Delhi Proustians – Interview with America’s Great Proust Scholar Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - March 31, 2014January 4, 20240 William C. Carter on Marcel Proust. [By Mayank Austen Soofi; scholar's photo by Nic Drogoul] How many people do you know who have actually read In Search of Lost Time in its entirety? Marcel Proust’s French novel, À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu, has seven volumes and more than a million words — the first volume completed 100 years in 2013. Entombed with the label of a classic, the book suffers from the undeserved reputation of being a tough read. Indeed, the late American scholar Roger Shattuck began his award-winning 1974 treatise on the French novelist, titled Proust, by saying, “Among the handful of literary classics produced in this century, Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time is the most oceanic — and
City Faith – Mai Sahiba’s Dargah, Adchini Village Faith by The Delhi Walla - March 29, 2014March 29, 20142 The mother's courtyard. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here you will meet Bibi Zulekha, the mother of Delhi’s 14th century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. The shrine is known among the devotees as Mai Sahiba ki dargah. Bibi Zulekha’s parents arrived in the Indian subcontinent following the Mongol invasions in their central Asian hometown Bukhara.* They settled in Badayun, a town 150 miles northwest of Delhi. Bibi Zulekha was married to Khwaja Syed Ahmad; his parents too were from central Asia. The couple had a daughter and a son. The husband died when the son was two. A few years later the mother moved to Delhi with her children. According to legends, the family lived in great poverty in Delhi –
City Regions – Feminism, Rajouri Garden & Lajpat Nagar Regions by The Delhi Walla - March 27, 2014March 27, 20142 Beyond the stereotypes. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A homely Punjabi girl in west Delhi’s Rajouri Garden is dumped by her fiancé hours before the wedding. The shattered girl flies to Europe, becomes her own woman, and returns to west Delhi. This was the plot of the Hindi film, the critically acclaimed Queen. In real life, it turns out, a girl in conservative Rajouri Garden comes into her own in Rajouri Garden itself. Like most girls of this neighbourhood, the happily married 27-year-old Minakshi Kathait grew up having dahi papdi at Atul Chat Corner and buying bright tops at Incense Apparel & Accessory, both popular landmarks in Rajouri Garden’s Main Market. But unlike Queen’s heroine — a type that has been lovingly nurtured
City Library – Sadia Dehlvi’s Books, Nizamuddin East Library by The Delhi Walla - March 25, 2014March 29, 20144 A vanishing world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One rainy evening, The Delhi Walla knocks on the door of Sadia Dehlvi. In her fifties, she lives in an apartment in Nizamuddin East with her son, her cook and her hundreds of books on Islam. Ms Dehlvi has written two books on Sufism. Being her trusted acquaintance, she has often lent me books from her library. This evening she is looking distraught. “I cannot find two of Khushwant’s books,” she says, referring to author Khushwant Singh who died two days ago at 99. Ms Dehlvi is standing amid piles of books spread out haphazardly on her drawing room floor. “I have never given Khushwant to anyone.” Looking down at half a dozen books that
Nidhi Mahajan’s Review – On Nobody Can Love You More The Delhi Walla books by The Delhi Walla - March 24, 2014March 24, 20144 Life in a red light district. [By Nidhi Mahajan] Literary critic and blogger Nidhi Mahajan discussed Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District, a book by The Delhi Walla, on her website Literature Martini. Click here to read the review, or see below. NOBODY CAN Love You More is one of those engaging and overwhelming reads that leave you with so many thoughts but not enough words to put them in. When I picked up this book, my first impression of it was that as a non-fiction book about Delhi’s red light district, it will explore the lives of women who live and work at GB Road. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that the book is so
City Date – 20 March 2014, Khushwant Singh General by The Delhi Walla - March 22, 2014March 24, 20142 The author's last day. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was Thursday afternoon, and most book lovers in India had learnt of author Khushwant Singh’s death. The Prime Minister had just left after paying his last respects at E-49, Mr Singh’s red-brick apartment in central Delhi’s colonial-era Sujan Singh Park. The security cordon was finally lifted and an elderly man stepped out of the door. On being accosted by The Delhi Walla, he said: “I’m Chandan Singh. I served him (Khushwant Singh) for more than 60 years. This morning he had half a glass of orange juice and half a buttered toast. At noon, I was making broccoli soup. He passed away.” The lean, grey-haired man looked mildly bemused by the crowd
City Obituary – Khushwant Singh, 1915-2014 General by The Delhi Walla - March 20, 20142 A Delhi writer. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One night, during the first half of April, 2009, Delhi’s legendary author Khushwant Singh, who died at the age of 99 in March 2014, fell off from his bed while sleeping at his home in Sujan Singh Park, a graceful if crumbly apartment complex very close to Khan Market. It was pitch dark. Mr Singh stumbled around but could not get up. He then called for his son Rahul who was unable to pick him up from the floor. A security guard was later summoned from outside and only then was the author of such classics like Train to Pakistan and A History of the Sikhs was brought back to his bed. Luckily,
Julia Child in Delhi – Kiranmayi Bhushi Makes Sweet & Sour Pumpkin, Asian Games Village Julia Child's Delhi by The Delhi Walla - March 20, 2014March 20, 20142 The great chef’s life in Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Meet the Julia Child of south Delhi’s quiet and serene neighborhood Asian Games Village. A sociology professor, Kiranmayi Bhushi lives in a book-filled apartment. She shares it with her cat, Maharani. (The terrace with its dozens of plants is especially lovely.) Ms Bhushi hails from Hyderabad, though she has been living in Delhi for 30 years. In 2009, she co-founded the iconic but now-defunct Gunpowder restaurant in Hauz Khas Village. “One of the most popular dishes in Gunpowder was the sweet & sour pumpkin,” says Ms Bhushi. Here is the recipe of this dish. Sweet & sour pumpkin is called gummadi kai in Telugu. Its recipe is a recollection of
City Neighborhood – Sujan Singh Park, Central Delhi Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - March 17, 2014March 20, 20141 The higher plateau. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Green creepers cover the red brick walls. Hibiscus vines frame the windows. Pink bougainvilleas climb to higher balconies. A large mulberry tree graces the lawn at the center. The apartments, with their high ceilings and fire places, betray their colonial-era loyalty. Sujan Singh Park in central Delhi is rumoured to be the address of the bookish gentry. The drawing rooms are, apparently, shrines to antique hardbounds. The curtains are said to be embroidered with verses of great poets. Every home is believed to be inhabited by a published author. Author Khushwant Singh is the most famous resident here. The plate beside his door-bell says: “Please do not ring the bell unless you are expected.” In
City Moment –Author Hugging, India Habitat Center Moments by The Delhi Walla - March 16, 2014March 16, 20141 The beautiful Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One evening The Delhi Walla was at the Stein auditorium in India Habitat Center. Author Arundhati Roy had just finished speaking on The Doctor and the Saint, her book-length introduction to Annihilation of Caste, the recently-published annotated edition of a radical speech written by anti-caste Indian statesman Dr B.R. Ambedkar. A large number of people had queued up on the stage to have their copies of the book signed by Ms Roy. But one woman in that line stood barehanded. When her turn came, she grinned and hugged Ms Roy. Stunned speechless, the author of The God of Small Things responded by hugging her back. The woman then immediately left the auditorium