Delhi Metro – Manika Dhama’s Commute With Rebecca West, KG Marg Delhi Metro by The Delhi Walla - August 31, 2015December 4, 20150 The book lover's commute. [Text by Manika Dhama; photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] At 1,200 pages in tiny ant-lettering, it was an unwieldy choice for Metro commute reading. More than once during the course of the month I spent reading it, I questioned this decision. And yet there she was, bulging out of my old black leather bag, in her own black cage and cover, telling anyone in the women’s coach of the Delhi Metro who bent their heads to peek, that I was spending August on a vicarious journey through a country that did not exist anymore. “To my friends in Yugoslavia, who are now all dead or enslaved.” This epigraph to Rebecca West’s travel writing tome, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A
City Walk – Aurangzeb Road, Central Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - August 29, 2015August 29, 20151 The last days of the avenue. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Speeding cars are making gentle breezy sounds. Somewhere a peacock is crying out. While the soft sun of the August evening is filling Aurangzeb Road with golden light. The Delhi Walla is walking on this tree-lined avenue with a gathering sense of loss. These are the last days of Aurangzeb Road. The New Delhi Municipal Council has decided to change the name of this Central Delhi road in honor of APJ Kalam, the former Indian president who died a few weeks ago. The demand to rename the road was made by a Delhi MP who was reported by the media to have said that “Whenever we remember [Mughal emperor] Aurangzeb,
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Barkha Gupta, Somewhere Between Two Mountain Peaks Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - August 29, 2015August 29, 20152 The 97th death. [By Barkha Gupta] She was gone too soon. Given the name of ‘bakra’ (goat) by her sisterly amigo after her jocular and witty personification, Barkha Gupta departs today towards eternity with the ticket of heaven. Nothing could move her cemented faith in Jesus Christ, though born in a Hindu orthodox family. Nepal was her abode but her heart belonged to Delhi, for which, she ended up in Satyawati college of Delhi University pursuing English literature which eventually developed in her the love of reading and utmost obsession with Mr Darcy. Being a foodaholic, one would find her gulping at the Busan Korean restaurant--with a bittergourd drink to maintain her psyche simultaneously--or sometimes at the dhabas of the Jawaharlal Nehru University to
Netherfield Ball – Author Avirook Sen Attacks Ellen Barry of The New York Times, India International Center City Parties by The Delhi Walla - August 28, 2015August 28, 20158 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On a recent evening, The Delhi Walla went to the launch of Avirook Sen’s new non-fiction book, Aarushi: Anatomy of a Murder, at the India International Center. It turned out to be the scandal of the season. Manu Joseph, a journalist and novelist, was presiding over a panel talk about the book when it all happened. Mr Sen was wearing orange shoes. Ellen Barry, the South Asia bureau chief for The New York Times, was seated beside him on the stage in a red shirt (see the top photograph). After only a few minutes into the conversation, Mr Sen turned to Ms Barry and began to denounce her for the damning review
City Crisis – Save Friendicoes & Save Strays, Defence Colony General by The Delhi Walla - August 26, 2015August 26, 20152 Have heart, not money. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Bad news. Friendicoes may become history. According to a report by journalist Somya Lakhani in The Indian Express, the Delhi-based animal welfare NGO may soon shut down. It is facing a serious money crunch. The newspaper quoted the NGO’s co-founder Geeta Seshamani, who said, “At the moment, we have 320 animals at the Delhi center and 1.300 at the Gurgaon center. We have run up a debt of Rs 82 lakh, and are in a situation where we can’t afford to pay for food or medicines. We also had to discontinue the night ambulance.” Fortunately, the news report adds that “individuals and groups across the city have sprung into action” to raise funds
Mission Delhi – S.M. Yunus Jaffery, Ganj Mir Khan Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - August 25, 2015August 25, 20155 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The historic Iran nuclear deal has gone down well in a modest home in Old Delhi. “I’m very pleased,” says S.M. Yunus Jaffery. “The sanctions will go. The seized money will be released. Iranian cultural activities will increase.” The well-known Persian scholar, now in his 80s, hopes to finally see more of his books published in the land of Persepolis. Mr Jaffery’s ties with Iran have a hint of romance—he is still in touch with the woman he fell in love with there half a century ago. He first visited the country as a young man in 1962, during the dictatorship of the last Shah, to pursue
City Nature – Bachchan Dev Ram’s Neem Tree, Lodhi Road Nature by The Delhi Walla - August 24, 2015August 24, 20150 Trees of Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It does not offer much protection from the harsh sun, yet its meager shade is comforting. One afternoon The Delhi Walla saw a Neem tree on Lodhi Road. There were other trees in the vicinity that were bigger and denser and more majestic but this Neem looked special. It belongs to Bachchan Dev Ram. A shoe repairer, he sits under this tree daily. Mr Ram converted it into his establishment about eight years ago. The tools of his trade are neatly arranged on one side of the tree – stacks of shoes and sandals alongside rubber soles and shoe-polish brushes. A bunch of shoe laces is hung on a branch, along with
Delhi Archives – Amir Khusro, b. Patiali, Uttar Pradesh, 1253-1325 Delhi Archives by The Delhi Walla - August 24, 2015August 24, 20155 [Digging out old stories from The Delhi Walla] At 72, the maker of Hindustani classical music lost interest in the world. Poet Amir Khusro, the 14th century courtier to seven kings, was in mourning after the death of his spiritual mentor, Delhi’s sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. Khusro gave away his wealth, retired to Hazrat Nizamuddin’s tomb, died six months later, and was buried in the shrine’s courtyard. Perhaps it is all a legend. How could one person singularly invent the tabla and sitar, produce the first raga and create the sufi music of qawwali? Most likely Hindustani classical music came out of a civilization, but Khusro’s poetic genius gave that civilization its Hindustani-ness. Folksy and immediate, his language – a mix of Persian
Photo Essay – The Modern Man, Around Town Photo Essays by The Delhi Walla - August 22, 2015August 22, 20154 Smartphone and the man. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The other evening The Delhi Walla saw the Modern Man. I was at the café in Ajay Guest House in Central Delhi’s Paharganj. The man was seated alone at a corner table. He was having his dinner. His lonesomeness in a place that teemed with lovers and friends rendered afresh the melancholy of big-city solitude. A closer look, however, revealed that the man was not alone. His smartphone was placed against the breadbasket and he was intently looking towards the screen. This is a portrait that is becoming common. After developing intimate bonds with the smartphone, we are now in the second stage of this marriage. The visual evidences of that relationship
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Vijetha SN, Patel Nagar Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - August 21, 2015August 21, 20151 The 96th death. [Text by Vijetha SN; photo by Laxmi Narendra] Vijetha SN, a prolific journalist who wrote about everything from overflowing garbage bins in her neighbourhood to what the debonair Delhiite should be wearing, was found dead in her apartment this morning. “We got a call at three in the morning by neighbours complaining about loud music from her apartment. We broke open the door and found out her dead in her sleep. She had forgotten to turn the TV off,” said beat constable Patil Kumar, adding that the police were yet to rule out foul-play in light of the evidence that they had gathered, mostly from her personal diary where she had painstakingly described everyone who been mean to her since