City Faith - Phool Waalon Ki Sair Festival, Mehrauli

City Faith – Phool Waalon Ki Sair Festival, Mehrauli

The October occasion. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This festival with late-Mughal origins carries a flavour of the fast-fading Nehruvian legacy. Phool Waalon Ki Sair, or the procession of the flower bearers, is one of those annual rituals…

City Moment - Facebook Betrayal and Redemption at the Reading of The God of Small Things, Caara Café, British Council

City Moment – Facebook Betrayal and Redemption at the Reading of The God of Small Things, Caara Café, British Council

The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There is only The Delhi Walla. It is evening and I’m at Caara Café inside British Council to attend a discussion of Arundhati Roy’s first novel, The God of Small…

Atget’s Corner – 966-970, Delhi Photos

Atget’s Corner – 966-970, 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 Faith - Durga's Leftover Paris, Matri Mandir, Safdarjang Enclave

City Faith – Durga’s Leftover Paris, Matri Mandir, Safdarjang Enclave

The goddess of the Paris Opera. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s France. It’s Paris. It’s Palais Garnier. Or. It’s India. It’s Delhi. It’s Matri Mandir. One day after the conclusion of Durga Puja, The Delhi Walla enters…

City Landmark - The Oriental Fruit Mart, Connaught Place

City Landmark – The Oriental Fruit Mart, Connaught Place

The souvenir of the old CP. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Everything—except the fruits, the cookies, the protein chocolates and the wasabi peas—looks straight out of a time warp. The wood panelling, the display cabinets, even the floor,…

City Moment – Yoga Homage to Emperor Muhammad Shah, Lodhi Gardens

City Moment – Yoga Homage to Emperor Muhammad Shah, Lodhi Gardens

The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is the short story of one woman and four men. One evening The Delhi Walla sees Miss Fatima, Mr Suhail Ansari, Mr Mohan, Mr Kaushal Suryavanshi and Mr Anil…

City News - The Magnificent and Much-Loved 'Tribal Tree' of Alliance Française is No More, Lodhi Estate

City News – The Magnificent and Much-Loved ‘Tribal Tree’ of Alliance Française is No More, Lodhi Estate

The passing of an era. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In a world that appears to be striving for a race to the bottom, it was the epitome of stateliness and dignity. Now, it has left this world….

City Hangout - The New Bikaner House, Near India Gate

City Hangout – The New Bikaner House, Near India Gate

Reinvented ambitions. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It feels like a discreet world of mirrors and chandeliers. Until recently it was a bus stand. The monumental Bikaner House in central Delhi has existed in the city’s collective consciousness…

Mission Delhi – Rupin Walter Desai, or The Prince of Denmark, East Patel Nagar

Mission Delhi – Rupin Walter Desai, or The Prince of Denmark, East Patel Nagar

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a truth universally acknowledged that you can escape from the city without leaving the city limits. All you have to do is to…

Photo Essay – The Dream World of the Diplomats, German Ambassador’s Residence, Shantipath

Photo Essay – The Dream World of the Diplomats, German Ambassador’s Residence, Shantipath

The people of the aquarium. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Such delicate figure, such slender arms and all of her essence so perfectly condensed into her long white pearl necklace. And look at the woman there. Her white…