Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Emily Dickinson, Somewhere in Normandy
Poetry in the world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She is like a myth in her neighbourhood–it is rare she steps out of her homestead. On a recent evening, however, poet Emiliy Dickinson is spotted wandering aimlessly out…
City Life – The Art of Currency Garland, Chitli Qabar Chowk
The poetry of money. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Money is a kind of poetry, said a corporate lawyer who was also a great American poet. Nowhere is Wallace Stevens’ maxim more evident than in the work of…
City Food – Daal Chaat, Around Town
The zesty health punch. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Shocking. It is not deep-fried and yet it is a popular and cheap street food of Delhi. What’s the appeal? Served in a leaf bowl, daal chaat is sprouted…
Photo Essay – ‘Somewhere in Delhi’ Exhibition, Goa Arts & Literature Festival
Floating visions from The Delhi Walla’s online archives. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] ‘Somewhere in Delhi’ is a collaborative work between The Delhi Walla, and Anna Gerotto, a designer in Venice (see photo 5a below). Since 2007, I…
Julia Child in Delhi – Author Rosalyn D’Mello and Her Sister Ramona Cook Goan Green Curry Chicken, Kailash Hills
The great chef’s life in Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] I love to cook with wine—says a placard hanging on her drawing room wall. One night The Delhi Walla enters the second-floor apartment of Rosalyn D’Mello, the…
Atget’s Corner – 981-985, 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 Obituary – Old Delhi’s Urdu Poet Rauf Raza is Dead, Gali Mem Walli
End of a world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It began like just another winter morning. Urdu poet Rauf Raza woke up at six, performed his ablution, and offered the fajra prayer–at home though usually he would always…
Letter from the ATM Queue – “I Had a Fiery Dispute With Two Particularly Off-Putting Women”, Khan Market
From the heart of the conflict zone. [Text by Sanchita Guha; photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Note: This piece is by Sanchita Guha, a Delhi writer dreaded by all those uncivilised men in this city who either dare to piss…
Netherfield Ball – William Dalrymple of Jaipur Literature Festival Exposes His Rumored Friendship with Namita Gokhale of Jaipur Literature Festival at Her Book Launch, The Taj Mahal Hotel
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Et tu William Dalrymple? The great historian who, in his usual modest fashion, brought ignominious Delhi to the notice of the wider world showed up shockingly late at the launch…
City Food – The Morally Appalling Carrot Cake, The Big Chill Cakery, Khan Market
Disgracefully delicious. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is morally appalling. The carrot cake at The Big Chill Cakery bakery in Delhi’s Khan Market has to be the most politically incorrect dish in this city of vast disparities….
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