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Month: January 2010

Photo Essay – Basant Celebrations, Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah

by The Delhi Walla - 3

Colour me yellow. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] On January 19th, 2010, the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya was all yellow. It was the eve of Basant Panchmi, the day that marks the arrival of spring. Hence yellow, the colour of the energy-giving sun. The shrine’s qawwals (singers), who were wearing yellow scarves, offered yellow mustard flowers on the grave of Delhi’s 14th-century sufi saint. Later, they sang the Hindi qawwalis of Amir Khusro, the Persian poet believed to be the originator of Hindustani classical music and who was also a great disciple of Hazrat Nizamuddin. Seven centuries ago, Khusro had worn yellow to bring a smile to Hazrat Nizamuddin’s face, who’d been grieving for his nephew’s death. The tradition

Mission Delhi – Changa Kumar, Hauz Khas Village

by The Delhi Walla - 8

One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The water in the bucket is as freezing as the 4.30 am air. But the stairs in this four-floor apartment complex have to be washed daily at this hour. “It’s a job and it has to be done,” says Changa Kumar, 20. In a contrast to his jet black skin, his yellow teeth give a whitish glare every time he talks. A resident of Delhi for two years, Mr Kumar is an errand boy in an apartment complex in Hauz Khas Village, Delhi’s artsy neighbourhood consisting of ruins, art galleries, restaurants and flats. He makes Rs 3,500 a month and his employer has given him a room

City Monument – Birla Temple, Mandir Marg

by The Delhi Walla - 7

The land of Vishnu. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Spread over seven acres, Shri Lakshmi Narain temple, popularly called Birla Mandir, is a dense neighbourhood of gods. A world in itself, it is a land of plenty. It has shops, phone booths, photo studios, a dispensary and a dharamshala (guesthouse). It has streams, fountains, bridges and rocks. It has papaya, cheer, mango, ashoka, ber, tamarind, guava and neem trees. It has a lion, elephant, crocodile, camel and hippopotamus. But it’s the brick-red temple tower (165-feet high) that takes the breath away. While the presiding deity is Vishnu, Birla Mandir advocates the philosophy of monotheism and is open to all faiths. Built by the industrialist family, the Birlas, it was inaugurated by

City Kitchen – Julia Child Makes Heartfelt Cookies in Jorbagh

by The Delhi Walla - 1

The great chef's life in Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Meet Jorbagh’s Julia Child. Her living room has a handsome Shakespeare. Her guest room has an Alice Munro hardbound. Her library has two copies of a VS Naipaul travelogue. Her new acquisitions are books by Tolstoy and Colm Tóibín, and a biography of John Cheever. Currently she is reading Jean-Paul Sartre. Her next project is a book by Isak Dinesen. But the author Ms Child is most passionate about is E.M. Forster. And yes, she cooks. Here is the recipe of her 'heartfelt cookies': Actually this recipe is my grandmother's pastry recipe for Cornish pasties, but I had some pastry left over after I made pasties the other night. So

City Secret – Raja Bookstore, Paharganj

by The Delhi Walla - 2

Almost like Paris. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The setting of this café, or rather, a spot in the café, is very special. Perhaps you won’t find it anywhere else in Delhi. Fancy this — a table is placed against a bookshelf; you are having, say, jasmine tea; a qawwali or some Buddhist chants are playing on a music system behind you; and Indian street life — complete with cows, beggars and sadhus — is unravelling before you, a step away. All this comes true at Raja Book Center. Situated in the Main Bazaar of Paharganj, the city’s backpacker district, this bookstore runs on the premises of Grand Sindhi Restaurant, a low budget eatery with multi-cuisine menu choices ranging from kimchi

Mission Delhi – Aanchal Malhotra, Jama Masjid

by The Delhi Walla - 12

One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] While most girls of her privileged background are obsessed with bar-coded clothes and pub parties, Aanchal Malhotra, 20, finds joy in simpler pursuits, such as blowing soap bubbles. “There are so many beautiful things that we take for granted,” she says, walking through Daryaganj’s Sunday Book Bazaar, clicking candid shots of people. We are taking a tour of the Walled City. Photography is Ms Malhotra's passion. “Through my camera I explore why people meet, how emotional connections are made, why relationships change.” Focusing the lens towards The Delhi Walla, she points to the rainy sky, “See, the smell of the wet earth. People don’t think about

City Secret – Razia Sultana’s Tomb, Pahari Bhojla

by The Delhi Walla - 2

India's first woman ruler is sleeping here. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Razia Sultana’s tomb chamber in Old Delhi. No dome, no crowd here. This is no place for a queen. As the first woman ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, as well as of South Asia, Razia (d. 1240) rode elephants, fought in battlefields; loved a slave, married a rebel; and lost an empire. But this tomb — believed to be of Razia’s, as an Archaeological Survey of India slab puts it — is no indicator of her legend. And that’s the beauty of this destination. Like a tattered history book, it lies forgotten in a jumble of the Walled City bylanes. Surrounded by brick apartments (air-conditioners jutting out from

City Commute – Business Class for Delhi Metro?

by The Delhi Walla - 13

The mass in the mass rapid transit system. Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] While residents of east Delhi and neighbouring Ghaziabad happily boarded the Metro on the new line that opened in Anand Vihar on January 7th, 2010, a substantial number of commuters have started complaining of overcrowding in the rail service. “The Metro has become too cramped. It’s now like an air-conditioned Blueline bus,” says Ravi Kumar referring to the city's bus network notorious for its inefficiency. He daily takes the subway to Chawri Bazaar in old Delhi. As Delhi Metro’s managing director E. Sreedharan announced the opening of at least one line every month till September 2010, the number of users will only increase. Some are wondering if the

Mission Delhi – Pooja, Paharganj

by The Delhi Walla - 10

One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The white man is finally coming out of the little tea shop, tucked into one corner of the busy market square in Paharganj’s Main Bazaar, Delhi’s backpacker district. She quickly approaches him, blocks his way, spreads out her arms and appears to mumble something. He politely listens to her, gently shakes his head and leave. She goes back to the abandoned scooter on which she was sitting and waits for another foreigner. “I don’t beg all the time,” says Pooja. “I play, too.” From a distance, her disfigured face – she suffered burn injuries as an infant – makes her look as if she is in her

City Region – Pratap Street, Daryaganj

by The Delhi Walla - 4

The alley’s private life. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Walking through Delhi’s bylanes is like being in a surreal art-house movie: peeled walls, closed doors, musty air, entangled wires, clouds of dust, dark corners and dead ends. Pratap Street, behind Golcha Cinema in Daryaganj, is no different. Spending a day here is like secretly flipping through somebody’s family photo album — you get to see the city’s private life. The 100-metre-long strip of road has a rich life. Young men make love-talk on mobile phones, girls in salwar suits walk without making eye contact, men spit and women gossip. There’s a presswalla, a bookstore, and a workshop that repairs car axles. “This street is so narrow,” says Mr Owais, who works in

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