City Faith – Graves Facelift, Hazrat Chirag Dehli
A historical destination in a time of change. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Old graves are getting a makeover. The ones that had sunk into the earth, reduced to being a wrinkle on the ground, have been raised,…
City Life – Nemat Khana, Delhi & Rampur
A way of life. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It was a household sight as ordinary as a toaster or a microwave. Usually seen in the bawarchi khana, this wooden cabinet with a steel jaali, or net, was…
Mission Delhi – Insaf, Hazrat Nizamuddin East
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] His hand is on his heart. “People have dreams… I also have dreams.” The young man says this with a friendliness so palpable it seems…
City Walk – Chelmsford Road, Central Delhi
Saddest road. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Some places are too melancholic, and Chelmsford Road must be one the saddest in the entire Delhi region. Maybe because of its stark disparities. Elegant bungalows bordered by bougainvilleas; and under…
Mission Delhi – Hari Narayan Ojha, Daryaganj
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] He isn’t from Old Delhi, yet an integral part of it. Hari Narayan Ojha, 83, came of age in the Walled City. Today, his sons…
City Food – Inter-Generational Sherbet Stall, Turkman Gate
A rose-tinted landmark. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Things change with time. Things don’t change with time. One March afternoon, Muhammed Rafi was sitting at his rose sherbet stall beside the centuries-old Turkman Gate. He had reopened his…
City Monument – Barber’s Tomb, Humayun Tomb Complex
The other memorial. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] After the sun dips into the western sky, Humayun’s Tomb gleams with special lights installed at strategic positions around the monument. The gathering blackness dematerialises the tree-filled surroundings, making the…
City Life – Barricade Trees, Sarojini Nagar
The city greens. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Hundreds of leaves here. All pitch black. After all, they are mere shadows. Shadows of the tree leaves falling on the metal bulwarks, the metal slow-heated by the day’s sun….
City Food – Game wali Kulfi, Old Delhi
Taste of heritage childhood. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s gone. That’s how old people with clear memories of their childhood summers speak of it. But here is that same thrilling ice-cold treat, just around the corner, mobbed…
City Hangout – Shri Shakti Raj Park, Lajpat Nagar
The Lajpat nobody knows. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Begin, Muse, this poem to commerce. Sing it aloud, the way Homer chanted the names of ships and warriors of the Achaean army: Keshika Creations, Lucy Beauty Parlour, Apna…
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