Mission Delhi – Vijay Kumar, Central Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - August 21, 20200 [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He doesn’t have a house, he says. But he does have possessions. “I carry them all the time with me,” says Vijay Kumar. This morning he is sitting on the steps of a shuttered shop in a central Delhi market. The lane is still largely empty. Mr Kumar’s possessions consist of a bag (with a broken strap) and a wooden walking stick. The black bag is crammed with personal stuff, so much so that it is bulging out on all sides like the cheeks of a naughty child holding water in his mouth, and refusing to swallow it down. While the bag’s zip does work, it is still tied with a strap of red
City Series – Aruvi in Wayanad, Kerala, We the Isolationists (433rd Corona Diary) Corona Diary by The Delhi Walla - August 21, 20200 Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Aruvi] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona and I see darkness swirl around me. The world feels dystopian, life fictional. In time, disjoint memories come floating by. The dappled early morning sunlight on the veranda in my parental home. The hot tea and biscuits that came with it. The punishing sun that shone down on us as we trudged through the kole wetlands looking for larks and pipits. The anticipation that made us forget the heat. Warm memories in golden hues envelope me. Light bursts through. “We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share a brief diary starting with “I close my eyes in my self-isolation from Corona...
City Series – Vrinda Bhagat in Quebec, We the Isolationists (432nd Corona Diary) Corona Diary by The Delhi Walla - August 21, 2020August 21, 20200 Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Vrinda Bhagat] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona and I see myself in real conversations with real people - at a french cafe, a yoga class, a public library. I plan my next adventure trip thinking I will do it one day. I sift through books thinking I will read them all one day. I breathe deep thinking there will be no mask one day. One day, I will open my eyes and see that human intervention is the only normal. “We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share a brief diary starting with “I close my eyes in my self-isolation from Corona... and I see...” Not
City Series – Niyatee Dwivedi in Chennai, We the Isolationists (431st Corona Diary) Corona Diary by The Delhi Walla - August 21, 20200 Our corona diary. [Text and photo by Niyatee Dwivedi] I close my eyes in self-isolation from corona and I see myself reconnecting with inner-self. After losing years to the wheel of corporate life, once again I try to discover my lost self in this chaos. The wave of loneliness and disconnect from social life brings in the internal turmoil to face a naked self. Finding, knowing, and accepting the inner-me is silver lining every day. As much as I wish for everyone to be physically healthy, I wish people to take care of their mental health. For this self-isolation can be used for meditating our way to reconnect with our inner-self. “We the Isolationists” series urges folks from any part of the world to share
City Walk – Pandemic-Era Connaught Place, Central Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - August 21, 20200 Same place, different time. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nothing has changed. The same white colonial-era columns. The same showrooms, with their immaculately dressed mannequins gazing by the glass displays. The same giggles of passersby. And wait, there are even two earnest-seeming young activists, boldly stopping strangers to collect funds for animal rights. The pandemic-era Connaught Place (CP) feels the same. To some extent. But as this evening walk reveals, it exudes even more intense vibes. Indeed, this is the perfect time to take a stroll about the Inner Circle arcade if you, like many people, haven’t come here since the first coronavirus-triggered lockdown began in late March. Every little familiar landmark or corner appears to be permeated with a melancholic
Living History – Ankita Khanna’s Chapter, Sector 49, Gurgaon Corona Window by The Delhi Walla - August 21, 20200 Life during Corona. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] The coronavirus is forcing us to live through an unprecedented global crisis never before seen in generations. In an attempt to prepare the first draft of the pandemic’s social history, The Delhi Walla is putting a set of questions about ‘daily life these times’ to people from diverse backgrounds. Today, it’s Ankita Khanna. In her mid-30s, the Gurgaon-based psychologist lives with her partner, Kavita, in an 8th floor apartment in Sector 49 in the Greater Delhi Region. Ms Khanna grew up in the twin towns of Mussoorie and Dehradun in the Himalayan foothills. So, obviously, she has met the region’s most famous writer, Ruskin Bond, a lot many times including during his weekly audience in Mussoorie’s