City Landmark - Midland Bookshop, Shopping Mall, Gurgaon

City Landmark – Midland Bookshop, Shopping Mall, Gurgaon

A link in the chain. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Many snobby Delhiites crib about Gurgaon as a destination with nothing about culture and everything about malls (as if malls were not an integral part of our modern…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Deepshi Chowdhury, Noida

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Deepshi Chowdhury, Noida

The 213rd death. [Text and photo sent by Deepshi Chowdhury] There she lay on her bed, her face serene. Deepshi Chowdhury was found dead in her apartment. Lying on the bed, she was as still as a Paulo Coelho beside…

City Hangout - The Bridge Over the Railway Station, New Delhi

City Hangout – The Bridge Over the Railway Station, New Delhi

The bridge of escape. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Confess it. Even if you love Delhi, there are times when you want to get out of the city. This conflicting emotion is most intensely experienced on the road…

City Life - Cable Art, Old Delhi

City Life – Cable Art, Old Delhi

The wired aesthetics. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Guidebooks are silent about it. As though sightseers in Old Delhi would utterly fail to notice all those power cables dangling low, all over the place. These thick cables in…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Varsha Pednekar, Goa

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Varsha Pednekar, Goa

The 212nd death. [Text and photos sent by Varsha Pednekar] For a person who loved being alone, dying alone too must have been joyous. Varsha Pednekar, 30, was found dead in her bed with her two dogs at her feet….

Home Sweet Home – Sheeba & Arshad’s House, Chhatta Sheikh Mangloo

Home Sweet Home – Sheeba & Arshad’s House, Chhatta Sheikh Mangloo

A house in Delhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] There are as many staircases in the big house as there are sights of the Walled City from the roof. This is the Old Delhi home of Arshad Ali…

City Food - Manjeet Singh's 'Car-Restaurant', Sham Nath Marg

City Food – Manjeet Singh’s ‘Car-Restaurant’, Sham Nath Marg

The karhi chawal consolation. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] They always look old. No matter how recent they may be, street food stalls always seem dated, deeply rooted to their hyperlocal address. Often, they look like they’ve been…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Vishakha Khandelwal, Indore

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Vishakha Khandelwal, Indore

The 211st death. [Text and photos sent by Vishakha Khandelwal] In a faintly lit room, with Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” playing in the background on speakers, Vishakha Khandelwal was found dead under mysterious circumstances, with a sketch book and a felt-tip…

City Walk - Amrita Shergil Marg, Central Delhi

City Walk – Amrita Shergil Marg, Central Delhi

Strolling through a bubble. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is a land of bungalows so elegant and trees so grand that each appears to be a republic of its own. A peaceful, hushed world; the traffic is…

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Chetna Sabharwal, Dwarka, Delhi

Our Self-Written Obituaries – Chetna Sabharwal, Dwarka, Delhi

The 210th death. [Text and photos sent by Chetna Sabharwal] Chetna Sabharwal, unfortunately for some people (hopefully), left this world on 28th of November at 11:42pm. She died of a coffee overdose. It was her fantasy to die like this,…