City Sighting - Arundhati Roy, Near Khanna Market

City Sighting – Arundhati Roy, Near Khanna Market

Ammu and Amaltas. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One summer evening The Delhi Walla sighted his most beloved Delhiite – author Arundhati Roy. She was standing under an Amaltas tree, close to Khanna Market, an un-posh bazaar in…

City Travel – Shatabdi Express, New Delhi-Jhansi

City Travel – Shatabdi Express, New Delhi-Jhansi

India’s fastest train. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is a stench of urine, and cockroaches and rats scurrying around. It is 6.05 am. At the New Delhi railway station, the Bhopal Shatabdi Express is on platform No.1,…

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians, 20th Meeting

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians, 20th Meeting

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The 20th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust, will take place on 28 May 2012. Venue: Cafe Turtle, Khan Market….

Mission Delhi – Bimal, K.K. Birla Lane

Mission Delhi – Bimal, K.K. Birla Lane

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] No birds in the sandy sky. The previous day Delhi recorded the highest temperature for the season. “If it gets very hot, I feel tempted…

The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Muhammad Shah Rangila, b. Fatehpur Sikri, 1702-1748

The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Muhammad Shah Rangila, b. Fatehpur Sikri, 1702-1748

The definitive directory of famous Delhiites. [Text by Mayank Austen Soofi; pictures given by Asia Society and British Library] He was born in Fatehpur Sikri, a former Mughal capital. Crowned at the age of 17 by the scheming Sayyid brothers,…

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XIX, Athpula Bridge

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XIX, Athpula Bridge

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 19th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…

City Season – The Amaltas, Bungalow Road

City Season – The Amaltas, Bungalow Road

The yellow flowers of May. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The amaltas, or cassia fistula, starts to shed its leaves early in April. One of the most widespread forest trees of India, it flowers in May. During this…

City Notice – The Delhi Walla Anniversary

City Notice – The Delhi Walla Anniversary

Five years and counting. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla completed five years in April 2012. The website had started as a blog. These are initial years. I will continue to explore Delhi in the decades ahead. Stay with…

City Monument – Ghalib’s Tomb, Nizamuddin Basti

City Monument – Ghalib’s Tomb, Nizamuddin Basti

The poet’s place. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Opened from sunrise to sunset, the mausoleum of Urdu poet Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan Ghalib usually remains empty. His rectangular tomb chamber is in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, a central Delhi…

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians, 19th Meeting

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians, 19th Meeting

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The 19th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust, will take place on 14 May 2012. Venue: The Athpula Bridge, Lodhi…