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Month: April 2011

The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Ruskin Bond, b. Kasauli, 1934

by The Delhi Walla - 4

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 children make the world of Ruskin Bond. And for more than 60 years, millions of readers have shared this world. Mr Bond have lived in Delhi twice. First, as a child in a bungalow in Atul Grove Road, near Connaught Place, where he lived with his father, a Royal Air Force man. The second time was for a few years when he was a young man. He lived alone in the west Delhi neighbourhoods of Karol Bagh and Rajouri Garden. Mr Bond

City Life – Home Sweet Home, BK Dutt Colony

by The Delhi Walla - 1

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 neighbourhood across the road from the quieter Jorbagh. Mr Tato, 34, works as a deputy to the book attaché in the French embassy's cultural center in 2 Aurangzeb Road. He learned French in Chandannagar, a former French colony, which is near Calcutta, his hometown. He lives with his collection of more than a thousand books. Mr Tato's desk is like Delhi, a functioning anarchy. It has an Apple Mac, a gum pot, a bottle of aftershave, a pen stand, and a book of verses

Photo Essay – I Want Your Smile, Around Town

by The Delhi Walla - 2

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 as any small town person and almost all Delhiwallas smile. Here’s the proof. Sardar Patel Marg Scindia House Daryaganj Nizamuddin Basti Kuchha Faulad Khan Vikaspuri Khidki Extension Ajmeri Gate Curzon Road Near Golcha Cinema Lodhi Road Connaught Place Paharganj Humayun's Tomb Rose Garden Pahari Bhojla Connaught Place Nizamuddin Basti Jangpura Khan Market Outside Statesman Building Mehrauli Near Dilli Gate Khan Market Smiling Delhi

City Hangout – Rewari Steam Loco Shed, Haryana

by The Delhi Walla - 1

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, situated on the Delhi-Jaipur railway line in Haryana, was the largest meter gauge shed in India. Started in 1893, the shed, 80 km from Delhi, closed 100 years later. In 2002, a broad gauge line was added to the site and it was declared a heritage shed. In 2010, a major revamp followed. Wandering pigs were removed, the barren field was landscaped and engines were painted. The shed’s employees, all steam veterans, are nearing retirement age, save one. Muhammed Israel, 21, a fitter

Mission Delhi – Sadia Dehlvi, Hazrat Nizamuddin Chilla

by The Delhi Walla - 3

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 Chilla, the serene retreat of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, just behind Humayun’s Tomb. It is early morning. Here, the city’s iconic 14th century Sufi saint lived, meditated, and died. Ms Dehlvi walked over from her home in nearby Nizamuddin East, one of Delhi’s most elegant residential districts. Standing amid the shrine’s little graveyard, Ms Dehlvi says, “It is with the mitti (earth) of Delhi that I wish my remains to mingle with.” Her family has lived in the city for centuries. The name Dehlvi

City Travel – Mussoorie, Uttarakhand

by The Delhi Walla - 3

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 chips packets. Hotels have taken over the trees of the hill-slopes. The mossy rocks have been painted with Coca Cola ads. In summer weekends, tourists from Delhi walk down the Mall. The women are in salwar suits and leather jackets, skin-color socks and black heels. The men are in jeans, sweaters and gold chains. The children yell for video game parlours. The cool fresh air is taken for granted. This is middle-class Delhi’s Switzerland. Its beauty conforms to our understanding of aesthetics. The

City Landmark – Manohar Bookstore, Ansari Road

by The Delhi Walla - 2

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 of hidden gem. “It has India’s best collection of scholarly books on Indian history, politics and society,” says Bangalore-based historian Ramachandra Guha. “Regular visits to the shop are mandatory for scholars working on India, whether desi or firangi (local or foreign).” The book store’s another regular is the New York-based American author Geoffrey C. Ward, winner of six Emmy awards for his screenwriting (and also the winner of the prestigious US National Book Critics Circle award). Currently working on a book on Partition,

City Season – Bougainvillea Bloom, Around Town

by The Delhi Walla - 3

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 buds and their brown thorny vines creep up the trees and bend across the fences. The flowers fall easily and cover the ground in a bed of red. “Early summer is the right time for their flowering,” says Dr S.S. Sindhu, secretary of the Delhi-based Bougainvillea Society of India. “Except in the winter, bougainvilleas grow all through the year and on different types of lands, from desert to mountains.” In India’s northern plains, which include Delhi, the temperature in March-April hovers around 30

City Moment – The Hanging of Joseph Lelyveld, Jantar Mantar

by The Delhi Walla - 7

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 an incredible sight. About 30 people were raising slogans. Cadres of a little known rightwing organization called Rashtrawadi Shiv Sena, they were demanding the death of the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and author Joseph Lelyveld. In March 2011, Mr Lelyveld’s book Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle stirred a controversy for a passing mention on Gandhi’s relationship with a man friend. Reviews in newspapers claimed that the author has called Gandhi “a bisexual and a racist.” The day I was in Jantar

City Hangout – Flipside Café, Hauz Khas Village

by The Delhi Walla - 2

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 soak in its slapdash alternativeness. One club plays jazz, one bookstore showcases books by non-conformist publishers, and one restaurant (glowingly reviewed in Time magazine’s Europe edition) has stapled printouts for a menu. Most people walking in the village lanes are spotted with SLR digicams and Apple Macs. In keeping with this casual sophistication, Flipside Café (opened in March 2011) has its walls painted in yellow, red and light blue. Some portions are scrawled with indecipherable drawings. There is TV and free wi-fi.

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