India, May 31 -- Delhi has never been a city built through erasure. It has always evolved through accumulation. The city's identity lies not in uniformity, but in layering - in the ability to preserve different historical rhythms simultaneously.

This is why Delhi cannot be understood solely through monuments of state power. Its real autobiography lies equally in the spaces where diplomacy unfolded, where political negotiations occurred informally, where cuisine, sport, etiquette, conversation and governance intersected, and where generations inherited not simply buildings but ways of inhabiting the city. Within this larger historical manuscript of Delhi, the Delhi Gymkhana Club occupies a singular place.

Established in 1913 as the "Impe...