India, May 13 -- A hyperlocal establishment with a distinct flavour

Debt-ridden poet Mirza Ghalib is nearing the end of his life, passing the final days in a mansion in Old Delhi's Ballimaran. He is still writing verses, still daily walking the short distance to a chaikhana with a disarmingly hopeful name-Dilkhush, meaning "heart-happy."

Ghalib is long gone. Dilkhush still stands in Ballimaran.

If only this were true. Parts of it are. Ghalib's last home is indeed nearby, and the chai establishment does exist. But Ghalib died about 150 years ago, while Dilkhush Tea Stall appeared twenty years ago, as the man at the counter explains.

Those historically minded people who like continuity, and try to seamlessly stitch the present to the pa...