The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Ruskin Bond, b. Kasauli, 1934
Delhi’s mountain man. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The world is, according to a saying, only the size of each man’s head. Deodar trees, misty hills, night trains, haunted spirits, leaping langurs, mountain air, unhappy women and lonely…
City Life – Home Sweet Home, BK Dutt Colony
Inside the walls. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] One evening The Delhi Walla knocked at the door of D Bhattacharjya Tato. His one-room house is on the roof of a single-floor bungalow in BK Dutt Colony, a quiet…
Photo Essay – I Want Your Smile, Around Town
Looking for Delhi delights. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some think of Delhi as a city where people don’t have time to acknowledge each other and where nobody smiles. Wrong. Every Delhiwalla is as curious about the other…
City Hangout – Rewari Steam Loco Shed, Haryana
80 km from Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Half a century ago, it had 85 steam engines and a staff of 500. Today it has nine engines and a staff of 25. The Rewari Steam Loco Shed,…
Mission Delhi – Sadia Dehlvi, Hazrat Nizamuddin Chilla
One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] “I want to be buried here,” says Sadia Dehlvi, the author of Sufism: The Heart of Islam. The Delhi Walla meets her at Nizamuddin…
City Travel – Mussoorie, Uttarakhand
The middle-class Delhi’s Switzerland. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Mussoorie, the Himalayan town in Uttarakhand that is a six-hour drive from Delhi, is a resort in name only. The Mall Road, the city’s touristy stretch, is littered with…
City Landmark – Manohar Bookstore, Ansari Road
Best collection of non-fiction on India. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] If it were a book, it would be thick, dense, informative, wonderfully engaging, but wrapped in unattractive grey paper. Manohar bookstore in central Delhi is that sort…
City Season – Bougainvillea Bloom, Around Town
The gift of summer. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The beginning of Delhi’s harsh summer has its comforts. In March and April as the temperature rises, the city’s green cover is taken over by bougainvillea flowers. The red…
City Moment – The Hanging of Joseph Lelyveld, Jantar Mantar
The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla was one afternoon walking around Jantar Mantar, the area outside the 18th century solar observatory where Indians protest against injustice. Heading to Tolstoy Marg, I witnessed…
City Hangout – Flipside Café, Hauz Khas Village
A cultivated casualness. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] No. 7. First Floor, at Hauz Khas Village (2651 6341) – Taken in by its faux-bohemian spirit, some consider Hauz Khas Village a John Lennon song. People come here to…
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