Julia Child in Venice – Martina Gerotto Cooks Pasta e Fagioli in Memory of Gina Mondovecchi, Near S. Giobbe Church Julia Child's Delhi by The Delhi Walla - September 29, 2016October 18, 20161 The great chef’s life in Venice. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The spirit of a place can exist in the memories of a person. Gina Mondovecchi has that relation to Venice. To those who knew her, she was the city's most stylish woman. Always seen in exquisite dresses, big hats and sandals with high heels, she herself designed her dresses, hats and sandals. She lived alone but was rumored to have many lovers. A record keeper in the island cemetery of San Michele, she died a few years ago. An ardent monarchist until her final breath, her last name means 'old times' in Italian. It is also said that Ms Mondovecchi had a passion for pasta e fagioli. She always treated
City Hangout – The Morning Mystery in the Ghetto, Venice Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - September 27, 2016September 27, 20161 The special district. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Really, is this the place where it all began? One early morning The Delhi Walla walks through the world's first ghetto. Apparently Jews no longer live in this ancient ghetto; no longer are they forced to take up living in this tiny corner of Venice. Barely any people here at this hour. The shops are closed. The synagogues are closed. The cafes are closed. But a family-run bakery is open. The family is Catholic. The ghetto is unlike any place in this watery city. No church here; not one piece of architecture that demands your devotion--except for the security post, a typical instance of postpostterrormodernism (see photo 6 below). And yet, this is one of
City Moment – On Rudely Greeting the ‘Horrid’ Big Ship Tourists, Venice Moments by The Delhi Walla - September 26, 2016September 26, 20162 The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is always delightful when beautiful people find a reason in life. This time it is against the big ships. One afternoon The Delhi Walla goes to the promenade of Zattere in watery Venice where hundreds of Venetians have gathered to protest against gigantic cruise liners that have been entering this touristy city for a decade and destroying its aesthetics. It’s like a carnival. There are families, friends, drinks, fancy costumes and music. Many people are waving flags that say 'No to big ships'. Many are wearing shirts with the similar slogan. Some are wearing no shirt at all. One young man is dressed like a pirate. One is waving a communist flag,
Atget’s Corner – 956-960, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - September 25, 2016October 1, 20160 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 1,00,000 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 956 to 960. 956. Shakti Nagar 957. Dilli Haat 958.
City Food – Laura Marzano’s Spritz, Venice Food by The Delhi Walla - September 24, 2016September 24, 20160 Local but not local. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is nothing purely local in the world. Not even spritz, the local drink of watery Venice, a touristy city without virtually any nightlife leaving its endangered locals with no choice but to meet over… well, spritz. One recent evening The Delhi Walla was served excellent spritz at a palace in Venice by a bartender who is not from Venice--the nimble-footed Laura Marzano lives in the neighboring town of Padua. The color of sunset, spritz is made of equal portions of Campari or Aperol, sparkling water and a white sparkling wine such as Prosecco. The drink is garnished with an olive and a slice of orange. Ms Marzano, an outsider, produced the
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Pooja Tripathi, Delhi & Patna Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - September 23, 2016September 23, 20160 The 135th death. [Text by Pooja Tripathi; photo by Remya Menon] This morning Pooja Tripathi, a well-known chronicler of city lives and loves, was found dead at her wooden cottage in the hills. Ms Tripathi leaves behind a books-filled home, as well as an unopened bottle of wine, and a vast collection of ethnic rings and silk sarees. Her survivors include her sixteen dogs. A book by late author Amrita Pritam was found beside her. Ms Tripathi had left beside a note on her blog about the details of her last rites—it pointedly asked the mourners to desist from reciting any poem by Sahir Ludhiyanvi. Instead, she wants the following lines to be inscribed on her tomb: When dreams die Where do the
City Hangout – Paper Market, Chawri Bazar Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - September 21, 20163 A papery world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Is the modern world really paperless? Some of us hope that we get there soon–it’d be good not to kill trees just so that lackadaisical office employees can generate mountains of pointless printouts. But such thoughts are wiped clean from the mind when you travel through Old Delhi’s extraordinary wholesale paper market. Streets are littered with paper shaving. Staff in cramped stores are dwarfed by bundles of paper sheets. The air hums with the drone of paper-cutting machines. The storefronts advertise paper types you might never have heard of: silicon paper, release paper, thermal paper, poly paper, metalized paper and even waste paper. Out here, paper rules and humans are its slave–sweating laborers hobble
City Notice – The Delhi Walla’s Photo of Arundhati Roy Appears on Her New Book of Essays! General by The Delhi Walla - September 20, 2016September 20, 20165 An important landmark. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla website will complete a decade in 2017. Since the beginning of my blogsite, I have been photographing a distinguished Delhi walla, writer Arundhati Roy (see the photos below). The year 2016 turned out to be an important landmark in my life as a blogger and as a devotee of the author of The God of Small Things. The US-based Haymarket Books published Arundhati Roy’s The End of Imagination. This beautifully designed book “brings together five of Arundhati Roy’s acclaimed books of essays into one comprehensive volume for the first time and features a new introduction by the author.” The book carries blurbs by well-know writers such as Alice Walker, Naomi Klein
City List – Sufi Shrines Where Women Are Allowed, Around Town Delhi by List by The Delhi Walla - September 19, 2016September 19, 20161 Feminism in Islam. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] “Ladies are not allowed inside.” This notice on a yellow board hangs outside the burial chamber of Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. The shrine is one of the many dargahs in Delhi, a city also known as Bais khwaja ki chaukhat, or the threshold of the 22 Sufis. In August 2016, the Bombay high court put an end to exactly such exclusion at the Sufi shrine of Bombay’s Haji Ali Dargah. The verdict called for women to be “permitted to enter the sanctum sanctorum at par with men”. The court stayed the order for six weeks to allow the shrine authorities to file an appeal in the Supreme Court. Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin shrine still has
City Food – Papdi Chaat, Around Town Food by The Delhi Walla - September 17, 2016September 17, 20162 Spheres of delight. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In a time when divisive leaders such as Donald Trump become mainstream politicians and the idea of a multi-religious, multi-racial society seems like a nightmare to many people, one option for a lonely cosmopolitan liberal soul is to draw comfort from food. If Delhi were to be a city of a single faith and culture, it would be as dry as papdi, the almost bland, deep-fried, round maida wafers. But souse them with cold whipped yogurt, deep brown tamarind chutney and piquant, green coriander-mint chutney, and the papdis become as cosmopolitan as the city. They take in the flavours of the garnishes without losing their own; the new taste hints of each of the