City Monument – Gandhi’s Samadhi, Rajghat Monuments by The Delhi Walla - July 30, 2013July 30, 20133 Official India’s holy shrine. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In our city of tombs, this mausoleum stands without a tomb. This is the site of Mohandas K Gandhi's cremation. The stone footpath runs along a manicured lawn. The filthy Yamuna flows nearby; luckily, you cannot see it. The samadhi – the exact spot of the cremation – is marked by a platform of black marble. Mr Gandhi’s funeral was held on January 31 1948, a day after his assassination at a bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi. The Brahmin assassin, a Hindu nationalist called Nathuram Godse, was hanged a year later in Ambala, a town 120 miles from Delhi. The light-brown stone wall that circles the samadhi-garden is inscribed at regular intervals with
City Travel – Hindu/Buddhist Heritage, Kathmandu Travel by The Delhi Walla - July 28, 2013July 29, 20135 The painful history. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was raining. The Delhi Walla was in Nepal. I was being driven to Nagarkot, a village few miles outside Kathmandu that stands on a cliff and offers panoramic views of snowy Himalayan peaks. The car went up the hills that were carved into rice fields. Women, only women, were working in these paddies. Nepal felt magical in the heavy monsoon shower. Rain-soaked village children rushed down the steep curves of the road, screaming and laughing. At one place we came across half a dozen women huddled under a large red umbrella. From inside the car, they looked as real as a water painting. Next, we passed by a Buddhist funeral procession. The
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Gajra, Sector 34, Noida Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - July 26, 2013August 5, 20133 The Proustian self-introspection. [By The Delhi Proustians] The Proust Questionnaire represents a form of interview that owes its structure to answers given by French novelist Marcel Proust, the author of In Search of Lost Time, at two birthday parties that he attended at ages 13 and 20 in the late 19th century. In 2013, The Delhi Proustians takes Les confidences de salon (Drawing room confessions) around the city to explore people’s lives, thoughts, values and experiences. This series involves interviews across Delhi and is conducted by writers Manika Dhama and Mayank Austen Soofi. For the fourth instalment in the series Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire, domestic helper Gajra, who uses only one name, made confessions to Manika Dhama during her morning chores at her employer's house
Photo Essay – The Wandering Woman, Old Delhi Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - July 24, 2013July 24, 20134 An evening in Shahjahanabad. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The other evening The Delhi Walla followed a woman in Old Delhi. It was humid. The woman was walking in Matia Mahal Bazaar. She was wearing a long green skirt and a red-and-orange kurta. The woman looked around in wonder as if she were in a dream. She stopped by a food stall and stared at the fried pieces of chicken that were decorated with red roses. She moved on, stopping by another stall to observe a man deep-frying a paratha. A vendor of children’s toys soon diverted her attention. She took one from him and discreetly passed a hundred-rupee note into his hands. The woman walked further down the street, turned into an
City Travel – Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu Travel by The Delhi Walla - July 23, 2013July 29, 20135 The Nepal diary. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The devotees were sitting on the stone stairs in groups of families and friends -- some were talking to each other, others were quiet. They were looking down at the Bagmati, which was rushing down in gentle fury. Naked boys were swimming in the sacred river. A dead body was being prepared for cremation. While the evening sun was casting its golden rays on the pagoda-like spire of the Pashupatinath Temple. Here Shiv is worshipped as Pashupati, the lord of the beasts. The Delhi Walla was in Kathmandu. The Nepal capital is unlike Delhi. It has many ancient temples, and only two mosques. There is hardly any garbage on the streets. The day before I
City Secret – Blood Letting, Rahat Open Surgery General by The Delhi Walla - July 22, 2013July 22, 20133 Old Delhi cure. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Kamini Khatoon lives in Amroha, a small town near Delhi. She was suffering from body ache for many years. Ms Khatoon consulted doctors, visited hospitals, tried allopathic and homeopathic medicines. She also travelled to sufi dargahs. The pain did not leave. Then someone suggested visiting Rahat Open Surgery, an open-air clinic under the shadow of Jama Masjid in Delhi. (Rahat means 'relief' in Urdu). Mohhamed Gyas is a soft-spoken man in his 70s. The hakeem made Ms Khatoon stand in the sun for 20 minutes. Later, his son, Iqbal Bhai, tied her left leg with a strip of cloth, took out a brand-new Topaz blade, made a cut on her foot, and
City Moment – The Rat’s Funeral, Jorbagh Moments by The Delhi Walla - July 21, 20131 The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One afternoon The Delhi Walla attended the funeral of a rat in the Central Delhi neighbourhood of Jorbagh. “Our dog attacked him,” the woman told me. She lives in a bungalow close to the Lodhi Gardens. Placing the rat at the center of her fenced lawn, the woman said, “We use humane traps. My husband always releases the rats in the Lodhi Gardens. But I’m lazy and I release them in our lawn. Today I did exactly that and my dog pounced on the poor creature. It was over in a second.” As she placed a white flower on the rat, I asked, “What was his name?” The woman shrugged. She placed a few more
City Food – Iftar Snacks, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah Faith Food by The Delhi Walla - July 19, 2013July 19, 20135 Breaking the fast. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The platter consists of a jalebi, a samosa, a litchi, a banana, a sliced piece of water melon or papaya, and a glass of Roohafza sharbat. This food is served every evening during the month of Ramzan at the dargah of 14th century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya in Central Delhi. It was in Ramzan that the Quran is believed to have been sent down from heaven and revealed to Prophet Muhammad. The 30 days that culminate in Eid are devoted to purifying the soul through prayer and abstaining from negative thoughts. It is mandatory for every Muslim who has attained puberty to observe roza, or fast, from sunrise to sunset. The fast
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Samyak Misra, Hauz Khas Village Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - July 18, 2013July 18, 20131 The Proustian self-introspection. [By The Delhi Proustians] The Proust Questionnaire represents a form of interview that owes its structure to answers given by French novelist Marcel Proust, the author of In Search of Lost Time, at two birthday parties that he attended at ages 13 and 20 in the late 19th century. In 2013, The Delhi Proustians takes Les confidences de salon (Drawing room confessions) around the city to explore people’s lives, thoughts, values and experiences. This series would involve interviews across Delhi and will be conducted by writers Manika Dhama and Mayank Austen Soofi. For the third instalment in the series Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire, investment analyst Samyak Misra made confessions to Manika Dhama during a morning stroll at Deer Park and brunch at
City Season – A Mid-July Rain, Elma’s Bakery and Other Places General by The Delhi Walla - July 15, 2013July 15, 20134 The afternoon shower. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One afternoon in July 2013 The Delhi Walla was having green tea at Elma’s Bakery in Central Delhi’s Meharchand Market when it started to rain. I immediately called photographer Raghu Rai. From his studio in the historic village of Mehrauli in south Delhi, Mr Rai said he was working on a new book — it’s on the monsoon and clouds. “My window looks to the Qutub Minar and a jungle of keekar trees,” he told me on phone. “When it rains, the leaves of the keekar don’t let the raindrops slide off from their surface and so the slender branches droop even lower. The sight is magnificent — sharm se khoobsurti jhuk jati