City Neighbourhood – Gali Gondni Wali, Old Delhi Regions Walks by The Delhi Walla - December 31, 20230 A street of the interiors. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Walking down the Walled City galis is comparable to chase scenes in James Bond thrillers in which the hero is running after the anti-hero through a variety of constantly changing backdrops. Take Gali Gondni Wali. The scene changes drastically at every turn. The lane is packed with picturesque doorways, groceries and chai shops. This afternoon, a veggie seller is encircled by four cats and a dog. Just before the gali peters out into a doorway, you pass by an opening on the right that looks like a private corridor. It is actually a roofed alley of the same gali, very badly lit, in which the atmopshere is silent and dark, and
Delhi’s Bandaged Heart – Tansy Troy’s Khan Market Poems, Front Lane City Poetry by The Delhi Walla - December 29, 20230 Poet in the city. [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Their silks and shoes are as shiny as new money from the mint. They go about the lanes, democratically (and sportingly) breathing the city smog, before retreating back into their moneyed enclaves fitted with the best air purifiers premium credit cards can buy. This could be Khan Market where Delhi’s super-rich come to see and be seen. This evening, poet Tansy Troy is strolling with daughter, Dasel, on the market’s Front Lane (see photo), and agrees to share two poems she wrote in the market, tearing through its clichés, giving us a more nuanced sense of a place that many of us affectionately call just Khan. Silent Conversation Outside the bookshop in which I first
Mission Delhi – Shahinder Kumar Sinha, Somewhere in Delhi Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 29, 2023January 2, 20240 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The evening was briefly distressing. Shahinder Kumar Sinha, an auto rickshaw driver, notes in his melodious speaking style, escorting a commuter from Connaught Place to Lado Sarai. He recounts how his younger daughter recently had a long fish bone accidentally stuck in her throat during the dinner in their Badarpur home, how he watched her writhe in pain, how a timely “ulti” ejected out the bone. Later, “I prayed to the gods in gratitude.” And this cold smoggy rush hour evening, it is about the power of faith that Shahinder shares with his customer. A small portrait of Hanuman ji adorns the auto rickshaw’s windshield. “My heart feels happy
City Vox Popili – A Life in Aditya’s Day, Bombay Life by The Delhi Walla - December 29, 2023December 29, 20230 As part of The Delhi Walla series asking citizens to “write down everything you did in one day.” Send yours in 400 words max to thedelhiwallasoofi@gmail.com [Photo by Sanyuja Shiledar] [By Aditya Shiledar, a literature student in Bombay.] I begin the day at five-thirty in the morning. In that dark, quiet, awful stillness, nothing is discernible; the alarm clock tinkles softly; I wake up and set to work. Peeping outside the window for a moment, I look out at the city: dark, dark, still asleep; the faint white blinking of some distant high-rise is the only conceivable source of light. At six-thirty, when I leave the flat, the sky is still dark, but a faint reddish pallor is starting to show up. I get into
City Food – Poet Ghalib’s Daal, Somewhere in Delhi Food by The Delhi Walla - December 27, 2023December 27, 20230 On the poet's birth anniversary. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Happy Birthday, Ghalib! You turn 226 today. It’s not easy to crack Delhi’s greatest poet. The most sophisticated Urdu intelligentsia find his poetry formidable, for Mirza Ghalib is said to be all ishara (allusions) and isteaara (metaphors). The Agra-born Ghalib also wrote extensively in Persian, and that part of his oeuvre is considered super-mushkil even by the hardcore Ghalib wale. That said, some of our shayar’s verses are so simple that roadside majnus swing to them. Take this (sing this!): “Ishq par zor nahīñ hai ye vo ātish 'ġhālib', ki lagāe na lage aur bujhāe na bujhe.” Whatever, here’s a trick to get intimate with Ghalib without undertaking the rigorous homework of mastering
City Neighbourhood – Gali Dakotan, Old Delhi Regions Walks by The Delhi Walla - December 25, 20230 Lane of Saturday people. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Place-names in Old Delhi make sense. Gosht Wali Pahari is nestled along a pahari and has shops selling gosht. Pahari Imli had an imli tree. Gali Akhare Wali had an akhara. Gali Mazar Wali had a mazar. Gali Jagat Cinema Wali had Jagat Cinema. Gali Dakotan had dacoits. Not true—this bit about Gali Dakotan. The error is borne out of an unfortunate symmetry of words. The pronunciation of ‘dakotan’ is so easily confused with ‘dakait’, or ‘dacoit’, that many Walled City residents buy into the false narrative. Including Gali Dakotan wale themselves, or at least these two residents chatting this afternoon at the street’s dead-end. The women are shocked that their
City Vox Popili – A Life in Rahul’s Day, Vaishali Life by The Delhi Walla - December 25, 20230 As part of The Delhi Walla series asking citizens to “write down everything you did in one day.” Send yours in 400 words max to thedelhiwallasoofi@gmail.com [Photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] [By Rahul Sharma, a “quality analyst” in Vaishali, Ghaziabad.] It is three in the night. My family is sleeping. I feel the many responsibilities weighing down my shoulders, but I carry this burden willingly. Being a quality analyst in a Florida-based company, my works deals with product photography. Since the shift is adapted to the US time, the work-day begins in the evening at six. My office is this corner of my bedroom currently illuminated by the soft glow of the computer screen. The last few hours passed editing the photographs and engaging
Mission Delhi – Jagdish Bhatt, Paharganj Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 22, 2023December 22, 20230 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] His right elbow is resting on the café table, his left palm is cupping his chin. His gaze is directed towards the crowded street. He is totally immobile. The table is empty except for a coffee glass, a cigarette pack, and eye glasses. On being asked just what is going on in his mind, he shifts a little, straightens his back, reshuffles the objects on the table, and again freezes into motionlessness, immersed in thoughts. “What will happen next, what will become of life,” he mumbles. The tone of his voice makes it clear that he is asking these questions rhetorically and isn’t expecting answers. Puppeteer Jagdish Bhatt is
City Hangout – 32 Parks, Hazrat Nizamuddin East Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - December 21, 20230 Neighbourhood of gardens. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Found, a bench bearing a most unusual dedication. Found, a huge cat. Found, a serene Buddha. Each of these is in a different park. But all three parks are in the same locality. And this small locality of Hazrat Nizamuddin East is extraordinary for having a great many public parks—32 in all. The aforementioned park bench is distinguished for its inscription: “In memory of our dearest pet Hustler, cocker spaniel, 1998-2013, lest he gets lost in the shadows of time.” The dog's ashes were buried in this same park, a frangipani stands on the site. This December afternoon, a woman is sitting on the bench reading a French novel. A flower’s throw away lies a
City Life – Nighttime Darkness, Around Town Life by The Delhi Walla - December 19, 20230 Let there be darkness [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Never noisy here, not even in the day. It is one of the more serene neighbouhoods in the National Capital Region. The silence deepens at night, but alas! The light pollution makes it impossible for us citizens to experience the night’s natural darkness. The intrusive light also hampers our effort to strike a relationship with the celestial sights of the post 7pm sky (which anyways stay hidden behind the city’s air pollution). Right now it is a few minutes past midnight. The sky over the neighbourhood is dark shade of grey, and the surrounding lamps are shedding their diffused glow about the smoggy air. The artificial lighting is severely compromising the nocturnal