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Month: May 2016

The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Gravedigger Allah Hu, b. Piplauti Village, 1930-2016

by The Delhi Walla - 3

The definitive directory of great Delhiites. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] He was always seen in a green kurta, this lean man with deep-set eyes and a long beard. Allah Hu was a gravedigger at the Batla House Qabristan in south Delhi. Over the last 40 years, he had dug or supervised the final resting place for thousands in this sprawling Muslim cemetery. On 25 April 2016, he died of a heart attack—and was buried in the place he had selected for himself years ago. At 85, Allah Hu had lived almost all his life in these dusty grounds, in a two-room house that is his only material bequest to his wife Khushnabi, four sons, two daughters, and 11 grandchildren. The other legacy

City Style – A Woman from Kashmir, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti

by The Delhi Walla - 2

Searching for the stylish. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She looked like the cover picture of a yellowing National Geographic magazine. One evening The Delhi Walla saw a woman in an eatery in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti. She was seated with her companions-one man, one woman. Despite the heat, her head was covered with a shawl that fell down gently over her back. Her long blue top had yellow and purple flowers. Her many-colored necklace was almost as large as her face. She looked a little shy. There was no one dressed like her. The woman said she was from Kashmir. Some time later, her woman companion stood up and started to fuss around her. The friend lifted her shawl and

The Delhi Proustians – Benoît Puttemans of Sotheby’s Paris Talks to The Delhi Walla on the Great Proust Auction

by The Delhi Walla - 5

On Sotheby's auction of Proust memorabilia. [By Mayank Austen Soofi; photo given by Sotheby’s / art digital studio] Imagine that your lover’s most intimate letters and private photographs are sold away. This is probably what the most devoted readers of French novelist Marcel Proust will feel on 31 May 2016 when a large part of his personal archives, including hand-corrected proofs of his great novel A la Recherche du Temps Perdu (or In Search of Lost Time), will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in Paris. The collection is owned by the writer’s 41-year-old great-grand-niece Patricia Mante-Proust. Benoît Puttemans (see top photo taken near the Proustian town of Illiers-Combray), Sotheby's Paris-based Deputy Director, Spécialiste Livres & Manuscrits, exclusively talked to me on email about

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Neha Taneja, Pusa Road

by The Delhi Walla - 1

The 129th death. [Text by Neha Taneja; photo by Amit Taneja] It was raining hard. The earth was red and the air was filled with the fragrance of the wet soil. This was Neha Taneja's last trip to the hills of North Bengal. She was with her most dear friends. Later in the day Ms Taneja’s ashes were dispersed in these cloud-kissing hills. While listening to John Denver's 'Rocky Mountain High', her soul rose to the sky to fathom its depth. Ms Taneja had specified the details of her farewell a decade ago in a will that she had handed over to her friend Diwash. He was instructed to read it only after her death. As part of that same will, all the artworks

100 Things to Do Before You Quit Delhi – Stand Under Amaltas Trees at Midnight, Around Town

by The Delhi Walla - 5

The perfect Delhi experience. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The sky is blank. The road is empty. And the yellow flowers of the Amaltas are looking like visitors from some other world. As part of The Delhi Walla’s series ‘100 Things to Do Before You Quit Delhi’, I ask you to take a tour of the blooming Amaltas trees at night. The Amaltas flowers surface in Delhi during the summer when it is so hot that the brain itself seems to be on the boil. The city seems on the verge of death but it manages to survive. Some credit for this miracle goes to the Amaltas. During the day, as the temperature soars higher and higher, the flowers of the

City Library – Dayanita Singh’s Books, Vasant Vihar

by The Delhi Walla - 1

A vanishing world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There are bookshelves everywhere, even outside, just beside the door. One afternoon, The Delhi Walla steps inside Dayanita Singh’s studio. The internationally acclaimed author-photographer’s pad in south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar is a maze of book-filled rooms. Even the kitchen shelves are stacked with the printed word. A few racks are filled with nothing but petite black Moleskine diaries. Ms Singh, however, has a relationship with only two dozen books. That beloved stack stands discreetly on a dark-wood shelf. Walking towards this special bundle, she picks up Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet and opens it randomly. The slim paperback, we discover, is already torn into two parts. Why can’t she get a

Photo Essay – Sakina Mehta’s Material Memories of Artist Tyeb Mehta, Greater Kailash-I

by The Delhi Walla - 1

A wife's legacy. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The house is like a museum celebrating the life of Tyeb Mehta, one of contemporary India’s greatest painters. One afternoon The Delhi Walla entered the home of Sakina Mehta, the late artist's wife. Ms Mehta lives with her daughter, Himani, and her son-in-law, Vaseem, in South Delhi’s Greater Kailash Enclave Part-I. Every wall in the apartment is adorned with at least one work by her husband. Ms Mehta guided me to select parts of the house. Family souvenirs 1. 2. 2a. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Home Sweet Home – Chandiwali Haveli, Katra Khushal Rai

by The Delhi Walla - 3

A broken house. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The centuries-old Chandiwali Haveli in Old Delhi’s Katra Khushal Rai neighborhood is an extraordinary mansion. Though dilapidated, it is home to many families and is supremely picturesque. A beautiful door on one side of the courtyard stands locked. You can easily see what lies behind it—the door panel is broken. The sight is intriguing, a disorderly combination of the ethereal and the ugly. Intricately carved pillars are wrapped in blue plastic. Kellogg’s cardboard cartons litter the broken floor. A far-off corner is packed with the type of white sacks that usually hold cement. The blue paint of the walls has faded to a pale shade. The plaster has peeled off in some

Netherfield Ball – The Ordeal of the Ambassador’s Beautiful Partner at the Israel National Day Celebrations, ITC Maurya Hotel

by The Delhi Walla - 4

The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A blue shade covered her bare shoulders. The delicate cloth languidly fell over her red gown. And her blue necklace resembled a late-night dream. The Israeli ambassador’s beautiful partner, the slender Ditza Froim, was going through the biggest trial of the year. She, along with ambassador Daniel Carmon, was about to shake hands with hundreds of guests. One evening The Delhi Walla tiptoed into the Israel National Day celebrations at the Kamal Mahal Hall in Hotel ITC Maurya. The ambassador and his partner stood at the entrance as a long queue formed at the door. Each invitee had to personally congratulate the couple for the country’s 68th Independence Day. The ambassador went through the

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Preeti Saini, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh

by The Delhi Walla - 0

The 128th death. [Text by Preeti Saini; photo by Srija Sharma] She never looked nice. Preeti Saini looked like an art work, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something. Nobody was able to paint her in black or white for she existed in her own world of gray. Like her thoughts, Ms Saini believed more in confusions then in clear conclusions. That’s why she preferred dawn and dusk over day and night. Nobody could fathom the depth of her feelings. She was always lost in thoughts. She spoke in silence. She never initiated a conversation with a stranger. She was always seen smiling at secret jokes. Love was a mystery to her. Ms Saini avoided

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