City Season – Fireside Bonds, Chemlsford Road Nature by The Delhi Walla - December 31, 20190 Winter's friends. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s a super-cold December evening in central Delhi’s Chelmsford Road. Five men are huddled around a pavement fireside. Three are sitting on their haunches; the others are standing, including Bholu who lost his right leg in a road accident years ago. The men are chatting as if they are longtime acquaintances. “But we met each other for the first time only half an hour ago,” laughs Janki Ram. The credit for the impromptu gathering goes to Bablu who collected pieces of wood and dry leaves to start a fire. “And then these men started to stop by one after another,” he mutters in mock anger before breaking into a smile. All the men live on the pavements, they
City Hangout – Cats & Dogs, Bulbuli Khana Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - December 30, 2019December 30, 20190 The art of co-existence. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s a very strange sight—dogs and cats living together serenely. But this is an everyday happening here in Old Delhi’s Bulbuli Khana. Now a black cat surfaces from the direction of Gali Nal Bandan street and gingerly walks toward a bowl brimming with milk. Having had her fill, she supinely lies alongside a dog. Not hanging out together, exactly, but peacefully close to one another. “By nature they are to each other like India and Pakistan but our mohalla’s cats and dogs at least know how to co-exist peacefully,” explains local shopkeeper Waseem Ahmed. He’s lived in the neighbourhood all his life, “and I’ve never seen our cats and dogs fighting with each
City Landmark – Janta Band, Naya Bazar Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - December 29, 20190 The music station. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The walls are plastered with photographs of men playing saxophones, though some are also in dancing costumes. A window is decked with a drum and a small trumpet. This cramped cosy room in Gurgaon’s Naya Bazar in the Greater Delhi Region exudes the vibes of a musician’s studio. It’s actually the booking office of Janta Band, the oldest surviving music band service for weddings and other celebrations in this part of the city, or perhaps in the entire so-new Millennium City. The band was founded in 1925. This afternoon the place is suffused with quietude, though it feels extremely crowded, perhaps because of the plentiful wall photographs. The most profound portraits are of three
Netherfield Ball – Afifa Fareed Weds Abdul Haseeb, Old Delhi City Parties by The Delhi Walla - December 28, 20191 The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The guests arrived at the Mahavir Vatika ground in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj in cabs, auto-rickshaws, and bikes. Some came from miles away, from Jasola, and even from Ghaziabad. It was the wedding of Afifa Fareed with Abdul Haseeb. Cars lined up one after another, stopping at the entrance and emptying their loads. The women and their men would get off from all the sides, rubbing knees and stretching arms. The ladies, wearing the mandatory dupatta or the veil, had put on dresses in the traditional Old Delhi fashion: shararas, salwars, gold necklaces, red roses fastened with safety pins. Separate sections were arranged for men and women. Some of the lads, dressed like their abbas,
Mission Delhi – Rajinder, Gurgaon Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 27, 2019December 27, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He has moved up in life. So Rajinder feels about himself. With the help of a generous bank loan, he recently bought a gleaming new auto rickshaw costing 3 lakh rupees. Earlier, he was a beldar, a labourer. “I used to be covered in dust, but now I stay cleaner,” he says. In his mid-20s, Rajinder is waiting for business. It’s a cold foggy afternoon and the auto is parked on an empty Sector 15 roadside in Gurgaon in teh Greater Delhi Region. The man is killing time by listening to a radio “crime naatak (drama)” on his mobile. Rajinder’s ambition now is to graduate to a cab. “That
City Landmark – Mittal Store, Pragyakunj, Vasundhara Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - December 27, 2019December 27, 20190 Hyperlocal wonder. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nowadays just about anything can be purchased online or at huge shopping malls, right? No wonder that small family-owned shops are declining—with some notable exceptions. Mittal Store in suburban Ghaziabad (Pragyakunj, Vasundhara) in the Graeter Delhi Region is crammed with a dizzying array for households. Ranging all the way from washing detergents and instant noodles to hawan samagri and whole coconuts for homely pooja ceremonies. Despite its plenty, Mittal exudes the vibe of a comfy grocery around the corner, here in a middle-class neighbourhood across the lane from the petite Shiv Shakti Mandir. In fact, the store started on this spot way back in 2003. The area then had only a handful of apartment complexes compared
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Karan Makkar, Chandigarh Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - December 26, 20190 The 248th death. [Text and photos sent by Karan Makkar] The hour of departure arrived and Karan Makkar left us all. He would have turned 25 in January, 2020. Though born a Hindu, he revered all the religions equally and followed none particularly. He had qualms about all of them but held grudges against none. He didn’t care whether he be cremated, buried, or be devoured by birds of prey in the Tower of Silence but he requested that once dead, a poem called The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot could be read to his corpse. He was an ardent student of literature and a sincere follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He wished to do many things but succeeded in
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Craft Activist Laila Tyabji, Shanti Niketan General by The Delhi Walla - December 26, 2019December 26, 20190 The parlour confession. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Proust Questionnaire represents a confessional game that owes its structure to answers given by celebrated French writer Marcel Proust in two parties that he attended at ages 13 and 20 in the late 19th century. The Delhi Walla brings these Parisian parlour confessions into the Indian capital to explore people’s lives, thoughts, values and experiences. The series interview folks from diverse backgrounds. So, say hello to Laila Tyabji. As a craft activist, she has been a long-time chairperson at Dastkar where she has been working with more than a lakh craftspeople from across the country. An alumnus of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, and Toshi Yoshida Academy of Art, Tokyo, Ms Tyabji
City Hangout – Back Garden, Safdarjung’s Tomb Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - December 25, 20190 Where peace comes dropping slow. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] No sound, but of birds. This particular garden paradise feels thousands of miles away from Delhi’s chaos though it’s tucked right in the city’s heart as part of Safdarjung’s Tomb, and faces the monument’s rear-end. That some of our city’s great monuments can be enjoyed exclusively for their gardens isn’t a new idea. But there’s always so much crowd in the touristy Humayun’s Tomb garden complex. And Lodhi Gardens is a networking zone for Delhiites to see and be seen. Very iffy to find a calmly haven in these pretty destinations. While the beautiful 18th century Safdarjung’s Tomb doesn’t seem to draw very many visitors, except for a few foreign tourists and a
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Pushpita Majumdar, Benares Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - December 25, 2019December 25, 20190 The 247th death. [Text and photos sent by Pushpita Majumdar] Pushpita Majumdar, or Pui, as her beloved husband would call her often, left us all. But yes, she died happy; warm, in her bed, with her kids and grandkids sitting beside her; just like she always wanted to. At the age of 80, she was the light of her house, singing and dancing and living life to the fullest. In her final moments, she requested to listen to Ranjish hi Sahi by Mehdi Hassan. She has left behind a set of instructions for her kids titled, ‘What to do when I am dead.’ Perfectionist, as she was, she wanted to die perfectly as well. Born a Hindu, but never really following many traditions,