City Moment – Two Friends, Lodhi Gardens Moments by The Delhi Walla - June 29, 20190 The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s not always easy to find a true friend. But these two 18-year-olds have found one—in each other. Now on their 8th day in Delhi, Rupesh Kumar and Ravikant hail from the same town of Palwal where they’ve been inseparable friends since childhood. “We’ve now come to Delhi to start a new life, and of course to study,” explains Ravikant. This afternoon the guys are enjoying an “outing” in Lodhi Garden, lying on a grassy slope as they chat and laugh and lay idle. “We attended the same school,” says Rupesh, “and we’ve played just about every game together. From kanchas (marbles) to aais paais (hide and seek)!” Rupesh says he depends so much on
Julia Child in Delhi – Ayeshe Sadr’s “Awesome Chocolate Cake”, Mehrauli Food by The Delhi Walla - June 29, 20190 The great chef’s life in Delhi. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] As the possessive owner of 50 gorgeous saris, a beautiful silver “sari-belt” and a much-loved cake recipe, Ayeshe Sadr seems to be enjoying a reasonably contended existence in our smoggy metropolis. The 36-year-old illustrator lives with Koka and Tofu (cats), and Ishaan (“husband and roommate”) in a fourth-floor apartment in south Delhi’s Mehrauli. Ms Sadr, actually, had an equal likelihood of settling down in an apartment in faraway Tehran. She is of Persian origins—her name means ‘life’ in Persian. Her father came as a young man from native Iran to study political science in Delhi University’s Dayal Singh College. “Baba was staying at a barsati in Golf Links, Mamma was
City Monument – Bagh-I-Alam Ka Gumbad, Deer Park Monuments by The Delhi Walla - June 27, 2019June 27, 20190 A forlorn but lovely Lodhi. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Snuggled in the heart of south Delhi’s Deer Park, it is one of the Capital’s most beautiful and perhaps least-known Lodhi-era ruins. The 16th century Bagh-I-Alam Ka Gumbad exists in the world like a small joy. Its mood is vastly different from other gloomy edifices of its time that are littered across the city. None of their bleak lonesomeness taints its character. The building is, in fact, full of life. Grass grows out of its battered stone slabs. Squirrels clamber over the arched niches. Pigeons perch at the battlements. Occasionally, the bird chatter grows so loud that you feel that there must be hundreds of them inside the monument, and that
Mission Delhi – Vinod’s Rani Devi, West Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - June 26, 2019June 26, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His lunch spot is always the same. It’s a table for one, in the snug passengers’ seat of his auto-rickshaw now safely parked along a West Delhi road. Removing his sandals, Vinod sits comfortably cross-legged and opens his lunch box to discover raw banana sabzi, and five rotis, all prepared by his wife in their one-room home in Azadpur. “Rani gets up at 5am to prepare plenty of food, including breakfast when I wake up at 8.” The breakfast spread is exactly the same as his lunch, with plenty more to spare back home when their three kids return from school in the afternoon. “I like everything she prepares.
City Nature – Homeward-Bound Birds, Central Delhi Nature by The Delhi Walla - June 25, 20190 Bird watching. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Gazing upon thousands of birds returning to their evening nests sounds like a fine countryside experience. But in fact, it happens right here in Delhi. Our smoggy metropolis is probably home to hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of our feathered friends. Even so, it’s well-nigh impossible to spot them flying home unless you know where to park yourself. One good option is to turn up around 7 pm on that stretch of Subramania Bharati Road going past Rabindra Nagar in central Delhi. At this hour the sun has already set; and when you lift your head skywards you’ll almost certainly spot troupes of birds flying in all directions. Some in bunches of dozens, while others
City Faith – Nane Mian’s Sufi Shrine, Mandi House Traffic Circle Faith by The Delhi Walla - June 24, 20190 The charms of a roadside shrine. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s easier than you think to experience genuine peace amid urban chaos. Just pausing at a Sufi shrine in Central Delhi does its magic. Pedestrians at the busy Mandi House traffic circle automatically stop in their tracks — to contemplate at the grave of Sufi saint Syyed Nanhe Mian Chishti or “Little Gentleman”. Like many other mandirs and dargahs spread along the city lanes, the disarming beauty of this grave, lying in a corner under a lush peepal, conveys a simple sacredness that pulls people from across faiths. This afternoon, a number of passers-by are pausing by the dargah, most of them reverently closing their eyes. A few remove their shoes, walk
City Hangout – Live Music Hotspots, Paharganj Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - June 22, 20190 A world inside a world. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] So this is Delhi’s hidden Europe. That is, if you believe in the title of a recent Bollywood thriller, Paharganj—The Little Amsterdam of India. The central Delhi district—especially its Main Bazaar—does hint of travel and adventure. Come here any day and you are sure to stumble into sights you won’t see anywhere else in the sprawling metropolis. Foreigners lounging at footpath tea stalls with their tattered Lonely Planets. Elderly backpackers with perfectly toned figures shopping for stones and gems in curio shops. Hasidic Jews in black hats walking busily in and out of the area’s Chabad House. Eateries playing Om Mani Padme Hum chants. Cows ambling along slowly, looking as thoughtful
City Hangout – Bird Feeding Pilgrimage, Hamdard Chowk Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - June 21, 2019June 21, 20190 To the communion. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s a hot muggy morning and these three supplicants are devoutly praying. Not in a temple but at a Central Delhi traffic island teeming with pigeons. The devotees now open their eyes and hurl grains to the awaiting birds: A typical morning at Hamdard Chowk. The area is home to hundreds of homeless labourers and rickshaw pullers who usually live and sleep on pavements. People are quietly coming over at this early hour. They are purchasing the grain from a seller sitting beside the circle and walking on to feed the fat birds. One of the gentlemen, a rickshaw puller, describes the chowk itself as a mandir “where serving the birds is like performing
City Food – Unusual Tikki, Gupta Chaat Corner Food by The Delhi Walla - June 20, 2019June 20, 20190 A popular snack's strange adaptation. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nobody can object to the fact that deep-fried aloo patties soused in a cold gravy of dahi and chutneys make up the essentials of a respectable plate of tikki. A smattering of gourmand destinations in the National Capital Region doles out universally accepted versions of this dish. Some are legends such as the Natraj ke Dahi Bhalle in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk. Many other Delhiwales prefer the versions served elsewhere, such as in the Bengali Market. Tikki abound in various adaptations, too. Some stalls stuff it with namkeen, others with chhole. The Gupta Chaat Corner in Gurgaon’s Roshanpura specialises in a rare variety. Lachha tikki looks odd—encrusted with lachhas or shavings
Mission Delhi – Chhaya, Construction Site, Gurgaon Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - June 19, 2019June 19, 20190 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Her name is supremely ironical, at this moment in the day at least. The young woman is working as a labourer under the searing noon sun, and her name is Chhaya, shade. “But there’s no shade for me,” she says cheerily. Directly exposed to the skin-roasting mind-numbing white light, the woman is part of a four-member “labour gang” contracted to demolish a house in Gurgaon in the National Capital Region. The task is being performed with equipments as basic as shovels and hammers. Climbing atop a dismantled door flung atop a pile of bricks, Chhaya theatrically rubs her arm over her stomach and says, “You have to work under