You are here
Home > 2022 > June

Month: June 2022

City Hangout – 9pm at Sunder Nursery, Central Delhi

by The Delhi Walla - 1

Night revellers. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The smoggy sky is pitch black. Amid the trees, a procession is standing silently with flaming torches. No, these are lamps lining a pathway. This is Sunder Nursery at 9 pm. By now, almost all public parks in the city are closed for the day. But since two months, this garden, speckled with centuries-old monuments, has been staying open till late into the night. At this hour, the strategically positioned lamps have lifted the darkening garden to a state of heightened beauty. The sprawling landscape of water, trees and stones is appearing playful, as if the three elements are mischievously trespassing into each other’s territory, a daring conduct unthinkable during the day. The sense of

Mission Delhi – Masooban, Chelmsford Road

by The Delhi Walla - 1

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A turbaned artist is beating the nagada. Another is playing the shehnai. Both performers are directing their music straight into Masooban’s ear. Their solo audience remains unimpressed, however, and continues to be in deep sleep. This is understandable. The musicians are merely part of a long mural painted on a roadside wall, here in central Delhi's Chelmsford Road. While Masooban is a man in flesh, blood and sweat. This hot afternoon he has escaped into a brief nap on his rickshaw, which is parked beside the painted wall. “When one sleeps, one sees dreams,” he says haltingly, on waking up after a few minutes. “But dreams are

City Hangout – Jama Masjid in Twilight, Gurgaon

by The Delhi Walla - 0

The magic of changing light. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is possible to travel by staying still. One way to do this is by lingering long at the Jama Masjid in Gurgaon’s Sadar Bazar. The small edifice isn’t close in grandeur to its more famous namesake in Old Delhi. But being here towards the end of the day, as the amber shade of dusk slowly turns into darkness, this enclosed but open space fills the visitor with a sense of journey. Alll you have to do is step into the courtyard in the evening, and stay motionless for a couple of hours. The courtyard has an ablution pool at its center, and is lined on two sides with an arched

City Landmark – Pari Selfie Point, Mathura Road

by The Delhi Walla - 0

A new landmark. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Is it a flapping of wings? Or are these the limbs of a friendly octopus? This metallic installation is the latest landmark of the capital, here on Mathura Road. A sari-wearing labourer, sweeping the pavement nearby, discloses that it was finished seven days ago. Glancing at it, she declares she can’t say what the thing is. It is not uncommon for artists to show their work in public spaces without giving away their identity. Some months back, the internet was abuzz with the sighting of a monolithic metal pillar in the remote canyons of Utah in the US. But this piece is marked with the seal of Delhi government’s Public Works Department. Indeed, the

Mission Delhi – Rukhsana, Central Delhi

by The Delhi Walla - 0

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The road is teeming with afternoon traffic. The pavement, here in central Delhi, has a small plastic mat sprawled along it. A child is sitting cross-legged there, barefoot, with a pink bag, his tiny green chappal lying nearby. He is writing numbers (“1, 2, 3…”) on the copy lying open on his lap, in a slow steady fashion. The child’s “mummy” is standing beside him, manning a cold drink cart. “Farhan is my younger son,” says vendor Rukhsana. Gesturing towards another boy sitting atop a tall metallic stool, she says that “Anab is my older son.” Her third and eldest child, daughter Khatija, is away for

Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Nameer Alvi, Pahari Rajaan

by The Delhi Walla - 0

The parlour confession. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] He is 21 and his mother calls him “mera achha wala beta,” my good son. Youngest of three brothers and a sister, he is the only one to go out of his way to help his parents with household chores. Nameer Alvi cleans his house every day at his home in Old Delhi’s Pahari Rajaan. “Because ammi abba need help,” he mutters shyly. This afternoon, he is on his haunches, while washing the veranda with a broom and a mug of water. A third-year law student, Mr Alvi is as conscientious about his housekeeping tasks, his mother says, as he is about keeping up to date with Chelsea, his favourite soccer club. After finishing the

City Hangout – India Gate & Central Vista, Central Delhi

by The Delhi Walla - 0

A new era. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The hat-wearing lady in sari poses with her family for photographer Vijay Babu (150 rupees for a single print in two minutes). The background is India Gate. This will be a keepsake photo of their Delhi trip. They are visiting from Telangana. Another set of tourists are buying cotton candies, barely paying attention to the British-built war memorial. Traffic on the road is sloughing through. This same humdrum scene has been happening over and over, here in India Gate, for a long time. Families from across Delhi, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad would drive, especially in the evening, to this slice of the capital’s heart for an archetypical India Gate experience, which would

Mission Delhi – Balvindra, Gurgaon

by The Delhi Walla - 0

One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It does resemble something familiar, something that is occasionally featured as a curiosity piece in travel magazines. Oh yes, it looks like one of those so-called pod hotels of Tokyo--a bed, with some space that is large enough only to fit in this bed. But this is Gurgaon, in the Greater Delhi Region. And this the inside of a roadway truck’s cabin. The truck is parked by the roadside in one of the sectors. “All trucks look like this from inside,” says driver Balvindra. “There is the driver’s seat and the rest is the palang (bed) where one can lie down and rest.” Indeed, Balvindra is lazily slouched

City Home – Ruined Bungalow, Somewhere in Delhi

by The Delhi Walla - 0

A deserted home. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The metal gate is splotched with red dots of rust. The pane-less windows on the first floor stare out like open wounds. Cobwebs are hanging from window grills. It is said you can see the world in a grain of sand — in the same way, you may see your teeming city in an empty house that once was full of life. Such as this deserted bungalow, somewhere in Delhi. No need to know its GPS. You’ll find versions of this scattered across the city. Such residences lie in this state because either the owners are living elsewhere, or due to a host of other reasons. The point of this story is

City Walk – Galli Sham Lal Street, Old Delhi

by The Delhi Walla - 0

World of a street. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It is like being in a crowd, and suddenly everyone disappears — except you. This is what stepping into Gali Sham Lal feels like. Firmly keeping the boisterousness of Matia Mahal Bazar outside its dehleez, the introvert lane is a tunnel of dim light and quietness. Although a mere kebab’s throw from Jama Masjid’s Gate No. 1, and despite being the first of the many lanes that punctuate the much chronicled Matia Mahal, this is a barely known gali. The cramped lane comprises mostly of travellers’ lodges. The hoarding of Amreena Guest House looks weatherbeaten, as does of Al Ashfaq Guest House. The Urdu calligraphy on both hoardings is red

Top