Seven days after a high-intensity blast rocked the heart of old Delhi, near the historic Red Fort, the once-vibrant lanes of Chandni Chowk are limping back to life. But scars - visible and invisible - remain.
What was to be the peak of wedding season has turned into one of the leanest periods in recent memory for traders who rely on the daily rush of brides and grooms.
"The store has 1.2 million followers on Instagram. Normally during wedding season, we run out of space to stand (and) brides wait in queues outside. Customers sit on the floor if they have to... that is how packed it gets. But now it is all empty," Javed Ahmed, a salesman at a store called Maharani Collection, one of Chandni Chowk's most popular bridal couture stores, said.
NDTV saw rows of glittering lehengas worth thousands of rupees hanging untouched under crystal chandeliers, and mirrors that once reflected excited brides now show only empty aisles.
But that wasn't all. Ahmed also showed NDTV a glass rack cracked in a spider-web pattern -a glass rack shattered by the shockwave of a blast that went off barely 200 metres away.
"The blast broke everything. Glass we can replace. But customers... that is what we have lost," he said, walking to a corner where hundreds of bridal dresses await scared customers.
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"These are all online orders. Customers placed them two weeks ago... chose the fabric on video call... and paid an advance. Now they're cancelling or asking us to ship to Gurgaon and Noida instead. They say 'bhaiya, safe ho gaya na?' We tell them 'yes, come'. But they don't."
"We are one of the most popular shops... If this is our condition, imagine what smaller stores are going through," he adds, gesturing to the uneasy street outside, where there is some movement - a few auto-rickshaws pick their way through sparse crowds - but the legendary crush of Chandni Chowk is missing.
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"It feels nice to see people again," Ahmed admits, forcing a half-smile. "But this crowd? This is not even 30 per cent of what it should be in peak season. Some have shifted entire wedding shopping to malls in Delhi-NCR. We are getting cancellations every single day."
In the adjacent Old Lajpat Rai Market, known for jewellery and wedding accessories, the mood is just as grim. Praveen Khandelwal, a MP from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and President of the Confederation of All India Traders, told NDTV, "The five-day cordon and lingering fear cost Chandni Chowk and surrounding markets nearly Rs 300 or Rs 400 crore in direct losses."
A rickshaw puller who was barely 50 metres from the blast and witnessed the chaos first-hand also told NDTV life here is still not normal. "We don't see the road as congested as earlier."
The explosion on November 10 forced authorities to seal the stretch from the Chandni Chowk Metro Station to the Red Fort. For five full days, the area was cordoned off; only residents were allowed entry.
The Chandni Chowk area was cordoned off by cops and intelligence agencies.
Shops remained 'open' but were inaccessible to customers. It was only on the sixth day the barricades were partially lifted and the market re-opened fully to the public.
Some customers, however, are trickling back. Priya Sharma, who came with her family to finalise wedding jewellery, admitted, "There is still a little hesitation in the heart but we can't postpone the wedding. We trust the security forces now. That gives us confidence."
And in the Lajpat Rai Market Suresh Prakash told NDTV he remains concerned by terrorists having carried so much explosive around the city, bypassing all checkpoints.
"But we have to trust our agencies and security forces regarding the investigation. Slowly and gradually people will return and businesses will make up for the loss..."
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"But it is the burnt and the buried who will carry the blast forever."
For now, security in and around Red Fort remains on high alert. Paramilitary forces in full combat gear patrol the ramparts and the roads leading to Jama Masjid. That display of might has calmed some nerves; a family from Gwalior visiting Delhi said they felt no fear at all.
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Posing for a selfie with his young son outside the Red Fort, Rahul Kumar told NDTV, "We saw on the news how the blast killed innocent people. It broke our hearts. But our trip was planned months ago. And now that we're here, honestly, there is no fear. This is the national capital; it is bound to bounce back. I'm excited to shop in Chandni Chowk and show my son the iconic city."
Traders say it could take two to three weeks more, which would include an incident-free Christmas and New Year wedding season - before the old levels of confidence return fully.
For now, the enhanced security blanket around Red Fort is both a reassurance and a reminder that the shadow of November 10 still lingers over one of India's most iconic markets.
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