Mission Delhi – Shanti Devi, Hauz Khas Village Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - September 30, 2013May 28, 20163 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Many people, including the gardeners of the adjacent Deer Park, are addicted to her ginger-flavoured chai. Indeed, Shanti Devi’s tea is one of the best things about Hauz Khas Village. Perhaps in her 70s, the quiet woman runs a tea stall in south Delhi’s most stylish district; her cart stands next to its entrance while she lives in one of the shanties that line the village on its southern side, a no-go area for shoppers. Popularly known as ‘Amma’, Ms Devi has not been seen since a year. Her regular patrons are not worried for her. She frequently goes to her native village in Bihar handing over the
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Keerti Singh, Jamia Millia Islamia Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - September 25, 2013September 25, 20132 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 ninth instalment in the series Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire, Keerti Singh made confessions to Manika within the precincts of Jamia Millia Islamia, where Ms Singh is pursuing her Masters in
City Food – Julia Child Makes Pho in BK Dutt Colony Julia Child's Delhi by The Delhi Walla - September 23, 2013September 23, 20134 The great chef’s life in Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Meet the Julia Child of BK Dutt Colony, a quiet middle-class neighbourhood in central Delhi, next-door to the posh Jor Bagh. In her 30s, writer Victoria Burrows lives in a two-room apartment with her leopard-striped, semi-civilised former street cat, Perdita. She has piles of food books in her drawing room and pots of lemon grass, basil and mint plants on her terrace, which is partially claimed by the thick leafy branches of an Indian lilac. Ms Burrows loves to eat – she recently discovered a new place in the nearby Meharchand Market that serves “oily and delicious” Chicken Changezi. But she won’t tell The Delhi Walla its name until she herself
The Delhi Walla Special – Pride & Prejudice, Part II General by The Delhi Walla - September 20, 2013September 20, 20135 The Jane Austen classic revisited. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Once upon a time in distant wet England, there lived a family of five daughters, each of them waiting to meet a single man in possession of a good fortune and in want of a wife. The father was not rich, the mother was not sensible. The girls filled the empty hours by embroidering patterns on petticoats, gossiping about eligible gentlemen, dancing at balls and writing the occasional letter. Three of them got husbands. This is the summary of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Celebrating its 200th year in 2013, it was first published in January 1813. Have you ever pondered what happened to these husband-hunting butterflies once they were finally hitched? And,
City Style – The Classy Delhiwalla, Tilak Nagar Style by The Delhi Walla - September 18, 2013September 18, 20133 Searching for the stylish. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla saw this young man on a street in the western neighbourhood of Tilak Nagar. He was selling apples. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows. His hair was dyed to a shade of brown. His right ear had a ring. A metal pendant was around his chest. His white trousers were held tight by an orange-colored belt. There was no one dressed like him. The man’s sartorial approach was different from most fruit vendors, who are caricatures in vest and lungi. His outfit suggested formality, though it was far from the regulation uniform of office goers. Where a purely-white crisp clothing would have
City Monument – Restored Ruin, Humayun’s Tomb Monuments by The Delhi Walla - September 16, 2013July 22, 20159 A silver lining. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The restoration work on the Mughal emperor Humayun’s tomb in Delhi ended in September 2013. “It took us six years and 200,000 man-days of painstaking work by craftsmen,” says Ratish Nanda, project director of Aga Khan Trust for Culture, which is restoring the much larger Humayun Tomb complex, including the monuments in the neighbouring Sunder Nursery. The trust is also involved in the urban renewal of the historic Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti area. Taking The Delhi Walla up to the roof of the 16th century tomb, not accessible to visitors, Mr Nanda says: “This was the first and so far the only instance that the restoration of a protected monument was undertaken by a
City Hangout – Modern Tea House, Haveli Azam Khan Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - September 12, 2013September 12, 20136 A sip of the Walled City. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The tea stalls in Mughal-era Old Delhi serve very milky and sweet chai. Modern Tea House, on Haveli Azam Khan, a congested alley off the Chitli Qabar Chowk, is different. The tea here is dark and strong. But you must not come to this cramped chaikhana, or the tea house, for its invigorating brew alone. Visit it to savour its ambience that is made up of old bearded patrons, old wooden chairs and old chipped china (you are likely to be served in a glass tumbler unless you request otherwise). Equally fascinating is the scene on the street outside the tea house: women, fattened goats, children, beggars, maulanas, balloon sellers, donkeys
City Moment – The Kitchen Concert, Nizamuddin East Moments by The Delhi Walla - September 10, 2013September 10, 20136 The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One afternoon The Delhi Walla was at a third-floor apartment in Nizamuddin East when a young man entered the kitchen. He was wearing a blue kurta and a white shalwar. He was carrying a tanpura. The young man thought he was alone. Unaware that he was being watched, he started to play with the strings of the instrument. Music arose. The concert audience consisted of a refrigerator, a microwave oven, a tea kettle, a toaster and also a bunch of bananas. The young man began to sing, too. Soon, the sentiments of his raga took over the expressions of his face. After a few minutes, the musician stopped. Exhausted, he sat down on a
Delhi Metro – Trainspotting, Around Town Delhi Metro by The Delhi Walla - September 9, 2013September 9, 20132 The scenic tracks. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla has found the most picturesque spot from where to watch the majesty of the Delhi Metro. It lies in the little-known Aastha Kunj, in south Delhi. Visited by only a few solitude-seekers, the undulating Delhi Development Authority garden is landscaped near the Nehru Place business district. Every 2 minutes, one can see from here the silver-grey coaches of the Metro running past a backdrop of high-rises such as the International Trade Tower, InterContinental Eros hotel and Satyam Cineplex. The ground beneath the elevated tracks is a totally different world—carpeted with grass, dotted with trees and bushes. A magnificent sight. The Delhi Metro Rail Corp. began operations almost 11 years ago.
Coming Soon – Paperback Edition, Nobody Can Love You More The Delhi Walla books by The Delhi Walla - September 7, 2013September 7, 20134 Sold out. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi; the above photo is by Unknown] Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District, a book by The Delhi Walla, was recently published by Penguin India. Priced at Rs 399, it was a hardbound edition. The other day I received a mail from Penguin's R. Sivapriya, one of the most excellent editors on the planet. I'm sharing the contents of the letter with her permission: Dear Mayank, The first print run (4000 copies) of Nobody Can Love You More has sold out in less than a year. Congratulations! I am thrilled. We are going to do a paperback edition in February 2014. (There are a few hundred copies of the book in