Our Self-Written Obituaries – Nivriti Butalia, Dubai Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - February 6, 2015February 11, 20151 The fourth death. [Text by Nivriti Butalia; photo by Dhruv Narain] Nivriti Butalia burnt her tongue on a milkless cup of tea sourced from the pantry of the newspaper office in the Middle East, where she had been a stooge for over two years writing about the environment. In that time, she was troubled by the lack of recycling facilities - in the pantry, and in Dubai at large, the ubiquity of sodden Leone tea bags, the disease-spreading Styrofoam cups. Besides the swollen tongue, she was plagued also by a dull ache for a city she'd left behind to take herself to the desert in search of unknown wonders and well-known riches, only to then have come upon a husband. See
City Faith – 711th Urs, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah Faith by The Delhi Walla - February 6, 2015February 6, 20151 The annual celebrations. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The four-day Urs ceremony, or the death anniversary, of Delhi’s 14th century Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, starts on February 6. Urs means 'wedding' in Arabic and it symbolizes the union of the lover with the beloved, who is God. Therefore, in Sufism, a saint’s death is not mourned, but celebrated. Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya was buried in the chamber where he meditated and died. His shrine is built around his tomb. A settlement of the same name – Nizamuddin Basti – came up around the dargah. Select verses from the Quran will be read in the dargah’s courtyard on the first evening of the 711th Urs. Food will be served. The next four days include