India, Nov. 6 -- This evening in Connaught Place, the Diwali lights are already turned on while there is still some daylight left. You can see the wires from which the little bulbs hang. Soon as the daylight fades, the wires become invisible and the decorative arrangement at A Block, Inner Circle, gives the illusion of a curtain of gold hanging above its entrance arch. The upper windows of the Museum of Illusions are glowing blue behind it-see right photo.

Diwali falls on Sunday. In the evenings leading up to it, Delhi's roads jam up and the markets are super-packed. CP's Inner Circle is one of the few places in the city where, in the thick of the festival rush, a long walk in the open, polluted air can itself be a way of celebrating the...