Mission Delhi – Smita Babar, Sunder Nursery
One of the one percent in 13 million. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s evening and she is sitting alone by the lake in Sunder Nursery with a coffee mug by her side. Architect and urban conservationist Smita Babar, 32, graciously…
City Hangout – Sunset Bench, Lodhi Gardens
A twilight experience. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s just a bench. But right now it is hewn out of the sun’s very soul. This is one of the most thaumaturgic sights in Delhi. The setting is Lodhi…
Mission Delhi – Devki, Hazrat Nizamuddin East
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This role, to her, is both familiar and strange. Familiar, because being a working woman is by no means a novel experience. She has been…
Mission Delhi – Shambhu Yadav, Outside Ashok Hotel
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s late October. That explains the nip in the air. But is it so chilly that Shambhu Yadav has to wrap himself in a blanket?…
Mission Delhi – Qurban Ansari, Hazrat Nizamuddin East
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The dainty ornamental park at the B block in genteel Hazrat Nizamuddin East is ringed by trees. All day long they swell with the twittering…
City Hangout – AIIMS Flyover, South Delhi
An unlikely haven. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Consisting of sloped mounds, parts of the landscape resemble the sandy Chambal valley ravines that were infamous for sheltering dacoits. But here the crests and troughs of earth are carpeted…
Mission Delhi – Muhammed Anas, Pahari Rajaan
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He is 23. He has a dream. “I want to live in a house that has more than one room,” says Muhammed Anas. A bangle…
City Monument – Stranded Column, Chirag Delhi Village
Littered past. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The pillar is slender, and swells up towards the top like a sonata soaring to a crescendo. It appears to be of red sandstone but the red has faded. You may…
City Monument – Nila Gumbad, Humayun Tomb Complex
The Humayun blue. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s 24 karat gold—the kalash , or the finial, at the top of the Humayun’s Tomb. The gilded metal glistens in sunshine. Just some steps away is a much smaller…
City Life – Four Labourers, Tiraha Behram Khan
Waiting for work. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] They are sitting on their haunches, waiting for work. House painters Madan Lal, Gopal, Jagdish and Malik are stationed with their paint brushes in Old Delhi’s Tiraha Behram Khan. This…
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