazaar.But when the Britishers took over, there came about a huge change in the way places were named. Now, places were named to honour famous personalities who may not have had any relation to the given place, such as Connaught Place - which was named after the British monarch; Queen Victoria's son Arthur who's title was the Duke of Connaught although he had no relation to Delhi whatsoever. Old Delhi ( Shahjahanabad ) was named during the Pre - British rule while the newer part of Delhi built during the British rule became known as Lutyen's Delhi. After getting independence from the British, we followed a similar naming system. However, we named the roads and many more places based on the freedom fighters - like Kasturba Gandhi Marg. We also based the name of colonies based on something historical there. For example, Dhaula Kuan was named after a white well which was supposed to exist there but is not anymore.
All in all, it was a wonderfully enriching learning experience for all of us.

Kyra Dhar - Class 8