Mission Delhi – Manzoor, Abul Khair Street Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - October 11, 20230 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] There’s baingan, lauki, aloo, bhindi, turai, tamatar, patta gobhi, neembu, hari mirchi, adrak, kaddu, palak and there is also Manzoor, who is the seller of these subzi-bhaji, here at Old Delhi's Abul Khair Street. The man arrived in the megapolis “as a boy many years ago” from his village in Araria zila, Bihar. “Back then, I was akela (single), now I have a family.” His wife, Kauser, and four children live in the village, he says, sitting cross-legged on his pavement stall, behind the weighing scale. Manzoor’s incredibly expressive eyes appear now to smile, now to frown, as if they were in a synchronised coordination with the
City Life – Faces of a Far-Off War, Paharganj Life by The Delhi Walla - October 11, 2023October 11, 20230 On Israel and Palestine. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Everyone is smiling in these photos. A few are even grinning. All seem to be young. All are Israelis. The same carefree expressions are to be found on their faces, as on those of the attendees at last weekend’s Supernova music festival, held in the southern Israeli desert, close to the border with Gaza. Some of us have seen those attendees in viral video clips filmed during the attack by Hamas on Saturday morning. (The carefree expressions were seen in a clip that was filmed just before the attack.) 260 festivalgoers were killed, many others have been taken hostage. The internet is full of the videos and pictures of those young Israelis.