Mission Delhi – Rameshwar Thakur, Near Ramlila Maidan
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] If there’s one thing this footpath barber truly prizes, it’s his torn umbrella. On this drizzly summer day, it’s keeping Rameshwar Thakur relatively dry while…
City Walk – A Lane in Jacoobpura, Gurgaon
Another country. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This is a sudden dive into peacefulness. As if you have not entered into a mere lane but a region of light and void and silence. The very air feels on…
City Moment – The Henna Couple, Central Delhi
The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Oblivious to the evening rush hour, Rekha is applying henna on Bhagwan Das’ hand on a central Delhi pavement, her eyes barely blinking. Mr Das is lying slumped across the…
Atget’s Corner – 1126-1130, Delhi Photos
The visible city. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Delhi is a voyeur’s paradise and The Delhi Walla also makes pictures. I take photos of people, streets, flowers, eateries, drawing rooms, tombs, landscapes, buses, colleges, Sufi shrines, trees, animals, autos, libraries, birds,…
City Moment – A Letter Writer’s World, Somewhere in Delhi
The memorable instant. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The setting is too picturesque. Here’s a centuries-old monument, an unknown grave in a shabby lawn, a cluster of pink bougainvillaeas, a couple of stray cats, and a man writing…
Mission Delhi – Ram Krishen Das, Central Delhi
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] His is the simple life. This sage survives on fruit and rotis—and has been living in a bamboo scaffolding within a temple for more than…
City Hangout – Secondhand Bookshelf, Quill And Canvas, South Point Mall
Books with a background. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is true. The neighbour’s drawing room shelves do reveal a glimpse of their private life. That’s why it’s so tantalising to browse about the secondhand books stacked at…
City Food – Chankaya’s Momos, Central Delhi
Proustian experience. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Generations of Delhi people grew up with the magic experience of the old Chanakya movie theatre. If you were very lucky you just could even manage to obtain a front-stall ticket…
Home Sweet Home – House of Shadows, Lodhi Road
Monsoon dwelling. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s hardly more than a lean-to. But the recent addition of an awning means the world for the little family. “We recently got that awning from a tea stall owner,” explains…
City Faith – Sufi’s Tree, Old Delhi
Sacred greens. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In the beginning there was the tree. It must be so. The neem is the first thing you see while walking to the twin Sufi shrines of Hazrat Sarmad Shahid and…
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