India, Aug. 14 -- The Jama Masjid minarets rise into a cloudy August sky, a lone kite hovers near them, and tricolour flags sway in the damp monsoon breeze above an adjacent rooftop. It is a classic 15 August scene in Purani Dilli, photographed in the days leading to Independence Day.

Every Saturday, our "This way to" series takes a street of Old Delhi and chronicles its peculiarities. But today on 15 August, the streets will all wear the same colours, turning the focus to the Independence Day tradition of Purani Dilli.

The morning begins at the Red Fort. The Prime Minister delivers his speech, and the area around Jama Masjid goes under tight security, policemen stationed on rooftops.

Then the speech ends, and Old Delhi erupts. It is a...