City Moment – The Poetry Candle, Ghalib Academy Moments by The Delhi Walla - December 20, 2015December 20, 20151 The remarkable Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was time for poet Gulzar Dehlvi, who was seated on the stage, to perform his duty. One evening The Delhi Walla was at the Ghalib Academy in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti. A mushaira, or a meeting of Urdu poets, was about to began, in which the poets were to read out their poems on the stage. A number of Delhi's eminent verse writers were present; they included Iqbal Firdausi, Munir Hamdam, Rauf Raza and Javed Niyazi. Each had a badge pinned on the chest, which said ‘Poet’. The two women poets of the evening were Iffat Zarreen and Shabnam Siddiqui. A giant wax candle was placed in front of the stage. In the
Netherfield Ball – Amartya Sen’s Reception, India International Center City Parties by The Delhi Walla - December 18, 2015December 18, 20152 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was very unsettling. Nobody was air-kissing anybody. One evening The Delhi Walla went to the India International Center to hear Nobel laureate Amartya Sen talk on his new book, The Country of First Boys. In a most abominable sort of indifference to decorum, a great crowd of unknown young men and women decided to breach the respectable Delhi tradition of arriving late. They started to pour into the lobby of the Multi-Purpose Hall two hours before Mr Sen’s arrival. Some were even spotted earnestly reading his aforementioned book(!) A most unusual sight in events of such kinds. All these overeager people had sacrificed their evening for an author whose books exist outside the
City Faith – Thursday Evening, Hazrat Turkman Shah’s Dargah Faith by The Delhi Walla - December 17, 2015December 17, 20150 Beyond qawwali. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Every respectable Delhi guidebook tells you to visit the Sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya on Thursday evening, aka jumeraat, the big night before the Islamic sabbath. That's when the qawwal musicians offer their sacred music in the shrine’s courtyard, the guidebooks proclaim. The aforementioned shrine is indeed jam-packed on said evenings. The qawwali performance makes for a memorable experience. But qawwalis are offered every evening in the shrine. The singers are less theatrical on other days when they are not obliged to focus their energies to meet the heightened expectations of the secular masses. There's more depth then. The Sufi music is also performed in Delhi’s many other dargahs. A true snob will avoid
City Landmark – Chor Bizarre, Asaf Ali Road Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - December 16, 2015December 16, 20153 A trip to Kashmir. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] If you throw a few stones standing somewhere south of Khan Market, you might not hit many Delhiwallas under a certain age, but you are likely to hit many who’ve heard of Chor Bizarre—a fixture on any write-up to do with the Capital’s fine- dining scene. Now past the grand old age of 25, Chor Bizarre is more familiar to visitors and expats than to the locals. Its mystique remains intact. On a recent evening in Hotel Broadway, which houses the Kashmiri cuisine restaurant, a professor from Italy was giving a woman from Delhi a quick tour of the place. The restaurant occupies a unique location—it stands at the point where New Delhi
Atget’s Corner – 886-890, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - December 15, 20151 The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds, courtyards, kitchens and old buildings. My archive of more than 25,000 photos showcases Delhi’s ongoing evolution. Five randomly picked pictures from this collection are regularly put up on the pages of this website. The series is named in the memory of French artist Eugène Atget (1857-1927), who, in the words of a biographer, was an “obsessed photographer determined to document every corner of Paris before it disappeared under the assault of modern improvements.” Here are Delhi photos numbered 886 to 890. 886. Patel Nagar 887. Janpath 888. Ballimaran 889.
City Faith – Hanukkah Candles, Paharganj Faith by The Delhi Walla - December 14, 2015December 14, 20152 The Temple memories. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It's the light of Hanukkah, the weeklong Jewish festival that enters its penultimate day this cold evening. The Delhi Walla spots the customary candles of Hanukkah in Main Bazaar, a market in the hotel district of Paharganj. The candles are mounted on the menorah. The traditional nine-branched Jewish candle-stand is placed just across the road from Vishal Hotel. Hanukkah commemorates the re-dedication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BC. It is rare to see the public face of this festival in Delhi. After all, the city has only two dozen Jews, only one synagogue—it is near Khan Market, and only one Jewish graveyard, next to the synagogue. But there
City Style – Rakhshanda Jalil’s Ghararas, South Delhi Style by The Delhi Walla - December 12, 2015December 12, 20155 Searching for the stylish. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Strange outfit this. It’s neither a skirt, nor a gown. It’s definitely not a sari. It’s also not a pajama. What is it? “It is gharara,” says author Rakhshanda Jalil, pronouncing the ‘gh’ in a special deep-throat voice. The Delhi Walla is at Ms Jalil’s home in south Delhi. Her most precious wardrobe is a treasure-house of about two dozen ghararas. Most have come down to her from her mother and mother’s mother; a few are even older. Indeed, Ms Jalil has a fascination for souvenirs of the past. One of her many books is the beautifully titled Invisible City: The Hidden Monuments of Delhi. These ghararas, too, are fast becoming invisible. It will be
Netherfield Ball – Barkha Dutt’s Book Reception, The Taj Mahal Hotel City Parties by The Delhi Walla - December 10, 2015December 10, 20155 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was an exceedingly posh party. The capital’s cold toxic air smelled of expensive perfumes. Almost every important person was there except for the Prime Minister. He was not missed. One evening The Delhi Walla attended the launch of news anchor Barkha Dutt’s book, This Unquiet Land: Stories From India's Fault Lines, at The Terrace Garden in The Taj Mahal Hotel. It was a rare public gathering of some of the country’s most influential politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, authors and artists. Former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah sat on the front row beside jurist Soli Sorabjee. Mr Abdullah’s son, Omar, also a former chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir, was in one of
Mission Delhi – Sona Devi, Near Sahibabad Village Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 8, 2015November 1, 20172 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Her first name means ‘gold’ in Hindi. One morning, The Delhi Walla meets Sona Devi in a shared autorickshaw, somewhere just outside the city limits, and fell into a conversation. “I’m on my way to work,” explained Ms Devi, a beggar headed for Vaishali Metro Station. There she’ll stand outside the entrance seeking money from commuters, “I usually spend my mornings there when it’s more crowded.” Deep in thought, she stares through the rickshaw’s grimy glass window and continues, “When I’m finished at Vaishali I’ll go to Anand Vihar bus adda (Inter State Bus Terminus).” She will stay there for the rest of the day. Home for Ms Devi is
City Moment – The Privacy of The Midnight Poets, Suleman Tea Stall Moments by The Delhi Walla - December 7, 2015December 7, 20155 The remarkable Delhi instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] One late night The Delhi Walla entered the Suleman Tea Stall at Chitli Qabar Chowk. It was empty except for five men who occupied a table at the end. They were all Urdu poets, but they depend on other professions to make a living. Munir Hamdam of Turkman Gate Mohalla publishes E-books. Rauf Raza of Chitli Qabar is an interior decorator. Javed Mushiri of Ballimaran is a journalist with Siyasi Taqdeer newspaper. Javed Niyazi of Kucha Rohilla Khan has a “rubber business”. Iqbal Firdausi of Baradari runs a small factory that manufactures drum sets and harmonium parts. All these men said that they discuss poetry, politics and cricket late into the