Photo Essay - The Delhi Walla's Exhibition, Serendipity Arts Festival 2018, Goa

Photo Essay – The Delhi Walla’s Exhibition, Serendipity Arts Festival 2018, Goa

My life as an artist. [Photos by Visual Pan] Dear reader, one of the most amazingly beautiful things that happened in my life as a blogger/writer/photographer was the exhibition of a sample of my instagram posts in the prestigious Serendipity…

Mission Delhi – Ramesh Kumar, KG Marg

Mission Delhi – Ramesh Kumar, KG Marg

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Guru Ravidas’s portrait on the pavement wall is decked with two yellow plastic flowers. Ramesh Kumar, a 51-year-old cobbler, had purchased the poster from Daryaganj….

City Hangout - Closing Hour Melancholy, Sunday Book Bazaar, Daryaganj

City Hangout – Closing Hour Melancholy, Sunday Book Bazaar, Daryaganj

Twilight in Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is a cold Sunday evening and the pavement book bazaar in Daryaganj is wrapping up. Being a weekly market, it will hopefully re-open next Sunday. Most people come to…

City Obituary - Tea Man Muhammed Sabir, Kasturba Gandhi Marg

City Obituary – Tea Man Muhammed Sabir, Kasturba Gandhi Marg

The end of a living landmark. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] In many ways this is just like any other January morning. Cold and sunny. But Muhammed Sabir’s tea stall in a side-lane on Central Delhi’s Kasturba Gandhi…

City Food - Mathura ka Peda, Kucha Pati Ram

City Food – Mathura ka Peda, Kucha Pati Ram

The charm of an out-of-town delicacy. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some of the most universally loved Indian delicacies are identified with towns and cities where they were probably invented or given a special treatment — Agra ka…

Mission Delhi – Kashi Ram Sharma, Khan Market

Mission Delhi – Kashi Ram Sharma, Khan Market

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is 9 pm at the teeming Khan Market and the fashionable crowds are still in abundance, heading for chic restaurants or maybe somewhere else….

City Food - The Super-Romantic Tea Kettle, Om Shanti Chai Stall, Gurgaon

City Food – The Super-Romantic Tea Kettle, Om Shanti Chai Stall, Gurgaon

A chai monument. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Tea kettles are objects of beauty, especially when they become chipped and worn-out after years of daily use. Then they look as romantic as the tattered copy of a much-annotated…

City Monument - Barah Khamba, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti

City Monument – Barah Khamba, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti

Too moon-soaked to be substantial. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] As soon as the sun sets, the Lodhi-era Barah Khamba, tucked within an unlit park, starts marinating in darkness; its 16th century stone walls and dome gradually become…

Mission Delhi – Neeraj Kumar, Moti Bagh

Mission Delhi – Neeraj Kumar, Moti Bagh

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There’s nothing unusual about chatting with Neeraj Kumar before you notice something amiss. His flip-flops don’t match. One of them is blue, and the other…

City Life - Two Dogs in Love, Pahari Imli

City Life – Two Dogs in Love, Pahari Imli

The story of a couple. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Calling these two dogs “strays” is almost a mistake. Because they never stray far from each other. They hang out together and even sleep with each other, their…