Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – Rukhsar, Turkman Gate Delhi Proustians by The Delhi Walla - December 30, 20240 Portrait of a citizen. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] All the 55 years of Rukhsar’s life have been spent in Old Delhi’s Turkman Gate area. This cold afternoon, ensconced within a small room, steps away from the aforementioned gateway, Rukhsar agrees to become a part of our Proust Questionnaire series, in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences. The principal aspect of your personality. I’m into naach-gana (singing and dancing). People like me are sometimes born with both the genders, and sometimes not. Let me be clear. I was born a male, and I think of myself as a male. Your favourite qualities in a man. He should talk with mohabbat (love). Your favourite qualities in a
City Walk – Gali Ansari, Old Delhi Walks by The Delhi Walla - December 29, 20240 On Old Delhi streets [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] The cul-de-sac is full of discoloured doors and cobwebbed windows. Suddenly a little white cat slinks out into the empty lane from under a locked door. On seeing an unfamiliar visitor, she starts fleeing towards the far end of the lane, stopping after every few moments, turning her head to make an eye contact with the stranger. Gali Ansari near Turkman Gate has to be among Old Delhi’s least-known streets. It is also a street that has apparently stayed frozen in time. For it hasn’t changed at all since the independence in 1947, insists the venerable Shamshuddin, sitting inside his box-making workshop. He has been living in the lane since his birth
City Monument – Rangila’s Tomb, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’s Dargah Monuments by The Delhi Walla - December 27, 2024December 27, 20240 King's grave [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Being Delhiwale, we people do know something of the Mughals. Babar was the first. Shahjahan built the Taj Mahal. Aurangzeb… well, less said the better! Zafar was the last Mughal. But who came immediately after Aurangzeb? Who was immediately before Zafar? In all, there were 12 kings between Aurangzeb and Zafar. The most notable among these lesser-knowns lies buried in our city, but his grave chamber stays deserted. Raushan Akhtar Muhammad Shah ruled for 29 years, from 1719 to 48. His daily life was full of leisure—watching partridge and elephant fights in the morning, and mime artists and jugglers in the evening. Often attired in a woman’s tunic and pearl-embroidered shoes, he was
Mission Delhi – Anand, Chawri Bazar Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 26, 2024December 26, 20240 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] His cheeks are wet. These are tears, he says, rubbing his left eye. A series of questions elicit the following responses from citizen Anand. “On ekattis (31) December, I will turn paisath (65). “I’m already old, I’m now about to step into an even older age. My life will become more unbearable. My body will feel more pain. The ageing limbs already give me so much pain." “Being a labourer, I carry goods from one place to another for a Chawri Bazar dukandar (shopkeeper). I have to carry nug ka samaan on my head. The body finds it increasingly tough to withstand so much load, but I cannot afford to
City Monument – Holy Trinity Chrurch & Georgina Lazer, Christmas 2024 Monuments by The Delhi Walla - December 25, 20240 Georgina's 93rd Christmas [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] This grand building style originated in Constantinople, now known as Istanbul. Although a world away from that city, our Delhi does contain a sample of Byzantine architecture. Purani Dilli’s Holy Trinity Church too has a domed roof, Byzantine’s most distinguishing element. The dome swells out on Faasil Road, beside the Mughal-era Turkman Gate. Inside the building, its bulge is bordered in light blue (see one of the photos). The church was erected more than a hundred years earlier. A plaque notes: To the glory of God And in memory of Alexander Charles Maitland The foundation stone of This Church of the Holy Trinity Was laid on Feb.1.1904 By his widow Mary R. Maitland The stunningly long-titled book “Alumni Cantabrigienses: A
City Food – White Carrot Halwa, Sheeren Bhawan Food by The Delhi Walla - December 24, 20240 Paradise regained [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Taj Mahal is white, and gajar halwa is red. But gajar halwa can also be white. White carrot halwa annually makes its winter debut at the landmark Sheeren Bhawan. The rare dessert is in fact sighted only at this pre-partition mithai shop in Old Delhi’s Chitli Qabar Chowk. This rainy afternoon, the sky is gloomy grey, the cold air is smoggy, but fragrant steam is rising enthusiastically from the halwa platter atop the shop counter. “We launched the halwa four-five days ago,” says attendant Mansoor in a nonchalant tone. A burner below the gigantic brass platter is keeping the halwa tongue-searing hot. Decorated on one corner with generous endowments of kaaju-pista, the dish is looking
City Landmark – Akhbar ki Dukan, Ghaziabad Landmarks by The Delhi Walla - December 23, 2024December 23, 20240 Print edition monument [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Names can be deceptive. But not this zila Ghaziabad kiosk. Its name is Akhbar ki Dukaan, says the owner. And it really is akhbar ki dukaan. The roadside shop is crammed with all the English and Hindi dailies that pour into Delhi afresh every morning. The sight in fact looks like a biennale art installation aiming to commemorate a utility that once used to be as ubiquitous as the chai stall—the newspaper stand. The Vasundhara landmark in Sector 4C has been existing since 2003. Founder Kaptan Singh is a UP native from Gonda, and has been in Delhi region since 1991. He started as a mechanic in a washing machine factory in north
Mission Delhi – Shanti Devi, Hauz Khas Village Mission Delhi by The Delhi Walla - December 21, 20241 One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] She would talk to the patrons of her tea stall in a singsong manner. The tone of her voice would be in harmony with the languid movements of her hands that would fiddle almost imperceptibly between the chai pan and the chai glasses. But most of the times she would be quiet, listening to friendly familiars chat about her cart. The cart would be parked outside the entry to the fashionable Hauz Khas Village, by the barricade. For a long time, the south Delhi locality has been the site of cafés, pizzerias and restaurants, as well as boutiques and curio shops. Some are garish, some are truly
City Food – Jaggery Season, Around Town Food by The Delhi Walla - December 16, 20241 Good gur guide [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Street-stall owner Aqeel in Purani Dilli’s Pahari Imli administers his modest establishment of jaggery sherbet almost throughout the year, winding it down only during the brief Delhi winter. He then replaces the gur ka sherbet with a totally different thing—diaper! Now the ironic part. It is during this same brief Delhi winter when scores of groceries in the two Sadar Bazars of Delhi and Gurugram respectively start to stock many kinds of sweet-tasting jaggery. The fresh gur regularly arrive in Delhi around this period of the year mostly from western UP villages, currently overseeing the harvest of sugarcane crop from which gur is made: Each gur variety, per a shopkeeper, has its
City Life – The Twins of Connaught Place, Central Delhi Life by The Delhi Walla - December 13, 20240 Anshul and Ankur [Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi] Meet Anshul and Ankur. They are identical twins, having identical voices. Both went to the same school and the same university, entered the same profession, settled in the same city, and now have their day-jobs in the same Connaught Place. The same-same somewhat ends here. Anshul lives with wife Chetna in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj. Ankur lives with wife Shivangi in east Delhi’s Yamuna Vihar. This cold evening, both brothers, after leaving their respective offices for the day, meet in CP’s Outer Circle colonnade. They stand against the backdrop of CP’s distinctive white columns. These columns too are identical, twining each other many times over along the whole colonial-era circle. Separated by nine minutes,