City Life – Admission Season, Delhi University Life Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - May 28, 2010May 28, 20105 The rite of passage. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is the last hurdle before you become an adult. The admission process in Delhi University (DU) has its own rituals. It comes in summer. It demands long queues. It expects you to run around various campuses. Of course, you must not be scared of filling forms. Of course, you must try ignoring the expectations of your parents, and the inquiries of your neighbours. Students from all over India want to be a part of DU. It has 54,000 seats in 83 colleges and it offers 162 undergraduate courses. But there is no comfort in these numbers. In 2009, the first day of the admission season alone recorded a sale of 26,000
City Culture – How I Got Drunk and Lost My Virginity in Nizamuddin Dargah Culture Faith by The Delhi Walla - May 28, 2010May 28, 20109 Trance music in Delhi’s most famous sufi shrine. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every Thursday evening music lovers gather at Nizamuddin dargah, the shrine of Delhi's 14th century sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. They wait for the Nizami Khusro Bandhu, a family singing here since 750 years, to settle down with their harmoniums and tablas. As Ustad Meraj, the senior qawwal, leads the singers into sufi love songs, the mood goes electric. More exciting than ticketed concerts, you sit right alongside the singers and watch their eyes popping out, arms slicing the air, and faces dissolving into momentary madness. Beware, you too could end up possessed in a feverish frenzy of longing and sensuousness. This is an incredible out-of-the-body experience. It