City Food – Bread Pakora, Sadar Bazar, Gurgaon
Frying for decades. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Samosas. Pakoras. Aloo tikkis. There is no lack of places that are famous for producing excellent versions of at least one of these crispy tea time snacks. Break pakora is…
Our Self-Written Obituaries – Sudeshna Mukherjee, Bombay
The 249th death. [Text and photos sent by Sudeshna Mukherjee] Self Obituary She always said “obituaries are tricky” “They trick you Into writings mushy.” Between the mush And the fact a vast chasm creates a slush stripped of all tact…
City Walk – GB Road, Near New Delhi Railway Station
A 5 am stroll. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] A stroll through the red-light district is not everybody’s cup of tea. Definitely not so early in the winter morning when it is still dark. Even so. You could…
Delhi’s Proust Questionnaire – “Mastermind” Siddhartha Basu, Zamrudpur
The parlour confession. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Proust Questionnaire represents a confessional game that owes its structure to answers given by celebrated French writer Marcel Proust in two parties that he attended at ages 13 and…
City Season – Fireside Bonds, Chemlsford Road
Winter’s friends. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s a super-cold December evening in central Delhi’s Chelmsford Road. Five men are huddled around a pavement fireside. Three are sitting on their haunches; the others are standing, including Bholu who…
City Hangout – Cats & Dogs, Bulbuli Khana
The art of co-existence. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] It’s a very strange sight—dogs and cats living together serenely. But this is an everyday happening here in Old Delhi’s Bulbuli Khana. Now a black cat surfaces from the…
City Landmark – Janta Band, Naya Bazar
The music station. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The walls are plastered with photographs of men playing saxophones, though some are also in dancing costumes. A window is decked with a drum and a small trumpet. This cramped…
Netherfield Ball – Afifa Fareed Weds Abdul Haseeb, Old Delhi
The party secrets. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] The guests arrived at the Mahavir Vatika ground in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj in cabs, auto-rickshaws, and bikes. Some came from miles away, from Jasola, and even from Ghaziabad. It was…
Mission Delhi – Rajinder, Gurgaon
One of the one percent in 13 million. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] He has moved up in life. So Rajinder feels about himself. With the help of a generous bank loan, he recently bought a gleaming new…
City Landmark – Mittal Store, Pragyakunj, Vasundhara
Hyperlocal wonder. [Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi] Nowadays just about anything can be purchased online or at huge shopping malls, right? No wonder that small family-owned shops are declining—with some notable exceptions. Mittal Store in suburban Ghaziabad (Pragyakunj,…
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