Family Album – The Senguptas, Civil Lines Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - September 3, 2013September 3, 20136 The Delhi coffee table. [Text and photos of photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In order to feel the intimate life of Delhiites, The Delhi Walla is going from house to house, requesting people to show their family photos. The project will never end. Here is the third instalment. This album belongs to the house of Senguptas, who lived in north Delhi’s Civil Lines. I found it in the house of a rag-picker in Kashmere Gate. The name and address was hand-written on the back of one of the photos, along with the year in which they were presumably taken. It was 1943. The photos are so fragile that they crumble on touch. Scenes of their history 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Related posts: Family Album – The Sattars, Pahari Imli Family Album – The Smiths, Mayapuri Family Album – The Dehlvis, Nizamuddin East Family Album – The Hajis, Chawri Bazaar City Monument – The Church of Epiphany, Civil Lines, Gurgaon
my goodness. These have to be some of the most hauntingly beautiful photos I have ever seen. They remind me of Ismat Chughtai’s pen portraits of her extended family in ‘kaghazi hai pairahan’. Photos 2 and 3 are my favorites.