City Food - Shikanji, Around Town

City Food – Shikanji, Around Town

Chill of the lemon. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The simplest things in life are the most exquisite. As you walk in the scorching heat of Connaught Place, the sun is white, and the air is still and…

City Hangout – Palika Parking Park, Connaught Place

City Hangout – Palika Parking Park, Connaught Place

A refuge for rejects. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The most liberating space for Delhi’s social rejects lies in the heart of the capital. The park above Palika Bazaar parking in the colonial-era Connaught Place is one of…

The Delhi Walla Books – Considered by The Book Review

The Delhi Walla Books – Considered by The Book Review

The taste of Delhi. [By Anusha Hariharan] The Book Review, India’s esteemed book review journal, reviewed The Delhi Walla books in its 1 January 2012 edition. Here is the complete text: When I moved to Delhi five years ago, apart…

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. It was originally scheduled for…

Kashmir Diary – The Happy Haven, Srinagar

Kashmir Diary – The Happy Haven, Srinagar

The unhappy land. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In its issue dated 21 April 2012, Open, a Delhi-based newsweekly, published a cover story on Kashmir titled “Sorry, Kashmir is Happy.” The author Manu Jospeh asks: “Why is it…

Kashmir Diary – The Sufi Soul, Srinagar

Kashmir Diary – The Sufi Soul, Srinagar

The unhappy land. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Situated on the southern side of the Hari Parbat hill, the Sufi dargah of Makhdoom Sahib offers the most spectacular views of the old town. The Delhi Walla is in…

Kashmir Diary – The Faces, Srinagar

Kashmir Diary – The Faces, Srinagar

The unhappy land. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A pizza-maker at Café Arabica. A police constable at the Jamia Masjid. The Delhi Walla is in Srinagar, Kashmir’s capital. An old woman at the Boulevard. A tailor in Maisuma….

Kashmir Diary – The Bund, Srinagar

Kashmir Diary – The Bund, Srinagar

The unhappy land. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A pathway by the Jhelum, the Bund teems with Kashmiris, not tourists. The Delhi Walla is in Srinagar, Kashmir’s capital. In the afternoon, schoolboys sit on the riverside slopes, while…

Kashmir Diary – Inner Meanings, Srinagar

Kashmir Diary – Inner Meanings, Srinagar

The unhappy land. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Pigeons soaring up from Lal Chowk. Mist coming down the snow-capped mountains. A soldier with a gun, he is smiling. A veiled woman inside a bus, sitting on a window-side…

Kashmir Diary - Jamia Masjid, Srinagar

Kashmir Diary – Jamia Masjid, Srinagar

The unhappy land. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Mossy brick paths, grey pigeons, yellow poppies and smooth pillars made from the wood of Deodar. The Delhi Walla is at Jamia Masjid, the grand Friday mosque in Nowhatta, a…