Photo Essay – Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty, Ajmer Sharif Faith Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - December 31, 20117 The holy land of sufis. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The final days of 2011 have ended on a happy note. The Delhi Walla was in the sufi pilgrim town of Ajmer. 400km west of Delhi, it is home to the shrine of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishty, a 13th century saint. Popularly called Gharib Nawaz, the benefactor of the poor, Khawaja-ji established the Chishti order of Sufism in the Indian subcontinent. The next successor of the spiritual order was Khawaja-ji’s disciple Hazrat Bakhtiyar Kaki, whose shrine is in Mehrauli, south Delhi. Hazrat Kaki was succeeded by his pupil Baba Farid. His shrine is in Pakpattan, Pakistan. Baba Farid gave way to his follower Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. His shrine is in Delhi. Wishing
City Notice – Lonely Planet Recommends The Delhi Walla General by The Delhi Walla - December 30, 2011December 30, 20116 It’s official. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Published in December 2011, Lonely Planet’s Discover India: Experiencing the best of India is written by Abigail Hole and Kevin Raub. In the 'Need to Know' box of its Delhi section, the guidebook refers to the blog Eat & Dust, saying, “’Food Adventures in India’ blog written by food writer and cook Pamela Timms." Ms Timms, a Delhi resident, had treated The Delhi Walla to her homemade blueberry muffins here. The Delhi Walla site also figures in the Lonely Planet list. Tucking it between Delhi Metro Rail and Eat & Dust, the guidebook says, “An offbeat view of Delhi by local journalist Mayank Austen Soofi.” Lonely Planet says
City Reading – The Delhi Proustians – II, Indian Coffee House Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - December 29, 2011April 17, 20132 A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the second meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas wanting to discuss French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Sunday noon we have to read his masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time, for an hour. Since it was Christmas last Sunday, the club’s second meeting was moved to Tuesday evening. It is 7.05 pm and I’m alone at the table. The seven volumes with their more than 3,000 pages and 1.500,000 words will change my life. By tramping through the first few sleep-inducing pages (which, I suppose, are about a man who has woken up at midnight), and acclimatizing myself to long-winded lines, I will become a
City Faith – Hanukkah Evening, Paharganj Faith by The Delhi Walla - December 28, 2011December 28, 20112 The Jewish festival of lights. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] 27 December, Tuesday, 7 pm. It was the final evening of Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the re-dedication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BC. The Delhi Walla was in a Chabad House, a Jewish community center run by an orthodox Jewish organisation based in Brooklyn, US. There are thousands of Chabad Houses in the world. In the capital, it is in Paharganj, a hotel district popular among the Israeli backpackers, and in Vasant Vihar, a residential neighbourhood dominated by foreign diplomats. To travelling Jews, a Chabad House is a home away from home. The rabbi (priest) and rebbetzin (priest's wife) host religious festivals and Sabbath (Saturday)
City Library – Sonal Aggarwal’s Books, Pitampura Library by The Delhi Walla - December 27, 2011December 27, 20111 A vanishing world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One late evening The Delhi Walla knocked at the door of Sonal Aggarwal, a devoted reader of Anita Desai and many other authors. In her 30s, Ms Aggarwal, an industrialist’s daughter, lives in a bungalow in Pitampura, north-west Delhi. Her library is at her first-floor room. “My present reading material,” she says, waving at about two dozen paperbacks stacked on a marble-top. “And here... ”, opening one-half of her wardrobe, she says, “must be around 200 books.” A graduate from Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce, Ms Aggarwal spends all her time reading and writing. Taking out Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Interpreter of Maladies, she says, “I’m writing a collection of short stories. I
City Faith – Christmas Traditions, Nizamuddin West Faith by The Delhi Walla - December 25, 20110 Bhajans and rotis from Jharkhand. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A day before Bada Din, a day also known as Christmas, The Delhi Walla met a migrant from Jharkhand, eastern India, who left her land to make a living in Delhi. A third generation Catholic Christian, Anima Dungdung lives in the servants’ quarter of a bungalow in Nizamuddin West. Ms Dungdung was making plans for Christmas. No, she was not baking a cake on Christmas eve. Don’t doubt her skills. After working for 30 years in expat households, her apple pies are as light and buttery as the one they make in New England, but she said, “Christmas cake is a angrez (British) thing. No one knows how to make
City Notice – The Delhi Proustians Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - December 24, 2011April 17, 20131 A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Proustians club plans to meet every Sunday noon at the Indian Coffee House in Connaught Place. Since it’s Christmas this Sunday, the club's second meeting has been moved to Tuesday evening, 27th December. Time: 7 pm. This is an exception, for Christ’s sake.
INFIDELITIES@The Delhi Walla – A Cynical Opinionated ‘Gora’ Seeks a Poet-Female of Any Age and Complexion General by The Delhi Walla - December 23, 2011December 24, 20110 Make your life smart and sexy. [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Me- 30. Male. White. Not wheatish or fair. I mean white, Anglo American, Gora, Angrej. (Is this offensive yet?) Married. (Now?) To an Indian. (It must be offensive by now.) Soon to be divorced (OMG!) I'm a reader though maybe not to be considered well-read. Cynical. Opinionated. A recent fondness for Iranian cinema has been stirred within me and I'm trying to see every Majid Majidi film. Other hobbies include deep thinking, long intelligent conversations about anything. Picking apart the world. Not believing in much. Pseudo philosophy. Making electronic music and listening to music has been my inner oasis. Tea is my drug of choice. Everyone in the US is rich enough
Photo Essay – The 99 Percent, Around Town Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - December 22, 2011December 24, 20111 They exist. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi government works hard to make the city's homeless invisible. In the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the wretched of the roadsides were pushed behind giant hoardings so that foreign athletes could not get a wrong impression of our World Class City. But the homeless continue to be everywhere: at traffic lights, under flyovers, on pavements, in subways. Having so many homeless people is horrible. To hide them, or to pretend that they don’t exist, is sinful. Here are the Delhiwallas who have turned our streets into their bedrooms. The night has just started Blame the bankers Bed of roses Good morning, honey Mattress please Dog's life Just a shadow Not just garbage Stretch the legs Sweet dreams
City Walk – Matia Mahal, Shahjahanabad Walks by The Delhi Walla - December 20, 2011December 20, 20111 The moon-lit bazaar. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Heart of the Walled City, Matia Mahal bazaar is the land of chicken stew, bearded mullahs, kaftan-clad beggars, fat goats and veiled women. Chaotic during the day, it shows its inner life (and beauty) in the night when it is time to dine and laugh with friends. In a city where no shopping destinations are open through the night (Connaught Pace closes by 9pm, Khan Market by 8pm, Pacific Mall turns off the lights at 11pm), Matia Mahal remains lit up till midnight. Start the walk late in the evening from Urdu Bazaar. Lined with Urdu language book stores, grubby guest houses and eateries selling buffalo kebabs, keema kaleji, ishtu and korma, it faces