City Landmark – Perfume Cart, Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - April 24, 20220 The cart of scents. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Our Delhi streets can tick you off. But at least one of the city’s street corners is permeated with perfumes. Roadside carts tend to be loaded with fruits, vegetables, discount clothes and sandals, but this cart in Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti’s main lane, facing Bhai Jameel’s hair cutting saloon, is stacked with jars and glass flasks containing various kinds of aromatic ittar, each with a unique scent. “The thela is very old, but this business is new,” says hawker Abdullah, who used to sell combs and nail clippers on the cart until five months ago. These scented offerings belong to an Ittar shop nearby, he explains—in fact the nearby Karim Hotel wali Lane
Mission Delhi – Anand, Sultanpuri & Elsewhere Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - April 24, 20220 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Isn’t he a Hemingway lookalike? But he only looks like the great American writer from a distance, perhaps because of his beard, or because of his cap, that greatly resembles the iconic fishing cap that Hemingway would wear. The man in fact calls himself Fakkar Baba. “I picked this name myself… because I’m a fakkar.” He explains the meaning of this word: “One who has nothing… I have nothing.” The man is sitting by a shuttered store in a central Delhi locality. He raises his right arm, pulls back his shirt sleeve, and shows a tattoo—AS Rathi. “My real name… A stands for Anand.” In his late 60s, the