City Life – Somwar Kumar’s Roadside Stove, Central Delhi Life by The Delhi Walla - December 31, 20170 Notes from a kitchen. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The other day, The Delhi Walla ran into Somwar Kumar encamped on the pavement in central Delhi. He’d just eaten his homemade lunch. He had cooked aloo gobhi and roti in a chulha (earthen stove) that he built just yesterday — the sort of stove you find in villages across India. “But why are you cooking on the pavement?” I ask. “I sleep here, eat here,” says Mr Kumar, looking outraged. “Where else can I cook?” I enquire about his profession. He shrugs his shoulders, eyes cast downwards. He slaps mud paste into the stove, which is how you clean it. “I built this chulha just yesterday, and it took one whole night for
Atget’s Corner – 1076-1080, Delhi Photos Delhi Pics by The Delhi Walla - December 31, 20170 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 1076 to 1080. 1076. The Day-End Portrait of
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Sromona Sabnam, Benares Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - December 29, 2017December 29, 20170 The 156th death. [Text by Sromona Sabnam, photos by her and Anonymous] She often said that she was slowly becoming everything but her shattered story remained untold. The ocean of unread books haunted and ultimately drowned Sromona Sabnam. She did not know how to swim and was found dead clutching The Essential Rumi at 1.45 AM, 20 December 2017. A shy traveler by day and fierce poet by night, Ms Sabnam was studying English Literature in Banaras Hindu University. She was daily seen sitting on the stairs of Nishadraj Ghat--always at the magic hour sipping her favorite 'Hajmola chai'. Since her mother was born a Hindu and father was a Muslim, she was always confused about the process in which her soul would mingle
City Walk – Twilight Around the Water, Hauz Khas Lake Walks by The Delhi Walla - December 29, 20170 A stroll around the huaz. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] These days anything even resembling a pool of water can easily inspire panic among Delhiwallas thanks to dengue mosquitoes. But December is one of our better months. The mosquitoes are pretty much gone and the lethal smog has more or less petered out. No better time, then, to indulge in an evening walk around the Hauz Khas lake, near the village in south Delhi bearing the same name (hauz, in fact, means a water reservoir in Urdu). We’re never disappointed contemplating this lovely lake filling up with twilight as ducks pedal past. True, the pathway has started becoming a little too crowded, with romantic selfie-clicking couples and restless monkeys, but it also adds to
City Life – Chhotu’s First Winter, Central Delhi Life by The Delhi Walla - December 28, 20170 A baby goat's life. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It stands to reason that you’d want to bundle up your baby goat on a cold morning in central Delhi. It’s also obvious that The Delhi Walla would love to have a word with babe and mom, but as far as I know they wouldn’t grasp my babble. The animals live with a homeless family that includes a young girl who says: “I gave the baby my old cardigan because his legs were trembling so badly.” The babe was born parson raat (the night before yesterday), she continues, and his shaky legs aren’t just the result of morning chill: Little Chhotu is trying to figure out how to walk. The girl says that her
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Anmol Anand, IIT Delhi Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - December 28, 20171 The 155th death. [Text by Anmol Anand; photos by Pushkar Dhawale, Indrajeet Singh, Aakash Karnawat, Abhishek Keshri] A great gain to #Heaven! Anmol Anand, a #HashTag #lover, an #UrbanPlanner and a #Spiritual being with a #beautiful smile has left to his heavenly abode. Mr Anand was working in #IITDelhi and had the potential to make our cities #pedestrian and #cycle friendly. He died today morning in #Delhi , when a car drove over him on the footpath he was walking. His last #tweet was also about #RoadSafety. He was an emotional person and always resisted negativity in any form. He was also #Reiki level2 attuned and was blessed with a great #family, few close #friends and a beautiful #mentor. Mr Anand was a
City Obituary – Muhammed Waseem, aka Saeed Bilgarami, Ghalib Academy’s Library Life by The Delhi Walla - December 27, 2017December 27, 20172 A life extraordinary. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Like any unwieldy metropolis, Delhi is full of extraordinary lives, but how many of those do we know? Take Muhammed Waseem, a homeless man who used to spend all his waking hours in a public library. The Delhi Walla was quite friendly with the frail, elderly Mr Waseem. Six days a week — Monday to Saturday — he was found without fail at the Ghalib Academy in central Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti. Dedicated to poet Mirza Ghalib, the centre’s first-floor library is open to all. But my sightings of this man stopped a few months ago. Busy in my own life, I didn’t dwell much on it. Last week, the man who sits beside
City Walk – An Unusual Route, From Barakhamba Traffic Light to Turkman Gate Walks by The Delhi Walla - December 26, 20170 A contrasting world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Let us go, you and I, when early evening splays the skies. To set forth on a surprising stroll that reveals storied wealth uneasily nudged by gross poverty. The walk takes no more than 30 minutes, starting at Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s statue at the Barakhamba traffic light. Embarking after sundown (for reasons that will become clear soon), walk on the flyover. On your right are the vast grounds of Modern School handsomely designed in the 1930s. Just to the left is the 5-star LaLit, where some rooms are already glowing in lamplight. Sometimes you’ll spot the silhouettes of hotel guests — a harmless adventure in minor voyeurism. Walking across the bridge over railway tracks keep
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Anubhuti Krishna, aka Thatgirlinmuddyboots, Sector 9, Dwarka Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - December 25, 2017December 26, 20170 The 154th death. [Text and photos by Anubhuti Krishna] This morning Anubhuti Krishna, aka Thatgirlinmuddyboots, was found dead in her bedroom amidst her pile of journals, ink pens, half-read books, and silver earrings. Her laptop was found beside her, her glasses were still on her nose. Her half-written notes suggest she was trying to fight the writer’s block yet again. Ms Krishna is said to have been survived by her unfulfilled dreams and unrealistic aspirations. Some of which include seeing her book in print, being a famous writer, making a bank full of money and having thick wavy hair. Believed to be rude and arrogant by most, and obnoxious by many, she died an extremely anxious and partly depressed woman, albeit she did
City Landmark – The New Bahrisons Booksellers, Gurgaon Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - December 25, 20171 The legacy store. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Gentle winter light is falling on the bookshelves, streaming into isolated pools of dappled warmth. Here and there, boxes lay on the floor, unopened, beside piles of books waiting to be kept where they have to be kept. In one of the book-lined alleys, a white-haired woman in salwar suit is holding on to her walking stick. Her name is Bhag Bahri Malhotra. She’s the matriarch of Bahrisons Booksellers, the legendary Khan Market bookshop that will turn 65 next year. But don’t get The Delhi Walla wrong: this is not the upscale Central Delhi market so beloved of authors, diplomats and expats that I'm talking about. I'm in the National Capital Region—in Gurgaon’s