City Neighbourhood – Kucha Chelan, Old Delhi Hangouts Walks by The Delhi Walla - December 1, 2024December 1, 20240 The Walled City encyclopedia [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This Old Delhi street should be called Gali Good Luck. The street has Good Luck Tailors, Good Luck Tea Stall and Good Luck Hair Salon. The place is actually Kucha Chelan, and it actually has a very bad luck past. Following the 1857 uprising, the avenging British massacred 1,400 citizens here. Those martyrs must have comprised some of Old Delhi’s wealthiest gentry, for Kucha Chelan’s name is said to have evolved from Chehel Amiran, forty wealthy men. Today, no sign of that violent history exists. All is serene along the lane, the serenest aspect being a small gurudwara. Every morning, an elderly lady is seen seated crosslegged beside the holy
City Monument – Nili Masjid & Nila Gumbad, Historic Delhi Monuments by The Delhi Walla - November 29, 2024November 29, 20240 Monuments to the blue. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In this season of pollution, to look for any blue in the sky is a timepass in vain. Fret not. You may find blue, or nila, in two little-known Delhi monuments, starting with their names. The Nili Masjid in Hauz Khas Enclave presumably takes its name from a row of blue tiles inlaid atop its arched gateway. Most tiles are sadly gone, the empty squares marking the loss. Nevertheless, the small mosque has richly detailed interiors. The stone surface of the central dome is sculpted with dozens of niched taak, a disappearing element in traditional architecture. As a token to the name, a handful of modern-day inscriptions painted on the
Mission Delhi – Akash ‘Albela’, Central Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - November 28, 20240 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Once upon a time, not so long ago, a boy called Akash lived in Dharam Nagar Bhagri, a village in Bihar’s zila Purbi Champaran. His father was a farmer, so was the father’s father. Akash too was expected to become a farmer. In fact, the family continues to own a plot of agricultural land amounting to “barah ghattha,” which is less than a beegha. On growing out of his childhood, Akash surprised nobody by plunging into a farmer’s routine. He diligently worked on the land, helping produce cyclic harvests of “dhaan, gehu, aloo.” And so the days passed, until Akash fell in love. It ended in heartbreak. He
City Life – Carrom Club, Khwaja Mirdard Basti Life by The Delhi Walla - November 27, 20240 An escape from daily life. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The small room is just wide enough to fit in a small table and four chairs. The table is just wide enough to accommodate a carrom board. This entire setting in Khwaja Mirrdard Basti makes for a kind of cozy distraction from the daily life of Khwaja Mirdard Basti. The congested ‘hood near Barakhamba flyover in central Delhi has streets so narrow that many of them don’t get any daylight, forever doomed to cold damp darkness. The area has no playground, no park, no open space. This afternoon, in the tiny carrom board club, four Mirdard dwellers are absorbed into a round of game, hitting the black and white carrom
City Life – The Capital City Minstrels, Humayun Road General by The Delhi Walla - November 26, 2024November 26, 20240 A city choir is celebrating its 30th anniversary [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] At first impression, it seems to be a regular adda of close friends. Some people are casually chatting under the courtyard tree. Some are hanging around the chai table. Some are daintily manoeuvring the garma-garam bread pakoras brought by Nisha and Pallav—this being the couple’s turn to get the snacks. On the other hand, the generous Tanisha didn’t have to but she anyway got homemade brownies for everyone. While Vinita’s bindaas red bag is striking a perfect jugalbandi with her snow-white hair. And in the courtyard’s far-flung corner, away from chai and bread pakodas, Nathalie is quietly playing the flute. These all are singers of The
City Library – Russian House, Feroze Shah Road Hangouts Library by The Delhi Walla - November 25, 20240 Delhi's most enigmatic library. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here pin-drop silence marinates amidst thousands of books. The library at Russian House, a Russian government enterprise, is in Delhi’s heart, but the third-floor windows show nothing of the city, except for the sky, and the treetops of Feroze Shah Road. Most books are in Russian, and almost all are beautifully produced hardbacks. The mere act of holding a random volume is like drifting closer to an otherwise remote world. This is easy to explain. The icy frozen Russia is geographically closer to Delhi than Western Europe, but London-Paris appear more accessible to us than Moscow-Saint Petersburg. Maybe because the former cities are more thoroughly enmeshed into our popular culture. Whatever,
City Life – Living in Extreme Delhi Pollution, Around Town General by The Delhi Walla - November 24, 2024November 24, 20240 Profiles in pollution. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On Monday morning this week in November 2024, the UNESCO World Heritage monument of Humayun Tomb vanished. The view was claimed by a relentless smog so thick that you could have cut it with a knife. That fateful day, Delhi’s Air Quality Index remained in the “severe plus” category, almost touching the dreadful maximum figure of 500. It was the second-worst air quality recorded since AQI tracking began in 2015, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. During the ensuing days, The Delhi Walla tracked a few Delhiwale from varied walks of life who have been obliged to expose themselves daily to the city’s toxic air, with no succour or respite. The
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Yasmeen Begum, Mahila Haat Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - November 22, 20240 Portrait of a mahila. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Mahila is woman for Hindi, but there is only one woman bookseller in Sunday Book Bazar held every week at Mahila Haat. One more mahila actually sits just outside the Mahila Haat gate every Sunday, where she sells bags to book buyers. Yasmeen Begum agreed to become a part of our Proust Questionnaire series, in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences. Your favourite virtue. My mehnat, my hard work. Your favourite qualities in a man. He must be hard-working, his language must be dignified. Your favourite qualities in a woman. Whether she be illiterate or educated, she should always cook for her family. Plus, she should not hesitate
City Poetry – Jasbir Chatterjee’s Poem, Around Town City Poetry by The Delhi Walla - November 22, 2024November 22, 20240 City verses. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] She gets up every morning at four. She goes to sleep every night by 10. Her waking hours are crammed with action. She makes breakfast for the family. She makes their dinner too. She also has a office job, which means her mornings and evenings are consumed in long bus commutes between her home in Vikaspuri and her office in Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar. Plus, these days she is battling Delhi’s horrible pollution, which has worsened her “allergic rhinitis problem” (she keeps prescribed pills in her handbag for emergencies). Even so, she has a firm faith in “our Guru Nanak’s chardi kala optimism, which is to be happy at all times, come what may.” Maybe
City Landmark – Leo Tolstoy’s World, Around Town Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - November 20, 2024November 20, 20240 Russia in Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Go to Janpath, and visit a man there with a long flowing beard. Leo Tolstoy stands by the traffic light. It is the Russian writer’s 114th death anniversary. Tolstoy made a most profound impact on the Indian who most profoundly shaped contemporary India. Mahatma Gandhi was famously influenced by Tolstoy’s ideas on non-violence and chastity. He even set up an ashram called Tolstoy Farm during his years in South Africa. That said, the novelist of Anna Karenina is not the only Russian gracing the Delhi boulevards. Poet Pushkin stands at Mandi House. And though the Soviet Union founder Lenin was no novelist, he stands tall in Nehru Park. Indeed, those Delhiwale who came