City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XXVIII, Indian Coffee House
A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 28th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…
City Monument – Maulana Azad’s Mausoleum, Near Meena Bazaar
The tomb of secularism. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is circled by the sounds of Shahjahanabad’s beggars, pavement vendors, shopkeepers, shoppers, goats, and amateur cricketers. Yet, the garden-tomb of Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed, aka Maulana Azad, remains…
City Book – Nobody Can Love You More, GB Road
The first book on Delhi’s red-light district. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] In GB Road, Delhi’s red light district, the women of Kotha No. 300 raise their children; visit temples, shrines and mosques; complain about pimps and brothel owners; cook for…
Mission Delhi – Muhammed Anwar, Hazrat Nizamuddin Chilla
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The elderly fakir has always felt a sense of peace living year after year alongside a graveyard in the Sufi shelter of Hazrat Nizamuddin’s Chilla….
City Notice – The Delhi Proustians XXVIII, Indian Coffee House
A la recherche du temps perdu. [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The 28th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust, will take place on 24 September 2012. It was scheduled to take…
City Food – Motichoor Laddu, Ghantewala Halwai
Food for the gods. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is the sweet of the gods. On Tuesdays, Hindus offer Hanuman boondi laddu, made of deep-fried besan balls held together with flavoured sugar syrup. The pot-bellied Ganesha, the…
City Hangout – Night Time Delhi, Around Town
On the road. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Friday. 10.30pm. Hauz Khas Village. The street lamps are not working. The headlights of passing cars briefly illuminate the faces of a chic crowd on the roadside, returning well-fed from…
City Culture – De Bhasar, Barakhamba Road
The philosophy of nonsense. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The image of a dark-skinned barber’s modest salon (complete with towels and a mirror) is imposed on a patchwork of hundreds of snapshots of street vendors and homeless people….
City Notice –The Delhi Walla’s New Book
The first book on Delhi’s red-light district. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla has found a new home in GB Road, the city’s red-light area. There I gossip with the prostitutes, eat meals cooked by them, and play with…
City Notice – The Delhi Proustians XXVIII, The Imperial
A la recherche du temps perdu. [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The 28th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust, will take place on 24 September 2012. Venue: The lobby of The…
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