India, Sept. 25 -- Here's a thing to mull upon. If all the columns of Delhi's Connaught Place (CP) are pulled out from their foundation, and installed one upon another, could they then reach the altitude of Mount Everest?

The stately white colonial-era columns constitute CP's signature sight. They support the ceilings of its colonnades, rooting them to the good earth. Identical in their circular shape and height, the columns line the market arcades of the Inner and Outer Circles, as well as the corridors that link the circles.

Last week, the first part of this series conducted a survey of the Outer Circle columns. Today's the turn of the Inner Circle columns. The following observations culled out from an afternoon stroll along the circl...