Delhi’s weekend plans almost seem to run on a familiar template. Friday evenings are for dinner and drinks, Saturday mornings begin with a run club or an 8am coffee rave, while some head to a silent book reading session in the afternoon. Others prefer a slow Sunday morning at home before joining a heritage walk in the evening. And with the festive season around the corner, the city’s markets are likely to feature on many weekend itineraries.But this weekend, there could be a slight shuffle in those plans as Delhi hosts the BRICS Summit. With restrictions, diversions and regulated movement on several roads in central Delhi, Delhiites are recalibrating their plans.For some, that has meant postponing events. Meanwhile, some cultural and creative spaces are set to remain closed for the weekend.
Bharat Mandapam and other landmark locations have been lit up for the summit
‘Our decisions ensure that visitors don’t face any inconvenience’The disruption is particularly noticeable in parts of central Delhi, where galleries, cultural spaces, restaurants and event venues routinely become weekend destinations. Rohan Aggarwal, coordinator of The Bazaar at Sunder Nursery, which will remain closed this Sunday, says, “From a coordinator’s perspective, one of the concerns is the potential difficulty for both vendors and visitors to reach Sunder Nursery and move around the city smoothly because of the BRICS-related arrangements and restrictions. Since it involves vendors bringing in their products from various far-off locations and visitors travelling in, any restrictions or movement-related disruptions can make logistics quite challenging. So the decision is largely about ensuring that vendors and visitors don’t face any last-minute inconvenience.”Heritage walk leader Nitika Arora is hosting a tour entirely inside the metro station this weekend. She says, “The Metro Morphosis walk will allow people to commute via the metro, move between stations, and we will round up the walk at a station outside central Delhi.” She adds, “If people are willing to step out on the weekend and engage with heritage, they can go to places like Tughlaqabad Fort, Shalimar Bagh and Adilabad Fort, and commute by metro.”Artist Kanchan Chander’s 50-year retrospective was going to open on Saturday at Bikaner House with a reception on the same day. The reception has been postponed to Monday. She says, “There was no point having an opening reception if there’s traffic restrictions and just a handful turn up. I want people to come see my works of the last 50 years, so I had to postpone to the 14th.”Delhiites rethink, reroute their plansFitness groups which meet at Kartavya Path and Shanti Path have also scheduled meet-ups in other locations. Harshit Seth, an entrepreneur from Rajouri Garden, says, “I moved my daily runs to the Delhi Cantt area after seeing the route restrictions around Shanti Path and Nehru Park. Whenever there is VVIP movement around Shanti Path, the Delhi Police advises runners to stop. With the BRICS Summit scheduled this weekend, and large numbers of people usually visiting the Shanti Path-Nehru Park stretch on Sundays, it could create massive chaos and leave runners clueless about where they can run. So, it is better to go to other locations in the city.”Central Delhi’s cultural hubs open, but BRICS restrictions applyBharat Mandapam sits amid one of Delhi’s busiest heritage, cultural and shopping belts. While not all these destinations are necessarily affected or closed because of the BRICS Summit, visitors need to factor in traffic restrictions and diversions while planning a visit.Heritage and landmarks: Purana Qila, Humayun’s Tomb, India Gate, Kartavya Path, National War Memorial and Delhi Zoo, Sunder NurseryMuseums and cultural institutions: National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy, National Science Centre, National Gallery of Modern Art, IGNCA, and National School of DramaArt and theatre: Triveni Kala Sangam, Kamani Auditorium, Shriram Centre for Performing Arts, Art Heritage and the Mandi House theatre circuitMarkets and shopping: Janpath Market, Connaught Place, Palika Bazaar and Khan MarketTaking to Instagram, some cultural institutions like Lalit Kala Akademi, National Museum have declared that it will remain closed over the weekend. Meanwhile, NGMA will remain closed on Friday
