Crowd a routine feature,say neighbours

But when Anna came in August,Vidya also went to see what all the fuss was about. “That was the one time I went inside (Ramlila Maidan),I have never seen crowd like that,so colourful,” she says.

Outside his house in LNJP Colony,Haji Muhammed Bakshi sits near a fire to keep himself warm. He says the activities at the Maidan rarely affect the life of people in the area.

“The only problem is that during a big event,the traffic here gets jammed,” he says.

But this year,Haji Bakshi’s life was affected. “All the businesses were closed during Hazare’s protest. There was a lot of noise,no way we could sleep at night. But I support what he was doing,he was doing it for everyone,” he says.

With a good view of the Maidan,Haji Bakshi’s top floor became an observation point for the police.

“Policemen used to sit there during the fast,and they had put cameras there,” he says.

Narayani Gupta,who has documented Delhi’s history in many of her books,says,“It must be from Indira Gandhi’s time that the Maidan became a venue for political gatherings. In the 50s,there were no such events. The Maidan does not draw people from the nearby areas. It is outside Old Delhi and people from the new city don’t usually go there. People who come are from outside Delhi.”