Passage Brady is Bonk

One of my favorite areas of Paris is the few blocks between La Chapelle and Gare du Nord. The reason is simple; this is the "Little India" of Paris. The streets are lined with shops where I can buy all the essentials: mango pulp, tamarind pump, turmeric, cardamom, chai masala, kheer mix, hot peppers, brinjal, and more. Piles of 10 kilo sacks of rice spill out onto the sidewalks next to stalls selling the latest ripped bollywood DVDs and soundtracks. Sari-clad women crowd into sari shops. In my mind the streets smell of coriander, but that might be more fantasy than truth. The signs are mostly in Tamil with spatterings of Hindi, Bangla and Urdu. There are restaurants and then there are more restaurants, most advertising Sri Lankan specialities. My favorite, Ganesha, offers idli for 4 euro, curry for 2 euro, thali for 6 euro, and poori for 1 euro. These are as close to Indian prices as one will see in Paris. At least once per meal a man will appear at the table hawking jasmine garlands or roses. I am the only person I have ever seen buy one of their roses. Tall lanky trees rise from the sidewalks and overhang the streets creating a rugged canopy that gives the place an aura unlike anywhere else in Paris. On the whole it feels like a chilled out, sanitized version of India; India without the honking rickshaws, the beggars or the urine.

I was taken to La Chappelle months ago and have coveted it every since. Passage Brady I only heard about much later. A colleague mentioned the "Indian" area of Paris, and when I said "Oh right, La Chapelle," he said "No no, but it's near there. Passage Brady. It's lined with Indian shops; you'd love it." Being as I already loved La Chappelle I was pretty psyched; But wait! There's more!

Passage Brady is one of Paris's many quaint covered alleyways, and it is indeed lined with Indian shops of the same general profile as line the streets of La Chapelle. However, there is no room to breath in Passage Brady, no vantage point from which to enjoy the sights and sounds. The alley is so narrow the shops and outdoor restaurant tables encroach on both sides leaving room for barely two people to pass by shoulder to shoulder. The shops and restaurants are largely empty--never a good sign--particularly in contrast to the busy main streets on either end of the passage. A man stands outside each restaurant, intentionally blocking the way of passersby, entreating them to come in and enjoy an aperitif on the house before their meal. They act and sound desperate, and given the obvious lack of customers it's easy to see why. The passage truly feels deserted, abandoned, a film set in between takes, but the restaurant hawkers didn't hear the director yell "Cut!" There are elements of this Little India that ring true, particularly the shameless begging, but mostly it feels shallow, hollow, empty, especially in contrast to the canopied enclave a few blocks north.

If I ever get around to doing my ever-theorized never-realized research project on South Asian Paris I'll let you know what accounts for the difference. For now I'm pretty sure I'll go back to Ganesha and by me another rose.