City Hangout - Garden of Spring, Vasant Vihar

City Hangout – Garden of Spring, Vasant Vihar

The park of poets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The carefree man in blue track suit is sprawled on the grass, his eyes closed in deep sleep, and his bare feet entangled amid dry leaves and white frangipanis…

City Faith - Newly Restored Sufi Shrines, Hazrat Sarmad & Hazrat Hare Bhare Shah

City Faith – Newly Restored Sufi Shrines, Hazrat Sarmad & Hazrat Hare Bhare Shah

A pandemic-era restoration. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A historic place in Delhi, drastically transformed. While life in the city has severally shrunk due to the coronavirus pandemic, one of the capital’s most important Sufi shrines, or dargahs,…

City Hangout - Pandemic-Era Symbols, Chatta Sheikh Mangloo

City Hangout – Pandemic-Era Symbols, Chatta Sheikh Mangloo

Signs of the times. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In one famous scene of the Arabian Nights, a thief paints a mark on Ali Baba’s door so that his companions can later come and put him to death….