Photo Essay - The Brown Dog On a Stone Tomb, Mehrauli

Photo Essay – The Brown Dog On a Stone Tomb, Mehrauli

Friend of the tomb. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. This is true only up to a point. There is a lazy dog, indeed, but no brown fox. Instead, there…

City Moment - Historian Romila Thapar's Disappearance, Khan Market

City Moment – Historian Romila Thapar’s Disappearance, Khan Market

The remarkable Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One evening The Delhi Walla spots historian Romila Thapar at the Faqirchand Bookstore in Delhi’s Khan Market. She is wearing a long grey kurta. Her hair is grey. Ms…

Home Sweet Home - Anuj Panwar's Residence, Chirag Dilli

Home Sweet Home – Anuj Panwar’s Residence, Chirag Dilli

Inside the walls. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His house feels like a hotel room that has just been cleaned by the housekeeping for the next guest. Not a single element is out of place. The laptop is…

City Monument - Teen Murti House, Central Delhi

City Monument – Teen Murti House, Central Delhi

Nehru’s last home. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A koel perched somewhere on one of the trees is calling out incessantly. A peacock emerges from behind a hedge, but disappears the next instant. The big house exudes an…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Aishwarya Kandpal, Třeboň, Czech Republic

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Aishwarya Kandpal, Třeboň, Czech Republic

The 102nd death. [Text by Aishwarya Kandpal; photo by Unknown] My 45th death. November 19, 2055. Slurp. Sniff. Slurp. The huge Mishka sat next to a most demurely seated figure, head down on the grand piano, seemingly wondering why her…

City Life - Muhammed Sabir's Dengue, Hazrat Nizamuddin East

City Life – Muhammed Sabir’s Dengue, Hazrat Nizamuddin East

A face in the fever. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The thinkable has happened. Muhammed Sabir, too, has got dengue. Mr Sabir is one of the thousands of Delhiwallas who have been hit by this fever in the…

City Faith - Reading the Goat's Mind, Gali Chamre Wali

City Faith – Reading the Goat’s Mind, Gali Chamre Wali

Last thoughts. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was the morning of the Muslim festival of Eid ul Zuha, or Bakra Eid, in which animals are sacrificed to commemorate the legend of a devout man’s complete surrender to…

City Landmark – Chiki Sarkar’s New Publishing House, Near Kamal Nursery

City Landmark – Chiki Sarkar’s New Publishing House, Near Kamal Nursery

A star is born. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The place is as sparse as Hemingway’s prose. There are tables and chairs, to be sure, but no unnecessary furniture. It is, however, too early to draw conclusions. This…

City Style – A Man in Asymmetrical Colours, Subway Restaurant, Khan Market

City Style – A Man in Asymmetrical Colours, Subway Restaurant, Khan Market

Searching for the stylish. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His T-shirt is pink. His shorts are white. His hair are tied into two ponytails. Oh my God, his socks. One is pink. The other is green. There is…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Elizabeth Varkey, East Delhi

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Elizabeth Varkey, East Delhi

The 101st death. [Text by Elizabeth Varkey; photo by Hannah V. Nazareth] Elizabeth Varkey, daughter of Shri K.C. Varkeyachan breathed her last on a lovely, rainy afternoon like this, fit for jalebis and samosas and tea. But she had begun…