Walking up a winding approach from the Qutub-Badarpur road and through a postern which has a finely arched roof to enter Tughlaqabad fort complex with its size, shape and spread of over 6km in the midst of a bustling, overcrowded metropolis like Delhi is a veritable delight.
Discreetly pretentious is the mustard dome that rises loftily from behind tall iron gates opposite a decrepit Kashmiri Gate, at the intersection of Church Road and Lothian Road. This is the dome of the first ever church built in Delhi – St. James’ Church commissioned by Colonel James Skinner.
We walked out of arrivals lounge in Shiraz international airport on that November evening in 2015 expecting to be met not by the young Indian waving to us but by our Iranian guide Reza. Wondering why there was a change in plans even before we commenced our long awaited tour of Iran, we advanced towards him.
