Our Self-Written Obituaries – Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal, Dublin Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - January 5, 2018January 5, 20180 The 159th death. [Text Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal; photos by Katie, Natalie Piper, Yadwinder Dhaliwal, Vrinda Garg] Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal, aged 50, a poet, writer, visual art admirer who wrote poemy stories about displacement---displaced borders, displaced aggression, displaced grief, displaced ovaries, displaced postcards, displaced lovers and what not---was found dead in her wee two-bedroom apartment-cum-writing studio located above her café-cum-library called Woolgatherer’s in the Himalayan town of McLeodganj. At Woolgatherer’s, several thinkers, artists and writers sipped coffee, read books, left poems for other unknown visitors and indulged in woolgathering, the purposeless art of mind-wandering. Ms Dhaliwal’s departed soul has left behind burdensome number of poems that never found a home. Traces of their melody were drawn in Ms Dhaliwal’s not-so-melodious voice till her
City Monument – The Unknown Other, Razia Sultan’s Tomb Monuments by The Delhi Walla - January 5, 20181 The mystery of the second grave. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Our city has seen invasions, civil wars, slaughter, riots and murders of kings, princes and ministers. Delhi neighbourhoods are littered with souvenirs of that past. Frustratingly, many of these monuments have lost the stories of their origins. Take Razia Sultan’s desolate grave in old Delhi’s cramped Bulbuli Khana. The first and the last woman emperor of the Delhi Sultanate is only “said to be” buried here — declares the authoritative Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on a slab put outside the memorial. As if this uncertainty isn’t enough, we have two graves here and ASI is conveniently silent on which one is “said to be” Razia’s. Whose is the other grave? The
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Cecilia Abraham, Raghu Nagar City Poetry by The Delhi Walla - January 5, 20180 Poetry in the city. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Her young son is named after the poet Kabir, and her daughter is christened April. Not because TS Eliot famously called that month the cruellest but because her naughty girl was born in that month. Cecilia Abraham’s third baby was born last year. She self-published her poetry collection Not Just a Housewife through crowd-funding. The Delhi Walla meet the poet at her home in south-west Delhi’s Raghu Nagar. Ms Abraham’s family includes her husband and her mother, who, incidentally, is also one of our links to the disappearing world of Anglo-Indian home cooking (Christina Abraham makes delicious meatball curry). Ms Abraham’s balcony is equally lively. Standing there amid a dense foliage of potted plants,
City Food – Gyan’s Pakoras, Jangpura Extension Food by The Delhi Walla - January 4, 20181 Old-time love. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] At first glance it’s nothing more than a cement platform beneath a tin shed in Jangpura Extension. But customers turn up at this shed in droves as Gyan deep-fries his famous pakoras — all sorts of them. The physiology of the stall itself exerts an appeal. Gyan sits beside a giant cauldron, filling a giant platter with pakoras which too are gigantic in their own way. He’s sometimes joined in the afternoon by his young sons when they return from school and sit beside him, often with their textbooks. They live in a slum nearby. Many customers are repeats, who’ll just walk in from their homes in the neighbourhood chatting on cellphones, then handpick pakoras while still
City Life – The Shriram Family’s Pine & Seeta Ashok Trees, Sardar Patel Road Life by The Delhi Walla - January 4, 20180 Private treasures. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] On a cool central Delhi evening, The Delhi Walla is drinking tea with businessman Madhav Shriram and his wife, Divya, at their park magnificently enhanced by a Seeta Ashok tree. But the park and family bungalow on Sardar Patel Marg are not only graced by the Ashok. There’s also a glorious pine on the driveway — a rare sight in the nation’s capital. “These two trees are like members of the family. The Ashok was planted by my mother,” says Mr Shriram. “The pine goes way back. My father planted it in the 70s, so we’ve been able to chart its progress over the years.” Pine trees are generally found in the Himalayas but seldom anywhere
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Triveni Shukla, Sukna Village, Darjeeling Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - January 4, 20180 The 158th death. [Text and photos sent by Triveni Shuklar] Life just ended when it finally got figured out. She once declared on Instagram that "Only Art, Cats and Shopping" truly made her happy. This was not entirely true because her soul fed on double taps and likes. Triveni Shukla passed away at a blasphemous age to remain unmarried and with a face which did not go with her name. She died of a heart attack anticipating a head-on collision with a truck, which she imagined having a face like that of a human with the headlights being eyes, menacingly coming for its kill. Ms Shukla lived and died with a deep sense of not belonging in a country where everyone
City Library – Agatha Christie’s Old Paperback Stacks, Mukta Book Agency, Daryaganj Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - January 3, 20181 From a private collection. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] She has personally witnessed all that horrid turns of life that newspaper headlines are usually made of — a murder in Mesoptamia, a body in the Gossington Hall library, a death on the Nile, and once she saw a woman being strangled on the evening train from Paddington. Not really — these are all jumbled up titles of Agatha Christie novels. The Delhi Walla just found a pulse-pounding collection of the mystery writer’s entire oeuvre. These paperbacks were packed in three cardboard cartons at the Mukta Book Agency in Daryaganj. Outsold the world over only by Shakespeare and the Bible, Agatha Christie is spotted wherever there are books. In fact, handsomely produced hardbound
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Sukanya Mukherjee, Vasant Kunj Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - January 2, 2018January 2, 20180 The 157th death. [Text by Sukanya Mukherjee; photos sent by her] Sukanya Mukherjee has passed over. She was found in her sleep, with her arms and legs wrapped tightly around her Paibalish (bolster). This winter, after a few barren ones in between, her family came together in what once was an annual reunion. She had had one of her uncontrollable laughter fits earlier in the evening. Nobody knows why she was laughing. It was perhaps because she was happy. Her beloved food was on the table, and her beloved people around it. Miss Mukherjee has led a life seeking abundance, and finding it, in places. She has bravely pursued all that she wanted, despite the tumultuous self doubt that often forces one
City Hangout – Red Resto Bar, GB Road Red Light Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - January 2, 20180 Not just any watering hole. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The scent of chilly chicken suffuses the dimly lit room. At the first glance this could be just about any bar in town — complete with Haryanvi pop blaring from the TV. But the Red Resto Bar is something else. The five-year-old establishment is the only real watering hole in the red light district at GB Road. Here, you can inspect an illuminated reproduction of a Leonid Afremov painting while contemplating the vast range of chilled beers. Along with stronger stuff such as scotch or favoured cocktails Bloody Mary and Sex on the Beach. Here, there is a sense of being nowhere on earth, with no inkling of the chaotic world outside. Two men
City Monument – Walled City’s Wall, Ansari Road Monuments by The Delhi Walla - January 1, 20181 Remains of lost time. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Flâneurs go to the Walled City for its street cuisine and to experience its famous and obscure monuments. But what about the Walled City’s wall — yes, it exists. The wall of the Walled City survives in places — but is best seen near Delhi Gate in Daryaganj. A 13-metre-high rampart of random rubble, this segment of the Mughal-era fortification faces the brick buildings of Ansari Road, which have offices of some of India’s best-known publishing companies. Built in the 1650s, the wall surrounded emperor Shahjahan’s new capital Shahjahanabad (the seventh city of Delhi is relatively a new city but today, ironically, is known as Old Delhi). The wall was originally 6km long, with