Mission Delhi – Mohmu, New Palam Vihar
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The land is sprawled across acres of openness, punctuated with scrubby bushes and stand-alone houses. Far away, the grey multi-storeyed buildings look like scarecrows. On…
City Hangout – Spring-Time Subz Burj, Mathura Road
A panorama of colours. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Holi has arrived in advance, heralded in a dream potion of red, green, and two strains of blue. The sheeny shades are so charged with lustiness that you fear…
City Landmark – A Vanishing Old House, Jacobpura
A disappearing souvenir. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] History-minded Instagrammers must urgently walk down Old Gurgaon’s mohallas, in the Greater Delhi Region, to snap and upload the photos of all the long-time buildings that are gradually vanishing. Maybe,…
City Monument – Pandemic-Era Chhoti Gumti, Green Park
Society of the dome. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Let us go then, you and I, when the afternoon is spread out against the grass. Like on this afternoon of March. The sky is so blue that it…
City Landmark – Ruined House, Gurgaon
Old time, sighted. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The walls are dilapidated. A part of the roof has caved in. The underlying bricks peek out of the peeling paint like raw bloodied wounds. Encrusted with the degradations of…
Mission Delhi – Damil Ahmad Beg, Zeenat-ul Masjid
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Old Delhi’s Zeenat-ul Masjid is like a miniature version of the Jama Masjid. There is another monument inside, equally photogenic and more unique. This monument…
Mission Delhi – Bhola, Ashram
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Bhola is walking along a city street, carrying a wooden staff tied with plastic packets of pink and yellow cotton candies. The street is not…
City Hangout – Amour de Café, Chitli Qabar
New in old. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Spitting, swearing, feet-shuffling—Oh là là! The market lane is quivering like a rushing river—a cotton candy man is shoving his way through the yelling crowd, followed by a hawker of…
City Life – Sania and Her Family, Rahim Road
New arrivals. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is early morning. The couple and their four children got off minutes ago from the overnight train. Unlike many other passengers who were busy hailing the auto or booking the…
City Season – Semal in Bloom, Around Town
Red blessings. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The glass-concrete office complex in Gurgaon’s Shankar Chowk is gigantic beyond belief. On the other hand, the prettier pavement tree stands some distance away. It is glossed with thick red flowers…
Recent Comments