City Faith – Bakra Eid, Matia Mahal

City Faith – Bakra Eid, Matia Mahal

The ritual of sacrifice. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The goat was priced at Rs 7,000. It was purchased by the head of the family two days before Eid ul Zuha, or the feast of sacrifice, also known…

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XXX, Fact & Fiction Booksellers

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XXX, Fact & Fiction Booksellers

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 30th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…

City Landmark - Jawaharlal Nehru University, South Delhi

City Landmark – Jawaharlal Nehru University, South Delhi

Kremlin on the Jumna. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A spectre is haunting Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) — the spectre of Indian dialectical materialism. Dialectical materialism, as anyone in JNU will tell you, is a philosophical approach…

City Book – The US Edition of Nobody Can Love You More

City Book – The US Edition of Nobody Can Love You More

It will be published in America. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District, a book by The Delhi Walla, is set to release some time in November 2012. Published…

Photo Essay – Postman at Work, Daryaganj

Photo Essay – Postman at Work, Daryaganj

A way of life. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] When was the last time you summoned the services of writing sheets, envelopes, and postage stamps to send a mail to a friend? How many years ago you last…

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians XXX, Basant Lok Market

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians XXX, Basant Lok Market

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla regrets to inform that the 30th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust, could not take…

City Life - Last Surviving Homes, Khan Market

City Life – Last Surviving Homes, Khan Market

Home is where the mart is. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] For some affluent Delhiites, posh Khan Market is like a second home. For a very, very few, Khan Market is home. But this will soon end. Consider…

Mission Delhi – Mumtaz Begum, Panj Peeran Graveyard

Mission Delhi – Mumtaz Begum, Panj Peeran Graveyard

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She appears to be sleeping. The Delhi Walla is with Mumtaz Begum. We are in a windowless room in Nizamuddin Basti, a village in central…

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XXIX, Outside Wenger’s

City Reading – The Delhi Proustians XXIX, Outside Wenger’s

A la recherche du temps perdu. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Today is the 29th meeting of The Delhi Proustians, a club for Delhiwallas that discusses French novelist Marcel Proust. Every Monday evening for an hour we read…

City Secret - Old Coins, Daryaganj

City Secret – Old Coins, Daryaganj

The mint of history. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In a fashion, India’s dense history of invasion, destruction, reconstruction, colonization, re-colonization is immortalised in its coins. This occurred to The Delhi Walla one Sunday morning in Daryaganj’s weekly…