Afghans,Turks,Italians,French… all neighbours in Lajpat Nagar

Sitting inside his rented home at Vinobhapuri in Lajpat Nagar Part II,he says,“I have realised the business potential and the freedom of living here.” He has opened a Turkish restaurant,Anatolia,close to the Central Market where he serves doner and seekh kebabs.

Kasturba Niketan Complex is a short walk from Anatolia,where there is a cluster of Afghan families — the men in their long Pathan suits,the women in their hijabs.

For most expatriates,Lajpat Nagar’s attractions are the affordable rents,the centralised location and its easy distance from the Capital’s main market areas like Khan Market and Greater Kailash. For Anne Charlotte,there is little about her two-room apartment that reminds of her home at Lille in Northern France. But she says,“I would never leave this place.” She has changed her accommodation thrice in Delhi but everytime within the boundaries of Lajpat Nagar. “I have friends here and the rent is not high,” says the 30-year-old who works in the French wing of a travel agency. While neighbouring areas like Jangpura and Defence Colony have rents ranging anywhere between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 a month for an apartment,in Lajpat Nagar a 200-sq feet space can be rented for Rs 12,000 to 15,000 a month. “Apartments in Lajpat Nagar Parts I,II and III fall under the ‘C’ category ,so the rents are not too high and foreigners who are not associated with embassies or the diplomatic community prefer living here. But they still form only a small percentage of the residents,” says Sanjeev Suri,a property dealer in Lajpat Nagar Part II.

Russian fashion photographer Irina Usova remembers arriving in Delhi three years ago from Moscow. She was living off her savings and could not afford a fancy address. “A friend recommended Lajpat Nagar,since it was a cheap and safe locality. I also wanted an apartment with many windows,” recalls Usova (29). She has found a two-room flat in Part I and she pays a monthly rent of Rs 10,500. Usova has enough Russian friends in Lajpat Nagar Part II and Part IV. “But I need to improve my Hindi to haggle with autowallahs. They hike fares whenever they see me approaching,” she says.

Usova’s Moscow is many timezones away from Claire Hazoume’s Bordeaux,but in Lajpat Nagar,they stay just blocks away. Hazoume,who works with a French news website,says,“I stayed in Jangpura earlier,but soon moved out since I found the place too snobbish and unsafe. I wanted to move to Lajpat Nagar.” She enjoys her evening walks in the neighbourhood. For an entertainment fix,she takes off to Kamani Auditorium occasionally.

For Aline Stucke,a Swiss national who works with ‘Delhi By Cycle’,which conducts cycling tours to Old Delhi,Lajpat Nagar offers the necessary client base. “We find many visiting foreigners living here keen on taking our tours,” she says.

The expat community in Lajpat Nagar is not as large as those in the affluent Defence Colony,Jangpura and Jorbagh areas,but this makes them a close-knit group,one which enjoys the place for what it offers. “During my first year in India,I felt strange,but the place has grown on me,” says Serena Rabezzana. The 28-year-old moved to Delhi from Turin,Italy,two years ago. “I like Lajpat Nagar because it is vibrant and a better residential area compared to Mahipalpur,where I stayed earlier. My landlady also gives me home-made Indian food since I cannot cook.” For Rabezzana,Delhi was initially just a stopover,one of the many capital cities where she could indulge in her hobby,photography. But she seems to be growing roots here. On weekends she happily heads off to Chandni Chowk with her Digi-SLR for early morning shoots to capture the street life. “There is so much colour on the streets here,” she says.