Mission Delhi – Syed Iqbal Ali, Mohalla Qabristan Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 11, 2023February 11, 20230 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The world is in transition, here at Crescent Photo Studio in Old Delhi’s Mohalla Qabristan. “It is to be rebuilt,” says Syed Iqbal Ali. “This place, my place, will have a new look, a new purpose.” This afternoon, the photographer is sitting behind his cluttered desk, holding a glass of chai delivered by a neighbouring stall. The studio walls are decked with scores of coloured photos of Old Delhi people he has snapped over the recent years. But where are the older pics? The studio has been here since 1987. Surely there must be an archive? “Oh, the purani reels must be lying buried in some trunk, but
Mission Delhi – Georgina Lazer, Holy Trinity Church Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 11, 2023February 11, 20231 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] In blue sari and white hair, she at 90 is like a lesser-known but still a notable Walled City monument. This February afternoon, snuggled in a sun-soaked corner of the Holy Trinity Church, beside Turkman Gate, Georgina Lazer is presiding over her world like an easy-going matriarch. The friendly lady’s biography might not be directly linked to any significant episode of contemporary Delhi, but her great fortune of seeing herself through so many years in one of the most historic parts of our capital makes her special. “I was born in Gali Bandook Wali,” she says. “Since then, my life is revolving around two churches.” The first is
City Landmark – Pahari Wali Mata ka Mandir, Near Prime Minister’s Residence Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - February 10, 20230 A wayside shrine. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The strong afternoon breeze coursing through the hill is making the tree leaves shiver like a man in high fever. A bird hidden somewhere is cooing repeatedly. Yellowing leaves litter the cemented staircase that ends into a chippy courtyard speckled with sunlight and shadows. There are brass bells, potted plants and a rusty metal almirah, too. All is tranquil. Since it is on a pahari, a hill, this secretive refuge is named appropriately as Pahari Wali Mata ka Mandir—as inscribed on a slab. Here the world feels isolated, even though we are only a 10-minute-walk away from the prime minister’s residence, and two minutes away from the 5-star Ashok hotel. The wayside shrine,
City Life – The Delhi Walla’s Speech on Being a ‘Hyperlocal Homer’, India International Center General by The Delhi Walla - February 10, 2023May 1, 20232 The Delhi Walla's talk on International Greek Language Day. [Photo by Ismini Panagopoulou-Boudouris] Hello everyone, hello Mr Ambassador, and thank you Ismini for inviting me. To me, who lives more than 3000 miles away from Athens, the word Greece first and foremost used to evoke… “Greek salad.” This is true: Greek salad was my first practical exposure to Greece—and not really the history schoolbooks. Each time I would be eating this exotic-named dish, I would wonder: what’s the fuss about Greek salad? Seriously, the taste was no big deal—at least in the restaurants of the UP cities where I grew up. The salad would have too much kheera—cucumber—in it. And no green chillies, which I adore. But Greece—Greek language—Greek myths—Greek literature—and its greatest writer—came
City Hangout – February Light, Around Town Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - February 9, 20230 Bergman's light. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Before finalising the locale for the movie Winter Light, in 1961, filmmaker Ingram Bergman journeyed through a series of churches in north Sweden, sitting for hours on the pews of each church to observe the progress of daylight. He could as well have studied the nuances of changing daylight in this Gurgaon church. The element is a principal character inside the Church of Epiphany (new wing), in Civil Lines, generously speckled with welcoming windows. The sun rays start by lingering in the prayer hall discreetly, like an eavesdropper behind the curtain. Gradually they turn bold and spread, filing up even the hidden corners and crevices, passing along the gilded pink edges of paperback
Mission Delhi – Pritika Sah, Kotla Mubarakpur Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - February 8, 20230 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The mobile phone alarm beeps without fail at 6.30. Though she doesn’t really need that morning alert. She gets up moments before, alerted by her internal body clock. Pritika Sah then wakes up Aayushi, and escorts her little daughter to the school in Defence Colony, nearby; both walking through the still sleepy alleys of their Kotla Mubarakpur village. She is back home by eight. Husband, Ram Kumar, is still asleep (he returns home at three in the morning, after finishing his late night shift as a cook in a Nehru Place restaurant), but their little son, Shiva, is lazily awake—playing alone, too young to go to the
City Life – Place Names, Around Town General by The Delhi Walla - February 6, 2023February 6, 20230 No small wonder. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Time passes. Places are transformed. Something routine in timeless cities like Delhi/Dilli/Indraprastha/Khandavprastha. This year the Mughal Gardens in Rashtrapati Bhawan (formerly the Viceroy's House) has been rechristened Amrit Udyan. Here’s a list of few of the many, many places in the Delhi region that met the same treatment, sometimes more than once. Gurugram, earlier Gurgaon An entire city had its name changed in 2016 when Gurgaon was turned into Gurugram, a nod to the belief that the place originated as a village given by the Pandavas as gurudakshina to Guru Dronacharya. The city also has Dronacharya Government College on the prosaically named New Railway Road, and it continues to have a village called Gurgaon. Kartavya
City Landmark – Banyan Tree, Gurgaon Railway Station Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - February 6, 20230 No small wonder. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] In our fast-changing ever-uncertain times, it stands tall and dense as an emblem of great endurance. It was here long before the coronavirus pandemic, and will, hopefully continues to exist for time to come. This luscious banyan tree in Gurgaon is a megapolis. Its each branch is like a road, each cluster of leaves like a neighbourhood. The tree is huge and unwieldy. Indeed, it has to be among the grandest in the Delhi region. There certainly might be bigger and grander trees anonymously tucked in ridges, parks and private bungalows, but this one is more special because it possesses a stateliness despite being stranded amid the disadvantages of an unruly public place. The
City Landmark – British-Era Tank, Old Delhi Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - February 6, 20230 On the hilltop. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Breathe out a deep sigh, before marvelling at the irony. Here’s a most amazing Old Delhi alley with a deep solid character, but without a name. This walkway strip is actually more like a bridge that connects the two hills of Pahari Bhojla and Pahari Imli. This moment, silence all. Now, in this remote-seeming world, a clothes trader comes trundling up thoughtfully from one hill to the other. He stops to identify this little galli as tanki. Indeed, the passageway is topped by a huge pink tanki. It marks the highest point of this high-altitude locale, and resembles the gigantic water towers spread across the capital. The trader gives way to another citizen.
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Neha Ansari, Gali Chandi Wali Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - February 5, 20230 The parlour confession. [By Mayank Austen Soofi] Neha Ansari is young and wishes to spend her life as an artist. Her immediate career goal is to become a hotel receptionist. She recently finished a 11-month-long “hotel management course” in a Gurugram institute, and is currently learning the art of stitching from “Farzana Aunty” in Mohalla Qabristan, which is a short walk from home, here in Old Delhi’s Gali Chandi Wali. This afternoon, sitting beside younger sister Ilma, she agrees to be a part of the Proust Questionnaire series in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences. Your main fault. Getting impatient too often with my behen Ilma. Your favourite occupation. Sketching, painting. Your idea of misery. Not being able to