City Vox Popili – A Life in Sarthak’s Day, Khan Market General Life by The Delhi Walla - December 8, 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 Sarthak Kaul, a trans-Yamuna writer] I wake up, crawl out of my bed and bow down to the source. I press my hands together and thank existence for giving its object another day. After the breakfast I board the auto for the nearest metro station—Mayur Vihar Extension. The driver tells me about his guru and his knowledge of the Upanishad. Picking out my favorite corner at a quaint, quiet coffee shop in Khan Market, I pull out a thick notepad and my lucky mascot — Mr. Reynolds. “Your usual order, sir?” The apron-clad young
Mission Delhi – Bimlesh, Galli Choori Walan Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 6, 2023December 22, 20230 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] It looks like a mandir. Her tiny food stall is decked with sacred portraits of her beloved “devi-devta”—Durga ji, Lakshmi ji, Ganesh ji, Kali Maa, and Bhagwan Vishnu. The wall also has garlanded portraits of two men. “The photo beside the clock is of my sasur… he started this stall a long time ago,” Bimlesh says, preparing a plate of chhole kulche for a patient patron. The much larger portrait is recent. “My husband,” she says, fleetingly turning her face towards the frame. The portrait bears the husband’s name, which is appended with respectful ‘ji.’ Ramesh Kumar passed away in August three years ago. “He had (heart) attack.” Until
City Hangout – Lodhi Garden in White Light, Central Delhi Hangouts by The Delhi Walla - December 5, 2023December 5, 20230 Lodhi's light ages. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The green of the green hedges is coated in a semi-transparent film of white. So is the grass on the baldy lawn. Tonight’s moon is super-generous, liberally bestowing its white chandni upon the sprawling acres of Lodhi Garden. It is not the moon. Delhi’s most iconic park is undergoing a profound transformation in its post-sunset character. Until some evenings ago, the gold glow of the many lamps would illumine everything here into varying shades of that colour, including the many monuments, trees, benches and lawns. That golden era is largely over. Lodhi Garden has turned white. A gardener confirms, saying that the new lights are replacing the old. For a long time, a
City Neighbourhood – Katra Baan Wale, Old Delhi Hangouts Life Walks by The Delhi Walla - December 4, 20230 A place-name in the Walled City. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] In the old days in Old Delhi, Purani Dilli wale would have beds of baan, strings made of “munj” or “kans” plants. These beds were called charpai, or khatiya, or khaat. The beds were easy to move around. During summer evenings at home, a bucket of water would be carried to the roof (there were no multi-storeys then), and the water would be sprinkled to cool the concrete, after which the beds would be temporarily shifted upstairs for the family to sleep at night. To sustain such a way of living, there used to be “baan wale” who would prepare the baan for the bed. This was separate from
City Vox Popili – A Life in Abid’s’s Day, Oman Coast Life by The Delhi Walla - December 2, 2023December 2, 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 [Photos by Syed Abid Ali] [By Syed Abid Ali,a sailor and engineer] My 7:05am alarm wakes me up. We are drifting on the Indian Ocean, around 10 nautical miles off the coast of Oman, in an LNG-carrying ship, waiting to enter the port. Following a quick work-plan meeting, I head out to the deck for work. Busy with my back towards the water, I hear a loud air-blow shoot out from the sea. I immediately know what it is. Whales usually don’t come so close to ships, but since we are merely drifting, without the engines, she
City Monument – Stone Jaalis, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah Monuments by The Delhi Walla - December 1, 20230 Screens forever. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Air entwined with stone, becoming jaali. The lattice screen has long been an element of Delhi’s architecture. One unlikely place to experience this living heritage is the sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. An extensive network of stone jaalis run about the sacred expanse, like a long veil of Dhaka muslin. Although it commemorates an ascetic fakir, the 14th century mausoleum is also a final resting ground for the history’s rich and powerful, with three extraordinary tomb chambers devoted to the Mughal royalties. One harbours the grave of an emperor, another has a princess who was among the most powerful women of her time, and the third shelters the last Mughal emperor’s brothers. This
City Landmark – Delhi Junction Railway Station, Kashmere Gate Side Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - December 1, 2023December 1, 20230 The junction's other view. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The hapless citizen is wading through Kashmere Gate chaos, unable to find a way out of the bazar’s loopy labyrinthine. Suddenly—escape! The land ends into multitudes of intersecting railways tracks. The smoggy air crackling with the announcer’s flat voice declaring impending departures to Ajmer and Moradabad, Jammu and Ahmedabad. Welcome to Delhi Junction Railway Station, the capital’s oldest rail station dating from the 1860s, known colloquially as Old Delhi railway station. But it is not all looking like the Purani Dilli station we are familiar with. The station’s archetypical identity comes from its majestic three-storey front facade (since 1903), which stands on the other side of the tracks, equipped with bastions and