City Food - Delhi Belly, Around Town

City Food – Delhi Belly, Around Town

The capital shame. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Messy, smelly and non-stop, Jane Austen would have described it as a continual state of inelegance. Delhi’s biggest embarrassment, it is also the title of a Bollywood film. The phrase…

Mission Delhi – Zubeida Bano, Pahari Bhojla

Mission Delhi – Zubeida Bano, Pahari Bhojla

One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Blushing, she covers her smile with the red dupatta and lowers her eyes. Starting to speak, the dupatta falls off her face, which instantly…

Photo Essay – The Aloofness of a Man in the Indian Coffee House

Photo Essay – The Aloofness of a Man in the Indian Coffee House

Seeking a Shangri-la. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] One summer evening, The Delhi Walla spotted a turbaned man in the Indian Coffee House, Connaught Place. With its weak coffee, soggy sandwiches, oily cutlets, watery sambhar, creaky sofas, slow-moving…

The Delhi Walla Books - Portraits, Rs 199

The Delhi Walla Books – Portraits, Rs 199

The final volume of The Delhi Walla series. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The fourth and final volume in The Delhi Walla series – Portraits – reached the bookstores in late June, 2011. While working on this book,…

City Moment – A Bird on Death Row, Farash Khana

City Moment – A Bird on Death Row, Farash Khana

The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla is on the rooftop of a house in Farash Khana, a congested neighbourhood in the Walled City. It is evening. There is a boy and a…

Mission Delhi – Nameless Kapoor, Kailash Colony

Mission Delhi – Nameless Kapoor, Kailash Colony

One of the one per cent in 13 million. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] He spreads out his four legs, tries to lift his body but falls flat on the floor. He tries again, and fails. Nameless Kapoor,…

City Hangout - Half Price Bookstore, Select Citywalk Mall

City Hangout – Half Price Bookstore, Select Citywalk Mall

Affordable trash. [Text and picture by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some of Delhi’s best independently owned book stores (Fact & Fiction, the Bookshop, New Book Depot) don’t encourage discounts. Concessions kill the small players. The 31-year-old Bookworm, a landmark store in…

City Obituary – Raza Remembers Husain

City Obituary – Raza Remembers Husain

On Maqbool Fida Husain’s death. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] On June 9, 2011, a few hours after the death of painter Maqbool Fida Husain in London, The Delhi Walla sat down with Syed Haider Raza at his…

City Moment – The Girl With Red Roses, Near Sai Baba Temple

City Moment – The Girl With Red Roses, Near Sai Baba Temple

The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla was one afternoon traveling in an auto rickshaw when it stopped at a traffic light near Sai Baba Temple, central Delhi. Suddenly a girl emerged from…

The Delhi Walla Books – Portraits is Published

The Delhi Walla Books – Portraits is Published

The fourth and the final volume. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] On the evening of June 6, 2011, The Delhi Walla received a small parcel from HarperCollins India. It was the fourth and final volume of The Delhi…