Discovering Delhi In The Rains With These Heritage Walks

“The first sounds I ever heard were those of falling rain.”
That’s how Alexander Frater begins his acclaimed travel book Chasing the Monsoon. In this seminal account of the Indian monsoon, the British-Australian writer highlights Delhi as a key stop on his journey tracking the rains across the subcontinent. He captures the city’s complex relationship with the monsoon — a season that brings both emotional relief and logistical challenges. Mirza Hairat Dehlavi’s evocative writings about the Phoolwalon Ki Sair festival in Mehrauli further illustrate how deeply the rains shape Delhi’s cultural and social life. Perhaps, the best way to experience the magic of the monsoon is to take a walk — to wander through the city and uncover the many stories woven into its rain-soaked streets. Few things compare to the joy of exploring an urban landscape under a curtain of falling rain. As the monsoon clouds roll into Delhi, painting the city green and washing the dust off centuries-old ruins, a different kind of urban adventure begins—one where history, poetry, nature, and rain intermingle.