City Moment – Two Houseless Friends, Turkman Gate Moments by The Delhi Walla - April 15, 20190 The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] No doubt about it. They’re inseparable. Far away from their respective families, both Mumtaz and his canine friend have found common cause, living together through thick and thin. They are always seen together on this city sidewalk, be it day or night. This morning has kicked off on a positive note, with a generous portion of chhole bhathure that a generous passerby has offered Mumtaz. The bearded man doesn’t hesitate tearing the bhathure into small pieces to share with Bhoora, a brown dog whose furry characteristics definitely set him apart from other strays. “Bhoora was very small when he simply turned up one day out of nowhere,” explains Mumtaz. “And he almost never
City Style – The Turban Sartorialist, Gurgaon Style by The Delhi Walla - April 14, 2019April 14, 20190 Easy lies the head. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Sometimes, certain sartorial codes are so deeply rooted in the protocols of a person’s daily life that it is unimaginable for that individual to negotiate compromises with them. Farmer Maya Ram, for instance, never ever goes around the world bareheaded. “It is unthinkable for me to emerge out of my home nanga sar (head uncovered),” he declares. Sitting in a Gurgaon bus shelter waiting for a connection to his nearby village, Mr Ram asserts he always has something or the other covering his head. “Usually I wear a turban, but it has started to get warmer. And so, this morning, I tied a tauliya (towel).” In his 70s now, Mr Ram had started wearing
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Ajwah Nadeem, Lahore, Pakistan Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - April 14, 20190 The 230th death. [Text and photo sent by Ajwah Nadeem] This death was her choice. She didn’t leave a note for anyone. We don’t know why. Obsessed with owning the space she was born into, she strived to grow. Insecurities heaped up onto her, she tried to try. Maybe that is what she wants to be remembered as. Death chased Ajwah Nadeem like a midsummer nights dream. Hope flitted onto her canvas like a comical candle. Let’s not cry, because maybe this is what she wanted. Time has finally stopped for her. Sisyphus has finally decided to let go. Fashioning diamond dreams out of dust, she breathed her energy into them. Her soul would scitter back into its cave, making room for trauma. Trauma
Mission Delhi – Savitri, Connaught Place Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - April 12, 2019April 12, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] As a living landmark in Connaught Place, she has been selling fresh fruit as long as most patrons can remember. “It’s been about 40 years,” smiles Savitri, who has just turned 60. Nowadays she’s the sole support for her husband, along with their son and family. Diligently plying her trade on a corner of the N-block Outer Circle. “My husband was a labourer but too old now. Bad health, always coughing,” she says. She worries about her son, as well. “These days it’s difficult to find work even as a labourer.” Her daughter-in-law does the household chores while looking after her two children at the family home in east
City Faith – Thursday Djinns, Feroze Shah Kotla Ruins Faith by The Delhi Walla - April 11, 20190 The supernatural encounters. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It looks like a festive place to be. Groups of women are dressed in shararas of various shades. Auto-rickshaws are packed with children holding on to orange and green ice-cream bars. Balloon sellers are doing brisk business — mirrored, just opposite, by peanut vendors. Young folks are strutting about in distressed denims and chemically treated hairdos. This is the auspicious Thursday evening at the Feroze Shah Kotla ruins. On this day, every week, a great mass of people surge towards the stone walls of this 14th century citadel. These women, men and children are not the usual history buffs though. On Thursdays, they come to seek audience with the Kotla’s resident djinns. The
Mission Delhi – Sher Singh, Central Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - April 10, 2019April 10, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s pretty clear why some citizens end up as engineers, say, or maybe even beggars. But what about bird food sellers? For some 40 years Sher Singh has been industriously hawking bird grains, like dal or corn, at a bird-filled plaza in Central Delhi. Bird lovers buy fistfuls they then offer to hungry pigeons, expectantly gathered in the hundreds. So… why did Mr. Singh choose to sell bird food? “Life does take you to places you never imagined,” the middle-aged gentleman shrugs and smiles. As a child he wanted to be an office peon like his father, even though his salary in the government office of Krishi Bhawan was
City Food – Nirula’s Hot Chocolate Fudge, Hawker Street, Ambience Mall Food by The Delhi Walla - April 10, 20192 Lost taste, regained. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Futuristic City of Gurgaon is in truth weighed down with a lot of past. Like this Nirula’s outlet in the tidy Hawker Street in Ambience Mall. Millennials might be clueless about the outlet, but it does light up the eyes of an earlier bunch of folks hailing from our blessed National Capital Region. At one point in Delhi’s contemporary history, this restaurant chain used to virtually manufacture memories. Here, the youthful crowd would gang up through romances and breakups. And, lest anybody forgets, this was the place where many Delhiites tasted their life’s first banana split. The epic thing, however, was Nirula’s hot chocolate fudge. Be gentle though, and utter its name
City Hangout – Remembrance Benches, Outside National War Memorial Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - April 9, 20190 Living with new landmarks. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] New landmarks so easily become a part of city life that it’s hard to remember when they weren’t there. Opened only a few weeks ago, the 40-acre National War Memorial is already getting entrenched in the minds of commuters passing through the India Gate Circle. Forever remembered are the 25,942 soldiers who perished in India’s wars since Independence. India Gate itself is a memorial built during the British Raj to commemorate soldiers in the British Indian Army who put down their lives during World War I. Despite being a recent appendage to a familiar setting, it will soon be difficult to imagine this part of the India Gate grounds without this memorial
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Mrinal Pant, Naraina, Delhi Farewell Notice by The Delhi Walla - April 9, 20190 The 229th death. [Text and photos sent by Mrinal Pant] Resting in peace (her exterior very well obscured the storms raging inside) at the least garish corner of her house, Mrinal Pant was mostly seen mulling over the vagaries of life, or racking deepest tendrils of her mind over the question she sought answers for until her last breath--what all can Godot be? A letter from Hogwarts maybe? She had a thing for antagonists, the real and the fictional ones; “Caesar wouldn’t have a Shakespearean masterwork named after him if it wasn’t for Brutus’ undoing” she said, or “Was Sherlock anything minus his arch nemesis Moriarty?” There was no stopping her scandalous opinions. That is what she enjoyed the most- unsettling the normative
Mission Delhi – Bansidhar Tewari, Daryaganj Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - April 9, 2019April 10, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The bustling world of central Delhi's Daryaganj is moving in high gear this late afternoon, but Bansidhar Tewari isn’t going anywhere at all. As a medical assistant in a paediatrician clinic, he’s staring out at the busy road while awaiting the possible arrival of the doctor. “Maybe he won’t come at all,” says Mr Tewari, 77, who’s been the assistant for some 40 years. “But I’m here every day, except Sunday when we’re closed.” The absentee doctor is only two years younger than Mr Tewari who’s presiding over this quiet clinic that has the feel of yesteryear. Those cane chairs for patients are from the 70s, while that dark