The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] If you’ve been married for lo, these many years, exactly how would you go about celebrating, say, your 32nd? Meet Mrs and Mr Verma. The Delhi couple is comfortably seated…
Cooking in the Old Quarter. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A mobile phone lying forgotten beside a spice box. Oil leaking out from a pickle bottle and staining the transparent plastic jar filled with masoor dal. And a…
The flavour of Tibet. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Pop singer Sonam Gonpo’s soothing voice, smeared with lighthearted longing, is softly streaming through the bazar. Elsewhere, the compulsive Instagrammer Jhumpa Dolma is gleefully flaunting her little braids tied…
The mystery of a name. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Our fair city is adorned with landmarks bearing names that defy scrutiny. But you would think that David Street in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj could easily be traced. After…
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Usha Choudhary is 61. Her husband, Ram Kumar, a retired veterinary scientist, is 72. They live in their two-room apartment with son Robin. He is…
The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds,…
Summer nostalgia. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Everybody whom I know in my city, Delhi, is looking happy. Their reason is the same. Winter season has begun. Just why do we Indians cherish winter so much when essentially…
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A doctor has his stethoscope, a painter his brush, a writer his iPhone. And swaddled in an off-white head cloth and mud-covered T-shirt and shorts…
Style in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sitting alone on this South Delhi pavement, Muhammed Zaman’s fingers are adorned with all sorts of stones, including cool-looking plastic rings that are shaped into human skulls. His arms…
The god of small things. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In a city of formidable-looking monuments raised by megalomaniac despots, it is still possible to find beauty in small, obscure relics. The unknown tomb lies in a graveyard…
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