City Music – The Real Sufi Stars Culture Faith by The Delhi Walla - February 27, 2010May 23, 20103 The qawwals of Hazrat Nizamuddin. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is amusing to see Delhiwallas scramble for pricey tickets each time a 'big' sufi music star such as Abida Parveen or Kailash Kher lands in the town for a concert. People can always go each Thursday evening (6.30 pm) to the 14th century shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in south Delhi. It's spine-tingling music there and it's free. As the dargah’s in-house qawwals break into sufi love songs, the mood goes electric. As exciting as ticketed concerts, you sit right alongside the singers and watch their eyes popping out, hands slicing the air, and faces dissolving into momentary madness. These qawwals — almost two dozens are present at any given
Mission Delhi – Syed Haider Raza, Hauz Khas Enclave Culture Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 23, 2010May 23, 20100 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] On February 22nd, 2009, a few hours before his 88th birthday celebration, to be held in The Lalit hotel, Syed Haider Raza is struggling alone in a basement room in Hauz Khas Enclave. Despite painting for 60 years, he is unsure of how his new creation will appear on completion. Staring hard at the mostly blank canvas, he says, “I’m trying to give a feel of Rajasthan.” Born in central India and living in France since 1950, Mr Raza is visiting Delhi to attend a special show in which private collectors will mark his birth anniversary by exhibiting his paintings, which are in high demand internationally.
The Independent View – On Mission Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 22, 2010May 23, 201010 Praise for the project. [Text by The Independent's Andrew Buncomb; picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] The UK-based Independent's Asia Correspondent Andrew Buncombe wrote about the Mission Delhi project of The Delhi Walla on the newspaper's website. Go where it was originally published or read here: So many people in this vast, sprawling, awful, remarkable city. So many crowds, so much pushing. You can never find any space, any quiet. Who are all these people, these housewives, these labourers, these office workers, these shop-owners. Where do they all come from? What's their story? The official 2001 census figure for the Indian capital and its surrounding suburbs reckons the population stands at close to 14m, though I suspect - and many observers of Delhi agree
Photo Essay – Sense of the Place Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - February 20, 2010May 23, 20107 In love with clichés. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Paharganj = Foreign tourists. Kinari Bazaar = Narrow streets. Khan Market = Rich-looking people. Turkman Gate = Ghetto Muslims. Select Citywalk = Mall rats. Gali Qasim Jaan = Ghalib's haveli. Connaught Place = White pillars. Punjabi Bagh = Punjabi families. GB Road = Sex workers. Gali Parathe Walli = Steamy parathas. Basant Lok = Barcoded consumers. Lodhi Road = Leafy trees. Trying to get a sense of the place often translates to seeing it through the prism of its popular clichés. It is an easy exercise, but the result is shallow in wisdom and only partially true. Take a look. Connaught Place Kinari Bazaar Blueline 520 Chandni Chowk Khan Market Malliwara GB Road Paharganj Basant Lok Kucha Pandit Punjabi Bagh Gali Qasim Jaan Pratap Street Gali
Mission Delhi – Muhammad Aslam, Nizamuddin Basti Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 18, 2010March 14, 20169 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] “When I was a child, my parents took care of me. Now it’s my turn for they are old and need care,” says Muhamamd Aslam, a 32-year-old beggar. The Delhi Walla found him on a street in Nizamuddin Basti, a 14th century village whose principal attraction is the sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. Mr Aslam effortlessly invites sympathy from passers-by. Crying for alms - "Give something to this helpless man" - his voice becomes high-pitched, his tone melodious. His special ability is God-gifted. Disabled since birth, he has no hands, no legs. Moved by his limbless figure, people leave all sorts of things -
City Season – Palika Bazaar Park, Connaught Place General by The Delhi Walla - February 16, 2010May 23, 201011 Short and beautiful. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The sky is blue, the grass is wet and the flowers are blooming. Delhi’s strangest and shortest season – from mid-February to mid-March – has begun. Neither hot, nor cold, the city loses its harsh tones and pretends to be gentle. To soak in the weather, you may go to any of the open spaces in the city: Lodhi Garden, Shantipath lawns, India Gate Maidan, Purana Quila ruins, Dilli Haat, or Ansal Plaza’s amphitheatre. The best is in the shopping district of Connaught Place: the park above Palika Bazaar parking. It is bright and cheery, perfumed and coloured. Dahlias are dyed in orange, yellow and passionate-red shades. The yellow and white
Sujan Singh Park Diary – My Life with Khushwant Singh Culture Life by The Delhi Walla - February 15, 2010August 11, 20154 Author Sadia Dehlvi on Delhi’s legendary writer. [Text by Sadia Dehlvi; pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] If you ask me about the women in author Khushwant Singh’s life, I would say I am the only one. That’s how special he makes all those around him feel. Women are drawn to him because he doubles up as confidante, friend, father and mentor. For women afflicted with heartbreak, Khushwant readily provides his shoulders to dry the tears and at celebration time he shares the cheer. He has the remarkable ability to suffer all kinds of people, often getting bullied into inviting them home to his evening durbar. I know many women whom Khushwant helped get jobs, admissions, transfers, and senior government posts. Many authors including
Mission Delhi – Deen Dayal, Safdarjung Enclave Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 11, 2010December 11, 20177 One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] A firecracker goes up into the cold night sky and burst into a shower of sparkles. “That must be from a wedding celebration,” garbage collector Deen Dayal says. The Delhi Walla meets him on a Safdarjung Enclave pavement. The 40-something Mr Dayal is standing beside two pungent-smelling trolleys filled up with rotting food, vegetable peels, eggshells, empty beer bottles, cardboard junk, and used sanitary napkins. “A MCD (Municipal Council of Delhi) truck will come to empty them.” Mr Dayal arrived in Delhi more than a decade ago. He started by collecting garbage from individual households but now picks up only from street dustbins. Employed on a contract
City Region – Kamla Market, Central Delhi Regions by The Delhi Walla - February 9, 2010May 23, 20105 Asia’s big air-cooler bazaar. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s a Dickensian sight. The driveway through the entrance gate is rutty. The clock on the clock tower doesn’t work. Men pee on the boundary wall. Mechanics drill holes into steel. Laborers haul cargoes in hand-pulled carts. All around are arranged thousands of air coolers, electric geysers, washing machines, water pumps, sandwich toasters and steel trunks, sometimes packed in colorful cardboard boxes. Situated next to Ajmeri Gate in central Delhi, Kamla Market came up in 1951 to provide livelihood to the Partition refugees who came from what is now Pakistan. (Don't confuse the place with Kamla Nagar Market, which is in north Delhi.) Inaugurated by Dr Rajendra Prasad, India’s first President, and
Dateline Stockholm – The Delhi Walla Enters the Nobel Prize Club General by The Delhi Walla - February 7, 2010May 23, 201021 The blogger’s photography gets recognition. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla has got the Nobel Prize for literature. Well, almost. A picture taken by me has been put up in the official website of the Nobel Foundation, Nobelprize.org. In November, 2008, the South African Nobel laureate in literature, Nadine Gordimer, came visiting Delhi. It was her first visit to India in 14 years. I too went to India International Center to listen to the author of acclaimed novels such as A Guest of Honour, The Conservationist, Burger's Daughter and July's People. More than 150 people had squeezed into the auditorium to be with the writer who during her Nobel Prize lecture in 1991 had famously referred to the South Africa