An Indian living in NYC, anxious about returning back to his first home - Delhi.[By Mohit Syall; standing next to Oprah Winfrey during a New York City fund-raising evening.]After spending almost 8 years of my adult life in the New York City area, I am returning back to my hometown New Delhi. A lot has changed since I left the city. Even though I visited every year, it was like going back to a strange place I never knew before.Delhi memories of childhood and teenage years have now grown distant and blurred. How will I adjust back to life in Delhi? Will I love it? Will I hate it?Delhi, or for that matter India, is a depressing place to be

India's best classical artists run dance schools in Delhi but is anyone interested? [Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi; this is the first part of a 2-series story.] When they talk, fingers flutter, eye-brows quiver, heads sway, and feet shift restlessly. Recipients of prestigious awards, they are generous in sharing the secrets of their excellence. They are India's most celebrated classical dancers who also happen to be Delhi's best dance teachers. But who will learn Bharatnatyam or Kuchipudi instead of Salsa and Macarena in this rapidly westernizing society? Which little Harry Potter wishes anymore for Amar Chitra Katha comics from his magic wand? How can the MTV Generation be lured to Kathak and Odissi when not even a single television channel is

Delhi Chief Minister laments the influx of poor Bihari migrants.[By Mayank Austen Soofi, Picture Source - NA]In May, 2007, while laying the foundation stone for three more flyovers in the city, Mrs. Sheila Dikshit, Delhi's Chief Minister, said, "Delhi is seen as a prosperous city. People from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and other places come here. What can we do? We can't stop them. There is no law to stop them.”Bihar and UP are some of India's poorest states from where villagers migrate to cities like Delhi and Mumbai in search of better opportunities.Oh, but just what can Mrs. Dixit do!Her city has beauty and grace - the classic Connaught Place, the historic Jama Masjid, the mystic Nizamuddin, and the

A Canadian woman, with son in tow, takes the capital to heart.[Text and pictures by Madelyn Mulvaney; a resident of Vancouver, she visited Delhi in February, 2007.]As I sipped my Masala Chai by the early light of a Canadian morning, my eyes caught the twinkling mirror work of the wall-hanging and my mind wandered back to my visit to Delhi with my little boy Noah.It goes without saying (and yet I will) that Delhi enchanted me with its breathtaking scenery. I gasped in wonder as we visited the serenity of the Jama Masjid mosque, the Birla Mandir temple and the pearly Moti Masjid. It was truly love at first sight in the National Gallery of Modern Art, in the shades

Can Delhi’s essence be captured in the theatre adaptation of William Dalrymple's book "City of Djinns"? [Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi]Performed in open against the backdrop of Maati Ghar, the hijras were shocking, the taxi driver vulgar (he urinated on the wall), the Sufis delirious, and the qawwals enchanting. Even the fighting cocks were real, though the snake, sensibly, was not.All this was easy, compared to the challenge of coherently presenting Dalrymple's account. Rich with anecdotes and stories, it’s too dense to be bound into a neat script. Just how to seduce impatient Delhites to what some might regard as a spectacle of exotic kitsch crafted by a white man's pen? Corrupt clerks and highway baraats are everyday

A moody, inaccessible shack serving authentic Korean cuisine.[Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi]Exploring Paharganj is like entering into a kitschy bubble full of backpackers' hostels, Hebrew-language bookshops, and shabby eateries offering Croissant to Europeans and Humus Pita to Israelis.From Lasagna Verde to Chateaubriand Steak (rare, medium, or well done), delicacies are priced cheaper here than in the peppy restaurants in Defense Colony and Vasant Vihar. Most of this food is prepared by Nepali cooks who picked foreign recipes from tourists homesick enough to teach their cuisine to the daal-bhaat professionals. Some such ageing hippies opened their own joints- owner of Dokebi Nara, a Korean restaurant, perhaps being one of them.This little place, accessible only by foot through narrow streets

A city outside Delhi but having a Delhiwalla heart.[By Manika Dhama; picture by Rohit Dhama]11 years ago when my father told an acquaintance that we had shifted to NOIDA, he thought it was a fancy exotic place in U.S.A. (he probably confused it with Nevada!).Few would make that mistake today because NOIDA is now synonymous with kidnappings of children from wealthy families (Adobe CEO's son Anant Gupa Kidnapped!) and sexual abuse and murder of those from poor households (15 Child Skeletons Found in Nithari!). While these are grim reminders of what can happen in this 'Delhi suburb', it is also the place almost 7 lakh of us call home.My first encounter with NOIDA happened some years before we settled in

The capital's renovated public garden is cleaned of its "social filth".[Text and photographs by Mayank Austen Soofi]Where is that old Central Park in New Delhi? The unruly greenery where illegal acts in India - such as homosexuality and hashish puffing - were carried out discreetly, away from prying eyes.Around four years back, this public garden of general ill-repute was closed down. Delhi was building its first subway system, and Central Park would be the hub. Once taken over by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the park’s benches were disposed of, its grass turned over, its trees felled, and, finally, everything completely dug up to build an underground railway terminus. It was promised that Central Park at Connaught Place would get