Delhi Proustians - Interview with America's Great Proust Scholar

Delhi Proustians – Interview with America’s Great Proust Scholar

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…

City Faith - Mai Sahiba's Dargah, Adchini Village

City Faith – Mai Sahiba’s Dargah, Adchini Village

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…

City Regions - Feminism, Rajouri Garden & Lajpat Nagar

City Regions – Feminism, Rajouri Garden & Lajpat Nagar

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…

City Library – Sadia Dehlvi’s Books, Nizamuddin East

City Library – Sadia Dehlvi’s Books, Nizamuddin East

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…

Nidhi Mahajan’s Review – On Nobody Can Love You More

Nidhi Mahajan’s Review – On Nobody Can Love You More

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…

City Date - 20 March 2014, Khushwant Singh

City Date – 20 March 2014, Khushwant Singh

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…

City Obituary - Khushwant Singh, 1915-2014

City Obituary – Khushwant Singh, 1915-2014

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…

Julia Child in Delhi – Kiranmayi Bhushi Makes Sweet & Sour Pumpkin, Asian Games Village

Julia Child in Delhi – Kiranmayi Bhushi Makes Sweet & Sour Pumpkin, Asian Games Village

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…

City Neighborhood - Sujan Singh Park, Central Delhi

City Neighborhood – Sujan Singh Park, Central Delhi

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,…

City Moment –Author Hugging, India Habitat Center

City Moment –Author Hugging, India Habitat Center

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…