Mission Delhi – Babu Ram, Central Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - March 14, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Babu Ram has been selling ice cream on Delhi streets since more than 40 years— which give him considerable space for reflection. “I’m trying to measure the value of all these years… I feel I couldn’t really achieve very much,” says the 65-year-old. He would have wanted to do more for his sons who work in Delhi as labourers, and the rest of his family which lives in a UP village. Mr Ram himself lives alone in a slum, returning home only around midnight to cook a meal for himself. “Although last night a friend brought some food for both of us, so I didn’t need to
City Hangout – Hog Market, Rajendra Place Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - March 13, 2019March 13, 20190 Out of the way. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This unlikely place feels like an island, very far away from the Delhi of sleek shopping malls and markets. Hog Market is indeed a getaway from nouveau modernity. With its uneven flooring and broken balustrades, it’s about as ramshackle as you’ll find. Which is probably why quite a few folks are hanging out this lazy afternoon in this retreat in North Delhi’s Rajendra Place. Knowledgeable citizens do their outings right here, at this public plaza lined with a handful of sweet little establishments. And while lacking a coffee house, there’s always Raj Narayan’s chai stall where a cheerful young man is trying to attract attention—for some reason—by repeatedly pouring piping hot tea from one
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Kingshuk Deka, Pune Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - March 13, 2019March 13, 20190 The 218th death. [Text and photo sent by Kingshuk Deka] Kingshuk Deka always feared what if he were to outlive Luca. The growing cataract in the beautiful feline eyes bothered him. You see, Luca was more than just his pet cat. His warmth was what kept him company on most days. Brushing his golden fur, on a Sunday sunset, calmed him like no other. His purring was all that made sense when nothing else did. More importantly, Luca enjoyed this close place in his heart because he reminded him of a certain someone, of his past and the merrier times. He never had a fondness for cats. He warmed up to cats only because love had befallen him. Luca licked the wounds and
City Faith – Hazrat Shah Turkman Bayabani’s Sufi Shrine, Old Delhi Faith by The Delhi Walla - March 12, 20190 A hidden landmark. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is the whole of it. This small room with pink walls and a white marble grave. The shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Shah Turkman Bayabani stands unobtrusively beside the entrance of the Walled City of Shahjahanabad. Hazrat Turkman is believed to be one of the earliest Islamic mystics to settle in Delhi. Said to have arrived in the city in the 12th century, he did not care for the crowd. Drawn to a life of wilderness, he settled in an area where he lies buried today. There was no Shahjahanabad then. It was all jungles and hills. In fact, he used to be known as ‘bayabani’, which means “the one who lives
City Walk – A Journey to Togo, Vasant Vihar Walks by The Delhi Walla - March 11, 2019March 11, 20190 Tracking an elusive land. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Most of us might not claim much knowledge about Togo. But this West African country is right there at the Vasant Vihar Metro station. Sort of. Display signs at this Magenta Line station point to popular landmarks like Vasant Lok Market and, well, the Embassy of Togo. A sense of curiosity compels one to follow these signs to a country that denotes a kind of magic, with its fabled savannas and faunal reserves. Though, it’s much easier to actually get to the embassy than to fly to Togo. No such thing as a direct flight to Togo from Indira Gandhi International Airport, but never mind. An additional marker at the metro station directs a
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Devyani Srivastava, Noida Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - March 11, 2019March 11, 20191 The 217th death. [Text and photos sent by Devyani Srivastava] She was all of 30 when she left this side of the world. It was an anxiety attack that took her to the stars and the moons. Devyani Srivastava was an almost-writer, a half-wanderer and, unfortunately, a full-time civil servant. An hour before she left us, she had played the tabla, her only love for more than 20 years. Ms Srivastava has left no will. Among her most prized possessions were her books, some were by poets Faiz, Ghalib and Rumi; the rest included favorites such as Harry Potter and Goosebumps. She has also left behind an incomplete draft of what could have been her first poetry book, a few bottles of Old
Mission Delhi – Kavita, Sector 14, Gurgaon Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - March 10, 2019March 10, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Isn’t it ironic how the most domestic and intimate enterprises of life sometimes take place in everybody’s sight? Take this one: A young mother swinging her baby to sleep at a roadside camp in Gurgaon’s Sector 14 in the National Capital Region. The little one is swaddled in heaps of clothes. Her swing is tied to a string charpoy. The mother is sitting some distance from the bed, gently rocking the baby under the swing, thanks to a rope attached to it. “We are lohar,” she says, referring to her family of wandering blacksmiths, explaining, “This is our tradition .... “Gesturing towards the baby, she says, “This is
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Ginni Munjal, Karnal, Haryana Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - March 10, 2019March 10, 20190 The 216th death. [Text and photos sent by Ginni Munjal] Ginni Munjal passed away yesterday when she experienced epiphany while writing the last word of her yet to publish memoirs. It has been understood by her family and friends that she could not handle the ecstasy of her own life journey captured in her memoirs. Ms Munjal had a very cheerful face. All her life, she was running behind philosophical knowledge that would give her answers to her self-created psychological dramas, but nothing helped her. Just before her death, she was exposed to the spiritual aspect of life, which made her spiritually evolved and transformed her to an extremely happy child. After this spiritual phase, her dream was to create change in
City Food – Chacha’s Sheermal Rotis, Around Town Food by The Delhi Walla - March 9, 20190 The magic roti. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This sweet milky roti is usually found only in certain neighbourhoods—Okhla in south Delhi or at the Matia Mahal Bazaar in Old Delhi, for instance. Sheermal is said to have been first made in Lucknow, UP. The invention is credited to an experimental bazaar cook who prepared the dough by substituting water with egg and saffron-infused milk—according to Charmaine O’Brien’s book The Penguin Food Guide to India. Rarely baked in homes, the sheermals lie stacked on dhaba counters. The rotis are often covered with a protective net-like material. As if that shall keep them safe from the drain-wet flies. Some sheermal gourmands assert that the roti ought to be smeared generously with ghee. However, most
City Season – The Linum Rockery, Nehru Park Nature by The Delhi Walla - March 8, 20190 Paradise regained. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The month of March has just finished its first week. The sky is sunny and the soil is warm. This is our city’s shortlived spring. Absolutely no time to lose. Drop everything and head to Nehru Park. Walk up to the few yards of a rocky slope that the gardeners here call ‘rockery’. It is next to the park’s multicoloured hanging bridge. Here, thou shall see paradise—only at this time of the year. You may even call it Delhi’s Red Sea. The linum flowers are clustered over this small space like a dense thicket, shining as red as Kashmiri apples. These giddy heads are nodding radiantly under the noon sun, and seem to fill the