Vashist Telecom Center

Chandni Chowk is a maze, and if you find your way to Chail Puri in Kinari Bazar, you will see us at number 2820. This shop is tiny, which is normal for this part of Old Delhi where space is very hard to come by. We are surrounded by shops selling wedding laces and jewelry, so a telecom center feels a bit different in this alley. The walls are thick and the ceiling is high, but we have filled every inch with cables, batteries, and old phone parts. It’s always dark in the bazar because the buildings are so close together, so we have to keep the lights on all day. The noise outside is incredible—porters shouting, bells ringing, and thousands of people walking past our door every hour. We spend our time hunched over a small desk fixing whatever comes our way. Sometimes it’s a modern smartphone, and sometimes it’s an old basic phone that someone has used for ten years and refuses to give up on. We don't have much room for customers to stand inside, so they usually wait out in the lane while we finish the work. It’s a hectic place to spend the day, but there is a lot of history in these walls. We’ve known the other shopkeepers around here for a long time, and we all look out for each other. It’s just a small spot in a very big city, doing what we know how to do for the people around here.