City Obituary – Delhi’s Great Persian Scholar S.M. Yunus Jaffery is Dead, Ganj Mir Khan
The death of an age. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] S.M. Yunus Jaffery, Delhi’s great Persian scholar, died on 29 August 2016. He was 86. He breathed his last at 4.25 am, the day after a tumor surgery,…
Mission Delhi – Asif Fehmi, Khwaja Press, Chhatta Sheikh Manglu
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Asif Fehmi is walking around the dark hall. This used to be his world, which is now coming to an end. The paint on the…
Atget’s Corner – 941-945, 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,…
Home Sweet Home – S. K. Rautray’s Pavement Quarter, Kasturba Gandhi Road
A whole world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The sky is blue. The air is cool. The leaves of the neem tree are green. This is an idyllic place to live and it is home to S. K….
City Food – The Final Link of Delhi’s Best Bakery, Wenger’s Cake Shop
The cake’s end. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a truth universally acknowledged that a starving Delhi man in want of sugar will always head to Wenger’s Cake Shop in Connaught Place. The capital’s best patisserie is…
City Monument – Roshanara’s Tomb, Near Ghantaghar
A woman’s place. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Roshanara Begum lies buried in the ruins of this 17th century pavilion. Her own brother—Mughal emperor Aurangzeb—sentenced her to death after she was discovered with eight men at her apartment…
Netherfield Ball – Martyr Writer Perumal Murugan Ends Exile With a Courageous Poem on Cowards, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The ear whisperers are nowhere to be seen. Perhaps this is not their world. One evening The Delhi Walla attends a gathering at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. The…
City landmark – The Abbey Bookshop, Rue de la Parcheminerie, Paris
The English abroad. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a walking distance from Shakespeare and Company and refreshingly different from that touristy bookstore manned by cold attendants. The Abbey Bookshop in Paris’s Latin Quarter is crammed with…
City Food – The Germany Bakery Is Not Shutting Down, Appetite, Paharganj
The new life of a sweet landmark. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Can a hyperlocal blog change the world? Hah. Such a blogsite—umm, website, actually—can at least stop the approaching closure of a beloved bakery. The Delhi Walla…
City Moment – The Pleasures of the Massage Parlor, Mathura Road
The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Lounging barefoot on the pavement, the man is dressed in the bedroom uniform–a white undershirt and a flowery underwear. His white trousers are rumpled around a street post. He is…
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