City List – Pradip Krishen’s Most Suitable Trees for Delhi
Dry, deciduous. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Though Delhiwallas wilt in the sweltering heat, summer is also the season when a great part of the city comes to life in a magically beautiful way. Walk along the wide…
Atget’s Corner – 921-925, Delhi Photos
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,…
City Monument – Zafar Mahal, Mehrauli
The last palace. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The summer palace of the Mughals, it turned out to be their last major building. It is in ruins. Situated beside the shrine of Sufi saint Khawaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki,…
Netherfield Ball – The Superhit Show at Rana Ayyub’s Book Launch, India Habitat Center
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There was so much room to breathe during the forgettable launch of Tavleen Singh’s book a few weeks ago at the India Habitat Center. The veteran journalist with 233K followers…
Photo Essay – Sufi’s World, Mehrauli
Meow. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sufi lives in a monument-facing apartment in South Delhi’s Mehrauli. She shares it with Vidya Rao who is a human. Sufi is very old now. She spends her days reading books about…
Mission Delhi – Kutte Walle Baba–Part II, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Here’s a real-life story with a happy ending. The greatest landmark of Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti is its Sufi shrine from which this Central Delhi village…
City Moment – The Opera Singer’s Front Row Audience, Alliance Francaise de Delhi
The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is summer and yet the air is not warm. The opera singer’s song is sneaking out of the door. Inside, her booming voice has flooded the whole world. She…
City Food – Jodhpuri Paratha, Eatopia, India Habitat Center
The crushed dream. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Why should you go all the way to Parathe Walli Galli, in Old Delhi’s congested Chandni Chowk, to have delicious deep-fried parathas when you can get Delhi’s most delicious (and…
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Anannya Dasgupta’s Amaltas Poems, Amrita Shergil Marg
Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She is crossing the road. A car heads straight towards her putting her existence in doubt. An entire self-contained world is at risk: her own being + the poems…
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Poulami Chakraborty, Calcutta
The 130th death. [Text by Poulami Chakraborty; photo by Ria Chakraborty] The sweet grandma who used to write stories for her grandchildren is no more. She had just turned 70 when she died of a brain tumor. This kind-hearted lady…
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